“Vitamin B9 (methyltetrahydrofolate)?”Here!folate, methylfolate, 5-MTHF
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As a supplement
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A form of vitamin B9 that is already in the active, methylated form the body uses, as opposed to folic acid, which the body must convert through several steps. It is sometimes marketed as more readily usable, including by people with certain variations in the MTHFR gene.
Why it’s used
Taken to maintain normal folate status, which supports red blood cell formation and is relevant during periods of rapid cell division such as pregnancy.
What the evidence is for
maintaining normal folate status and red blood cell formation.
What the evidence says
The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements' folate fact sheet establishes folate's role in DNA synthesis and red blood cell formation, and adequate folate status before and during early pregnancy is associated with lower rates of neural tube defects — evidence built mainly around folic acid rather than methylfolate specifically. Direct head-to-head evidence that methylfolate outperforms folic acid for these outcomes is more limited.
Dose studied
400–1000 mcg — adult RDA for folate up to the tolerable upper intake level for synthetic folic acid, per NIH ODS.
Context
The adult Recommended Dietary Allowance and the tolerable upper intake level for folate are set in dietary folate equivalents; studies on methylfolate specifically often use doses in a similar range but comparisons across forms are not always straightforward.
Rumors
Maintaining normal folate status and red blood cell formation.
Supports — establishedhealth and safety evidence
Measured as a biomarker.
- Folate - Health Professional Fact Sheet (Regulatory) · Funding not checked
How much is a reference amount
- 400 mcg DFE a dayfor adults 19 and over · Recommended Dietary Allowance
Upper limit 1,000 mcg a day, from supplements and fortified foods — it does not apply to the nutrient as it occurs in food and only to synthetic folic acid — not to folate as it occurs in food.
The RDA is in dietary folate equivalents; the UL is in mcg of SYNTHETIC folic acid from supplements and fortified foods only — the FNB set no UL for folate from food. A label stating plain mcg cannot be compared to the DFE figure without knowing the form.
Every applicable line is shown because we don’t know which one is yours, and a reference intake is a target for a population, not a threshold for harm.