Fungus, Foods, and Folate

Recently, a study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience claims that vitamin B9, or folate, can be an important nutrient for preventing Alzheimer’s disease. This is important, because Alzheimer’s is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases which ultimately leads to dementia.

Folate, which is essentially the same thing as folic acid, is a nutrient our bodies do not make, therefore we must obtain it from our diets. It is present in foods like spinach, other dark leafy greens, liver, seafood, and asparagus. The daily recommended amount of folic acid is around 400mcg per day for most adults. Due to poor diet however, many people do not get enough folic acid and may be deficient in this vital nutrient. 

Supplements are available––often these are recommended to women who are trying to become pregnant, because folate plays a key role in the development of babies, particularly the spine, skull, and brain. The best way to obtain folate, though, is through diet. When consumed naturally, your body is far more likely to absorb folic acid from food as opposed to a supplement. 

Folate is important in the pantheon of nutrients on The Kaufmann Diet, because it is thought to be anti-mycotic. Our knowledge that folate might offer protection against mycotoxins goes back to the first half of the 20th century on studies of heart failure caused by moldy rice in Japan by a scientist named K. Uraguchi. Mycotoxins, of course, are poisons produced by certain types of fungi and yeasts. Some of these can have profound health consequences if we consume or come into contact with them. Some, such as aflatoxin B1, are some of the most carcinogenic substances on earth.

There is evidence that has been published stating that these poisons regularly contaminate many parts of our food supply, including grains, corn, peanuts and other foods. Even when we eliminate these foods from our diets, like The Kaufmann Diet does, it is virtually impossible to guarantee you will never come into contact with these poisons in your food or air or other ways. This is one reason why folate is an important nutrient to obtain in your diet; folate may offer your body protection against these poisons.  

As an anti-mycotic, folate is slightly different from the normal spectrum of anti-fungal nutrients that are discussed and recommended and for the Kaufmann Diet, but this does not mean it is less important or plays a less significant role.

Focus on obtaining folate from sources of food that are permitted on The Kaufmann Diet. By rounding out your diet with some of these key foods, you will afford yourself protection from some very dangerous toxins. 

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