Folic acid vs folate
vs methylfolate:
finally explained simply.
Three words that sound like the same vitamin. They are one family: vitamin B9. Folate is the family name. Folic acid is the man-made form used in most tablets and fortified foods. Methylfolate is the form already working inside your body. Here’s the difference in plain words, what the research shows, how much you need, the best Indian foods, and how to read a label.
Folic acid vs folate vs methylfolate: the short answer
Folate is the family name for vitamin B9. Folic acid is the stable, man-made form in most supplements and fortified foods; the body converts it in a few steps. Methylfolate, also written L-5-MTHF, is the form found in your blood and needs no conversion. All three count towards your daily folate. For pregnancy planning, guidelines specifically advise folic acid.
Supplement labels use these three words as if everyone knows the difference. Most people don’t, and that is not their fault. By the end of this page you will.
One family, three names
Folate, folic acid and methylfolate are all vitamin B9. “Folate” is the general name and also the word for the natural forms in food. Folic acid is made in a factory. Methylfolate is the active form the body makes from both, and it can also be taken directly.
Folate
Vitamin B9 in general, and the natural forms in foods such as green leafy vegetables, dals and beans.
Folic acid
Stable and low-cost, so it is used in most tablets and in fortified flour and cereals. It does not occur in nature.
Methylfolate
Also written L-5-MTHF, L-methylfolate or 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. This is the form that travels in your blood.
Enzyme
A tiny helper in your body that does one specific job, like a key that fits one lock.
The kitchen analogy: the three forms compared
Think of folic acid as a raw ingredient that your body has to cook in a few steps before using it. Food folate is partly prepared. Methylfolate is the finished dish, ready to serve. The last cooking step is done by an enzyme called MTHFR.
Imagine your body as a kitchen. Folic acid is a raw ingredient. Before your cells can use it, it passes through a few cooking stations. The first station, in the liver, works slowly in humans.1 The last station is run by an enzyme called MTHFR, which turns it into methylfolate.
Methylfolate is the finished dish. Taken directly, it skips the kitchen and arrives ready to serve.
| Food folate | Folic acid | Methylfolate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it comes from | Greens, dals, beans, fruit | Made in a factory | Made by the body; also in supplements |
| Ready to use? | Partly | Needs conversion | Yes, no conversion |
| Needs the MTHFR enzyme? | Yes | Yes | No |
| How well it is absorbed | About 50% | About 85% with food | Raises blood folate as well as folic acid |
| Stability | Easily lost in cooking | Very stable | Stable in modern forms |
| On a label | “Folate” | “Folic acid” | “L-5-MTHF”, “L-methylfolate” |
Absorption figures are from the US National Institutes of Health.2
What folate does, and how much you need
Folate helps your body make DNA and new cells, including red blood cells. Too little can cause a type of anaemia with tiredness, weakness and a sore tongue. Indian adults need 220 mcg a day. In a Hyderabad study, about one in three healthy-looking adults was low in folate.
Every time your body makes a new cell, it copies its DNA, and that copying needs folate. This is why folate matters most where cells are made fastest: in your blood, and in a growing baby. Folate has approved claims for normal blood formation, the reduction of tiredness and fatigue and normal psychological function.3
When folate runs low, the body makes fewer healthy red blood cells. The signs are tiredness, weakness, trouble concentrating, and a sore tongue or mouth ulcers.2
ICMR-NIN sets the daily target at 220 mcg for adults.4 Many Indians fall short: in a National Institute of Nutrition study in Hyderabad, 32% of healthy-looking adults were low in folate, and most were eating less than they needed.5
Best Indian foods for folate
Green leafy vegetables, lobia, rajma, dals, peanuts, oranges and bananas are good sources of folate. Half a cup of cooked spinach gives about 131 mcg and half a cup of lobia about 105 mcg. Folate is easily lost with long cooking, so light cooking keeps more.
| Food | Serving | Folate (about) |
|---|---|---|
| Spinach (palak), cooked | ½ cup | 131 mcg |
| Lobia (black-eyed peas), cooked | ½ cup | 105 mcg |
| Rajma (kidney beans) | ½ cup | 46 mcg |
| Orange | 1 small | 29 mcg |
| Peanuts, roasted | A handful (28 g) | 27 mcg |
| Banana | 1 medium | 24 mcg |
| Egg | 1 large | 22 mcg |
Values are from the US National Institutes of Health.2 The name “folate” comes from folium, the Latin word for leaf, which is a handy way to remember where to find it.
Methylfolate vs folic acid: what the research shows
In a 24-week trial in 144 women, methylfolate raised red-blood-cell folate more than the same amount of folic acid. An earlier trial found the two equal. Methylfolate also leaves no unconverted folic acid in the blood or in breast milk, because there is nothing left to convert.
- It raises folate levels just as well. In a 24-week trial, 144 healthy women took 400 mcg of folic acid, a matching amount of methylfolate, a half amount, or a placebo. The methylfolate group ended with the highest red-blood-cell folate, the best marker of long-term folate status.6 An earlier trial in 104 women found the two forms raised blood folate equally.7
- Nothing is left unconverted. After single doses of 300 to 400 mcg of folic acid, some shows up in the blood still unconverted.2 In a trial in pregnant and breastfeeding women, those taking folic acid had more unconverted folic acid in their breast milk than those taking methylfolate.8
- It does not depend on your enzymes. Methylfolate needs neither the slow first step in the liver nor the MTHFR step at the end.1
“Folic acid is the raw ingredient. Methylfolate is the finished dish. Both feed you, and one is ready the moment it arrives.”
The kitchen analogy, in one line
Where the MTHFR gene fits in
MTHFR is the enzyme that does the last step in making methylfolate. Some people inherit a slower version, called 677TT. It is found in about 1 in 10 people in many populations and about 1 in 100 in one North Indian study. Methylfolate works the same whatever version you have.
Everyone has the MTHFR enzyme. Some people inherit two copies of a variant, written 677TT, that makes it work more slowly. In many populations about 1 in 10 people have it; in one study of healthy North Indian adults it was about 1 in 100.29 People with TT have slightly lower blood folate on the same folic acid intake.10
Methylfolate is already past the MTHFR step, so it works the same for everyone. Vitamin B2 helps the MTHFR enzyme do its job, as our vitamin B2 guide explains, and our MTHFR guide covers the gene in full.
If you are planning a pregnancy
Health authorities advise 400 mcg of folic acid a day for women who could become pregnant, starting at least one month before conception, to help prevent neural tube defects. Folic acid is the form tested in those prevention trials. Follow your doctor’s prenatal advice.
A baby’s brain and spine begin to form in the first four weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman knows she is pregnant. Enough folate at that time helps prevent serious birth defects of the brain and spine, called neural tube defects. In India these affect about 4 to 5 of every 1,000 births.11
The advice is clear and specific: 400 mcg of folic acid every day, starting at least one month before trying to conceive.210 The trials that proved folate prevents these defects all used folic acid, and the US CDC advises it for all women, including those with an MTHFR variant.10
So each form has its place. Methylfolate is an excellent everyday form for folate status. If you are pregnant or planning to be, take the prenatal supplement your doctor recommends. Our guide to methylated multivitamins for women has more.
Folate’s partner: vitamin B12
Folate and vitamin B12 work together to make red blood cells. A lot of folic acid can correct the anaemia caused by low B12 while the B12 shortage continues to affect the nerves. This is why the upper level for folic acid is 1,000 mcg a day, and why folate and B12 are best taken together.
Folate and vitamin B12 pass the same chemical tag back and forth, so each needs the other. If B12 is low, taking a lot of folic acid can fix the blood count while the B12 shortage quietly carries on, and B12 is also needed to protect your nerves.2
This is why the upper level for folic acid from supplements is set at 1,000 mcg a day,2 and why a good supplement pairs folate with B12. Low B12 is very common in India, especially among vegetarians. See our vitamin B12 guide.
Body-ready forms, clearly labelled.
We believe a label should tell you exactly which form you are getting and how much. Folate helps reduce tiredness and fatigue, and so does magnesium, our first product.
Pure Magnesium Glycinate
Launching first. 100% non-buffered magnesium glycinate: 440 mg of magnesium from 3,667 mg of fully reacted bisglycinate, with about 2.7 g of glycine and zero oxide. Three tablets a day (two for women).
See Pure Magnesium Glycinate →Bioactive Multivitamin
Coming soon. Our daily multivitamin is in development. Its complete formula will be published at launch.
Join the waitlist →Ultra-Pure rTG Omega-3
900 mg EPA + 600 mg DHA per two softgels, in the rTG form. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, ask your doctor first.
See Ultra-Pure rTG Omega-3 →Not sure where to start?
Answer a few quick questions to see which nutrient gaps are most likely for you.
Try the Nutrient Gap Finder →How to read the folate line on a label
Look at the name in brackets after “folate”. “Folic acid” is the man-made form. “L-5-MTHF”, “L-methylfolate” or “5-methyltetrahydrofolate” is methylfolate. Check the amount in mcg against the 220 mcg daily target, and check that vitamin B12 is there too.
The form, by name
“L-5-MTHF”, “L-methylfolate” or “(6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolate” means methylfolate.
The amount in mcg
Compare it with the 220 mcg daily target for adults.
Vitamin B12 alongside
Folate and B12 work as a pair.
Very high folic acid
More than 1,000 mcg a day is for use only when a doctor prescribes it.
On medicines? Folate interacts with methotrexate, some epilepsy medicines and sulfasalazine. If you take any of these, ask your doctor before taking a folate supplement.2
- The methylfolate trials measured folate in the blood, not pregnancy outcomes. Methylfolate has not been tested in trials for preventing neural tube defects; folic acid has, which is why guidelines name it.210
- Unconverted folic acid in the blood is common in people who take folic acid, and research has not shown that it causes harm.2
- The US CDC notes that people with an MTHFR variant can process all forms of folate, including folic acid; blood folate in the TT group is about 16% lower on the same intake.10
- The Indian MTHFR figure comes from one North Indian sample of 173 healthy adults; frequency varies between communities.9
- The Hyderabad figures come from 270 adults in one city.5 The birth-defect figure is pooled from Indian studies of varied size and quality.11
- The slow liver step was measured in human liver samples in the laboratory.1
- European approved claims describe what a nutrient does at adequate intakes; they are not claims to treat any illness.3
Folate, answered simply.
Is folate the same as folic acid?
What is methylfolate?
Is methylfolate better than folic acid?
What is the difference between folate and vitamin B9?
How much folate do I need each day?
Which Indian foods are rich in folate?
What are the signs of low folate?
What is the MTHFR gene?
Should I take folic acid or methylfolate when planning a pregnancy?
Can folic acid hide a vitamin B12 deficiency?
What does L-5-MTHF mean on a label?
Is unconverted folic acid in the blood harmful?
Studies behind this guide
- Bailey SW, Ayling JE. The extremely slow and variable activity of dihydrofolate reductase in human liver and its implications for high folic acid intake. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2009;106(36):15424–15429. PMID 19706381
- National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Folate: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. ods.od.nih.gov
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012: list of permitted health claims made on foods — folate and magnesium entries.
- ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition. Nutrient Requirements for Indians: Recommended Dietary Allowances and Estimated Average Requirements, 2020. nin.res.in
- Sivaprasad M, Shalini T, Reddy PY, et al. Prevalence of vitamin deficiencies in an apparently healthy urban adult population: assessed by subclinical status and dietary intakes. Nutrition. 2019;63–64:106–113. PMID 30954757
- Lamers Y, Prinz-Langenohl R, Brämswig S, Pietrzik K. Red blood cell folate concentrations increase more after supplementation with [6S]-5-methyltetrahydrofolate than with folic acid in women of childbearing age. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006;84(1):156–161. PMID 16825690
- Venn BJ, Green TJ, Moser R, McKenzie JE, Skeaff CM, Mann J. Increases in blood folate indices are similar in women of childbearing age supplemented with [6S]-5-methyltetrahydrofolate and folic acid. J Nutr. 2002;132(11):3353–3355.
- Cochrane KM, Elango R, Devlin AM, et al. Human milk unmetabolized folic acid is increased following supplementation with synthetic folic acid as compared to (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid. Sci Rep. 2023;13:11298. PMC10338559
- MTHFR C677T predisposes to POAG but not to PACG in a North Indian population: a case control study. PLoS One. 2014;9(7):e103063. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103063 — control group of 173 healthy adults: TT genotype 1.16%.
- US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. MTHFR gene variant and folic acid facts. cdc.gov
- Allagh KP, Shamanna BR, Murthy GVS, et al. Birth prevalence of neural tube defects and orofacial clefts in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2015;10(3):e0118961. PMC4358993