Date published: 2007/07/01
The BBC says:
Adding folic acid to bread could help prevent depression, a new study shows. York University researchers said there was a link between mental health issues and low levels of folate.
They said folate could produce "feel good" chemicals in the brain and have called for large-scale trials to take place.
Studies have previously shown that adding the supplements to foods such as bread could also prevent strokes and birth defects.
The York scientists looked at 11 previous studies involving more than 15,300 volunteers which had been completed recently.
Last month, the Food Standards Agency urged health ministers to make it compulsory for folic acid to be added to bread or flour to help prevent birth defects.
Dr Simon Gilbody, who led the study, said: "Our study is unique in that for the first time all the relevant evidence in this controversial area has been brought together.
"Although the research does not prove that low folate causes depression, we can now be sure that the two are linked."
As with most health studies, all they have is a correlation, not a causation. They also fail to mention any possible negative side-effects of folate. It is unbelievable that the entire nation is being forced to take medicine that is mainly of use to pregnant women. Pregnant women ought to be responsible enough to take folate themselves, without requiring tens of millions of other people to be force fed the medicine at the same time, for no great reason. (Presumably, the pro-folate camp has been trawling lots of studies looking for correlations between folate and "good" things, so as to justify this mass medication. Needless to say, correlations between folate and "bad" things will never get mentioned.)
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