A recent study appearing in the Archives of Latinoamerican Nutrition (2009; 59(3): 278-86) looked at the relationship between folic acid supplementation and depression in 459 Guatemalan women. The women were randomly divided into four groups. For three months the women were placed on one of four possible regimens. Each group was given different dosages of folic acid in combination with iron, zinc and vitamin B12. One group received 5 mg/week; another received 2.8 mg/week, another received 0.4 mg/week and the fourth group received 0.2 mg/week.
The subjects were evaluated for depression using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression 20 Item Scale. At the start of the study the prevalence of depression was 49.3%. The women with the lowest level of folate (measured in the red blood cells) had an increased risk of depression when compared to the women with the highest folate levels.
