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Is too much folic acid harmful from energy drinks? Possibly, if you’re a man wanting to ensure mentally healthy offspring. Because then you might want to refrain from caffeine-containing energy drinks like Bullit and Redbull for a while. New research in mice has shown that a diet high in vitamin B12 and folic acid can be harmful to, among other things, the memory and learning ability of your future children.
Too much folic acid harmful from fathers
Studies with animals are increasingly providing evidence that a child’s development is not only influenced by the mother’s diet and environment before pregnancy. The father’s diet may also play a role.
Earlier research showed that male rats fed a high-fat diet tended to pass on diabetes tendencies and therefore higher weight to their children. Although the DNA of multicellular life forms is genetically the same, their structure and function differ.
It used to be thought that adjustments in the functioning of these genes (but not the DNA itself) due to external influences were removed after the fusion between egg and sperm. However, it is now known that these ‘epigenetic’ changes can be hereditary [2]. One possible cause of these adjustments is the effect of a diet high in methyl groups.
When methyl groups are added to a DNA molecule, they influence the functioning of the genes. Folic acid, vitamin B12, methionine are so-called methyl donors (structural formula CH3). Researchers from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases therefore wondered what the effect would be of a high intake of energy drinks and pills containing folic acid [1] and whether this could have harmful effects.
Research on too much folic acid
Together with colleagues from Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, the researcher investigated whether these ‘epigenetic changes could lead to cognitive adaptations in the offspring of mice. Male mice were fed a diet high in methyl groups containing high concentrations of methionine, folic acid, vitamin B12, choline, betaine, and zinc. A second group of mice received a standard diet. After six weeks on this diet, the researchers mated the mice and examined the mice born from this.
The mice born in the high methyl group diet group performed worse in all tests of learning ability and memory.
We were able to show that even a transient change in the paternal diet can cause impaired learning skills in offspring. This affected in particular the ability to properly learn a spatial navigation task
Not only did behavior show differences, but so did the brains themselves.
Nerve connections in the hippocampus, an area important for memory, responded more slowly to electrical stimuli. That would be an indication that they are less able to adapt. This so-called ‘neural plasticity’ was reduced. A gene with the sexy name “Kcnmb2,” which plays a role in this plasticity, was also less active.
“Possible negative effects of folic acid”
Although this only concerns research with mice so far, the researchers point out the possible implications for certain countries where a lot of food is supplemented with folic acid (also known as vitamin B11, or B9 in the U.S.). In some countries, it is even mandatory because deficiencies in folic acid can have adverse effects. Vitamin B11 is also one of the few vitamins with regular deficiencies. Extra intake is particularly recommended during pregnancy.
The researchers now point to possible negative side effects of excessive intakes.
Still, I’m not immediately afraid that ‘our Max’ is partly responsible for a future of intellectually disabled children by promoting an energy drink with a lot of vitamin B12 and folic acid.
First of all, it remains to be seen whether this effect also applies to humans.
Then it needs to be clearer which circumstances influence this, such as the age of the father. We also still know nothing about the quantities that could lead to these negative side effects.
And yet, it can leave a bitter taste from now on if you still have a desire for children. Looking at that can of Red Bull, wondering if you’ve now condemned your future children to vocational education.
References
- D P Ryan, K S Henzel, B L Pearson, M E Siwek, A Papazoglou, L Guo, K Paesler, M Yu, R Müller, K Xie, S Schröder, L Becker, L Garrett, S M Hölter, F Neff, I Rácz, B Rathkolb, J Rozman, G Ehninger, M Klingenspor, T Klopstock, E Wolf, W Wurst, A Zimmer, H Fuchs, V Gailus-Durner, M Hrabě de Angelis, K Sidiropoulou, M Weiergräber, Y Zhou, D Ehninger. A paternal methyl donor-rich diet altered cognitive and neural functions in offspring mice. Molecular Psychiatry, 2017; DOI: 10.1038/MP.2017.53
- Nature Genetics 33, 245 – 254 (2003). doi:10.1038/ng1089.Epigenetic regulation of gene expression: how the genome integrates intrinsic and environmental signal. Rudolf Jaenisch1 & Adrian Bird2
