Dr. Chheda – What is folic acid? There’s been a lot of talk recently about folic acid and how it might help kids who have autism. So folic acid is vitamin B9. It is one of the B vitamins. Typically we eat foods that contain a lot of B vitamins, or you might even take a B supplement. And then the body has to convert folic acid into methylfolate. Once it’s converted, then it can penetrate the brain, and it is important for neural development.

Moms, when you were pregnant, you were told to take folic acid either in your prenatal vitamin or as an extra supplement to help with brain development. That is what vitamin B9 does. That’s what folic acid does. But your body has to convert it into the proper form.

Now if you’re missing the enzyme to convert it, then it’s not gonna do anything. So sometimes it’s better just to take the form that is already converted, and that’s called methylfolate. Once you take methylfolate, or once your child takes methylfolate, then it can actually penetrate the brain and help with neural development. That is how it is helping some kids on the spectrum. They may not have the enzyme to convert it. They may not be eating enough vitamin B9 containing foods because of their restricted diet. So you give them a methylfolate supplement, and that should be sufficient to help with neural development. And once neurons develop properly, then their full development can proceed and progress.

And this is true for everybody, not just kids on the spectrum. Everybody should be taking some methylfolate if you don’t have the enzyme to convert folic acid into methylfolate. If you have the enzyme, just eat a lot of folic acid containing foods like broccoli and kidney beans.