Folate vs Vitamin B12 for mood
Short answer: For mood, users rate them about the same: 87% report improvement with Folate (52 reports) and 89% with Vitamin B12 (46 reports).
Folate has 744 meta-analyses and 1,173 randomized trials on PubMed; Vitamin B12 has 376 and 572.
Based on 286 reports about Folate and 630 about Vitamin B12. Not medical advice.
| Folate Supplement | Vitamin B12 Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 63%helped109 reports · high confidence | 66%helped202 reports · high confidence |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mostly positive |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 744 / 1,173 | 376 / 572 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Energy % reporting improvement | 91% (23) | 90% (103) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | 87% (52) | 89% (46) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 71% (21) | 62% (21) |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 100% (15) | 88% (17) |
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 57% (7) | 42% (12) |
| Common side effects | insomnia, canker sores, jitteriness, panic attacks | acne, anxiety, jitteriness, weakness |
| Typical dose reported | 400 mcg / with breakfast | 1 ml |
This meta-analysis suggests that B vitamin supplementation is associated with slowing of cognitive decline, especially in populations who received early intervention and intervention of long duration; the study also indicates that higher intake of dietary folate, but not B12 or B6, is associated with a reduced risk of incident dementia in non-dementia aged population. Given the prevalence of dementia cases in many countries with aging populations, public health policies should be introduced to ensure that subgroups of the population at risk have an adequate B vitamin status.
Nutr Rev, 2022 ↗“I have been taking methylfolate with methylcobalamin for almost two months now and my prefrontal abilities with respect to planning and stress management have improved dramatically.”
Subgroup analyses indicated that the use of vitamin B12 supplements among vegans contributes to significant improvements in all biomarker concentrations compared to their unsupplemented counterparts. Our findings underscore the need for improved strategies to redress poor vitamin B12 status with appropriate B12 supplementation use among those adhering to vegetarian and vegan diets.
Nutr Bull, 2024 ↗“I supplemented with sublingual b12 and iron and daily electrolytes and I'm feeling much better.”
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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate