Could low-carb diets lead to birth defects?

[phantom]

Blood levels of folate in young women are dropping, a disturbing development that could lead to increased birth defects and may be due to low-carb diets or the popularity of unfortified whole-grain breads.

Government health officials could only speculate on the reasons but called the backslide in this important B vitamin disturbing.

It's not clear how the decline in folate levels has affected newborns, but preliminary data suggest the dramatic declines in neural tube defects seen in the late 1990s may have leveled off by 2004, said officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"This is a cause of substantial concern," said Dr. Nancy Green, medical director for the March of Dimes, which campaigns for birth defects prevention.

Folate is a naturally occurring B vitamin. An artificial version, which is more easily metabolized by the body, is folic acid.

Years ago, scientists concluded that folate deficiencies contributed to the occurrence of serious birth defects of the spine and brain, known as neural tube defects.

So the government has long urged women to eat cereals and breads fortified with folic acid to help prevent birth defects. By the late 1990s, the fortification campaigns were succeeding: Folate levels increased, and neural tube defects dropped by as many as 1,000 a year.

But a CDC study released Thursday found an 8 percent to 16 percent decline in folate levels in U.S. women of childbearing age, according to large blood-drawing surveys done between 1999 and 2004.

First decline since health campaigns began
It was the first time such a decline has been seen since the start of government health campaigns urging women to make sure they get enough folic acid.

The decline was most pronounced in white women, although black women continue to be the racial group with the least folate in their blood, health officials said.

The study was based on a regular national survey that involves not only interviews but physical examinations and blood tests. It measured the blood of about 4,500 women, ages 15 to 44, between 1999 and 2004.

It's being published this week in a CDC publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

It's not clear why blood folate levels dropped in this decade, but there are several possible explanations, experts said.

Increasing obesity rates among young women may be a factor. Research has found obese people metabolize folate differently than thinner folk, and some doctors believe heavier women need more folic acid to prevent neural tube defects, Green said.

The Atkins affect
Diet trends may have been be another factor, said Dr. Joseph Mulinare, a CDC epidemiologist who was the study's lead author.

He noted that in 1998, the Food and Drug Administration began requiring that folic acid be added to breads, cereals and other products that use enriched flour. Whole-grain breads were not under that mandate because they already contain some folate.

Low-carb diets increased in popularity during the early 2000s. Women who avoided flour and bread products because of their carbohydrates may have also taken in less folic acid, Mulinare said.

Vitamins and supplements are the best way to get the recommended daily dose of 400 micrograms of folic acid. But only a third of women of child-bearing age take a folic acid-containing supplement every day, he said.

Eating certain foods also helps, especially breads, cereals and other products containing enriched flour.

While whole-grain breads contain natural folate, it's a smaller amount than the folic acid in enriched breads. So the popularity of whole-grain breads "may be a factor" in the drop in folate levels, Mulinare said.

[killermctavish]

If I read this right then there are several possibilities for the low folate levels.  Obese women may metabolize folate differently than slimmer women is one possibility and the other is that the low carb diets mean that women are consuming fewer folate sources because they are found in some carb sources.

One simple solution mentioned is vitamins and supplements and I was stunned to read that only a third of women of child bearing age take a folic-acid containing supplement every day.

For the past few decades it seems that each new generation has been taller, healthier, longer-lived, etc.  I read somewhere that this healthy trend is beginning to reverse.

Scary.

[p.s.]

If I read this right then there are several possibilities for the low folate levels.  Obese women may metabolize folate differently than slimmer women is one possibility and the other is that the low carb diets mean that women are consuming fewer folate sources because they are found in some carb sources.

One simple solution mentioned is vitamins and supplements and I was stunned to read that only a third of women of child bearing age take a folic-acid containing supplement every day.

For the past few decades it seems that each new generation has been taller, healthier, longer-lived, etc.  I read somewhere that this healthy trend is beginning to reverse.

Scary.

Well eventually Killer this health trend will reverse as it can't go on forever, but as far as the whole B vitamin thing goes why is it so damned hard for people/girls/women to take a vitamin or two in the morning. Generally I think that what these "scientists" are doing is attempting to discredit low carb diets again as these (very successfull) diets go completely against what the health professionals have been preaching for years IE carbs good/fats bad, and now there is a wealth of solid science that discredits those old diet standbyes.

With research like this one needs to ask who sponsored the research, and what are their motives/possible agenda's regarding this research. Generally if people eat a high protein, moderate fat (EFAs) and low carb (not zero carbs) with plenty of veggies and yes some type of vitamin added in then there should be no problem with women and folic acid.

[Rexmark]

         I accede that one simple band-aid mentioned is vitamins and supplements and I was abashed to apprehend that alone a third of women of adolescent address age yield a folic-acid absolute supplement
every day.

_________________
Hoodia diet pills
 

[bcjunsan21]

        I accede that one simple band-aid mentioned is vitamins and supplements and I was abashed to apprehend that alone a third of women of adolescent address age yield a folic-acid absolute supplement
every day.

_________________
Hoodia diet pills
 

Well, sometimes that is the main problem of many people in taking vitamins and supplement without consulting the doctor. Sometimes, there are vitamins that are not suited for our health. They can give risks to our health so we must be aware for all of these.