Monitoring your blood sugar, also known as blood glucose, is an important part of preventing and treating diabetes. To keep blood sugar levels in a healthy range, it may help to change your diet and take supplements like folic acid. Folic acid isn't a cure for diabetes, but it could be a beneficial tool to use as part of your overall treatment plan, if your doctor approves.
Blood Sugar Levels
The glucose in your blood is the fuel your body's cells need for energy. Your pancreas is responsible for creating the hormone insulin that transports the glucose from your blood to your cells. If you have diabetes, your pancreas can't make enough insulin, or the insulin it does make is no longer effective, leading to a rise in blood sugar. Blood sugar is measured in millimoles per liter, with ideal values ranging from 4 mmol/L to 10 mmol/L, depending upon your food intake.
Folic Acid Benefits
Folic acid, also known as folate, is one of the B-complex family of vitamins. It's found naturally in foods like green leafy vegetables, citrus fruit juices, legumes and fortified cereals, and also in dietary supplements. Folic acid plays an important role in DNA metabolism and the metabolism of amino acids. Folate also helps lower levels of an amino acid called homocysteine in your body that can cause cardiovascular disease if levels are high. Elevated homocysteine is also a risk factor for the development of diabetes in some people.
Scientific Evidence
A medical team in China divided patients into groups receiving enalapril, a prescription drug used to treat high blood pressure, with either a low dose of folic acid or a high dose. The results, published in 2008 in the journal, "Nutrition," showed that in patients with hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, enalapril plus high folic acid caused a significant reduction in fasting blood glucose. A study on overweight and obese men with Type 2 diabetes in Iran used folic acid to determine the effects on glycemic control and insulin resistance. The researchers reported in the July 2011 issue of "Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice" that folic acid reduced fasting blood glucose by 8 percent, insulin by 16 percent, insulin resistance by 21 percent and homocysteine by 21 percent.
Considerations
If you eat a lot of foods high in folic acid, the chance of side effects is rare. However, large doses of folic acid supplements may cause anemia, low blood pressure, insomnia, gastrointestinal complaints and skin rashes. Certain medications can affect your body's ability to metabolize folate, including metformin, sometimes prescribed to control blood sugar in Type 2 diabetes.
References
- Linus Pauling Institute: Folic Acid; Jane Higdon and Victoria J. Drake; 2002 and 2007
- NetDoctor; Blood Glucose Levels; Jan Erik Henriksen and Henning Bech-Nielsen; 2008
- MayoClinic.com; Folate Safety; August 2011
- "Nutrition"; Efficacy of Folic Acid and Enalapril Combined Therapy on Reduction of Blood Pressure and Plasma Glucose; G. Mao, et al.; Nov-Dec 2008
- "Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice"; Effect of Folic Acid Supplementation on Biochemical Indices in Overweight and Obese Men with Type 2 Diabetes; B.P. Gargari, et al.; July 2011
- "Diabetes Care"; Elevated Homocysteine as a Risk Factor for the Development of Diabetes in Women With a Previous History of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus; Nam H. Cho, et al.; November 2005
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