Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Folate

  • Folate, a water-soluble vitamin, helps the body form red blood cells and aids in the formation of genetic material within every body cell.
  • Folate deficiency is a lack of folic acid in the diet and the signs are often subtle.
  • Folate, an important B-group vitamin, participates in many metabolic pathways such as DNA and RNA biosynthesis and amino acid inter-conversions.
  • Rapidly proliferating cells require large amounts of folate to support efficient DNA replication, repair and methylation indicating the importance of folate in human metabolism.
  • Folate is an essential cofactor during human erythropoiesis. Low folate levels lead to prolongation of the synthesis phase of cell division and retardation of germ cell maturation.
  • Probiotic bacteria, mostly belonging to the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, confer a number of health benefits to the host, including vitamin production.
  • No comments: