Comment by FollowingTheDao
21 days ago
I am against adding anything to a whole population to treat a few, folate included. Here is why. Folate is a known stimulant of some cancers.
https://aacrjournals.org/cebp/article/17/9/2220/169762/Folic...
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13668-018-0237-y
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1463-1318....
(And you know that the first line cancer treatments, like methotrexate, are anti-folates.)
So while we are lowering birth defects, are we increasing cancers at the same time? Has this ever been studied?
We are not a homogeneous population.
The same is true for fluoride. Some people have a fluoride allergy:
https://www.aaaai.org/allergist-resources/ask-the-expert/ans...
And while fluoride is known to prevent cavities, it also makes tooth enamel brittle:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43246-024-00709-8
https://www.medindia.net/news/healthwatch/fluoride-strengthe...
So I prefer to medicate myself, according to my own needs and my own genetics, thank you.
Anti-folates (similarly with magnesium and a few other things) are closer to chemotherapy than anything else. They promote cancers because they promote nearly every human cell, and the logic behind removing them is that since cancer cells divide so comparatively rapidly they'll be selectively targeted by a lack of division-enabling nutrients. Most people absolutely shouldn't be restricting their folate intake.
If we take your claim to its logical conclusion (that we shouldn't add those vitamins and minerals to our foods because they might hurt a small percentage of people), the other side of the coin is that we should _remove_ extra vitamins and minerals. If we don't, we're just implicitly medicating a whole population rather than proactively medicating them. Peanuts hurt some people; let's ban them everywhere. End-stage kidney patients without full renal failure often can't tolerate salt or phosphorus; let's not salt any of our food and ban the sale of eggs and meats. Diabetics can't easily tolerate a high glycemic load; let's be extra safe and not use any sugars or alcohols.
Or...make reasonable population-level interventions and let people with special needs handle their own special needs. There are gluten-free breads, no-excess-folate flours, and all sorts of things on the market.
While we're talking about baseline levels of B vitamins (folate), did you know that most bakers are also dumping a rich, broad-spectrum source of most B vitamins and trace minerals into your bread? It's not just folate. They then let that yeast further multiply for 2hr+ just to bump the vitamin levels up (or, worse, add extra yeast at the start to speed up the baking cycle).
Presumably, if you're in the US or any of those countries that mandate folate then you don't eat bread or anything containing flour—or you have to get special flour without it.
I'd imagine that must be very difficult for you.
BTW, that fluoride reference refers to excessive fluoride in water whether natural or added. I've not entered the fluoride debate here except to ask a question. I'd certainly object if fluoride levels were excessive in my water supply.
It is difficult, but not impossible. Many bakeries do not add them to their dough and Whole Foods has some brands without them.
Do not get me started on the IMP and GMP they are adding to foods now...excitatory purine flavor enhancers in the form of things like "Malted Barely Flour"
https://www.eurofins.com/media-centre/newsletters/food-newsl...
https://www.cspinet.org/article/guanosine-monophosphate-gmp-...
https://www.cspinet.org/article/inosine-monophosphate-imp-di...
"Folate is an essential water-soluble B vitamin found in foods, including dark-green leafy vegetables and legumes."
The above quote from that Springer reference reminds me of plant toxins in common foods especially in dark-green leafy ones, spinach, rhubarb, etc. Oxalic acid is one of the main ones but there are many others.
If you worry about what you eat you ought to be concerned about these. It's understandable that these toxins exist in these plants as they use them as protection against insects etc. Incidentally, I use oxalic acid industrially and I'm very careful how I handle it.
So instead of the niche individuals and groups working around society to meet their needs—because this absolutely can be done today—-those with an anti-flouridation belief are mandating that the majority give up economy of scale for something that it still wants and needs.
It’s doubtful that this stance is being promoting in good faith.