Folic acid is a B vitamin that is an integral part of cell growth. Folic acid helps DNA replication when cells divide, and thus it’s particularly important during pregnancy. Too little folic acid during this period can result in serious birth defects. Folic acid is destroyed by ultraviolet light, and so humans have adapted to find a balance between getting enough sunlight to produce vitamin D and but not so much that their levels of folic acid are diminished.
Folic acid Quotes in Survival of the Sickest
The Survival of the Sickest quotes below are all either spoken by Folic acid or refer to Folic acid. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3
Quotes
There is one notable exception to Jablonski and Chaplin’s equation—and it’s the exception that proves the rule. The Inuit—the indigenous people of the subarctic—are dark-skinned, despite the limited sunlight of their home. If you think something fishy’s going on here, you’re right. But the reason they don’t need to evolve the lighter skin necessary to ensure sufficient vitamin D production is refreshingly simple. Their diet is full of fatty fish—which just happens to be one of the only foods in nature that is chock-full of vitamin D.
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Folic acid Term Timeline in Survival of the Sickest
The timeline below shows where the term Folic acid appears in Survival of the Sickest. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3: The Cholesterol Also Rises
...level. Sunlight helps your body create vitamin D but also destroys your body’s reserves of folic acid —both of which are essential to your health. Vitamin D ensures that we have sufficient...
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...involves inflammation of the small intestine and impairs absorption of nutrients. On the other hand, folic acid is just as important to human life, and it is destroyed by too much UVB...
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The skin both protects folic acid and serves as a key player in producing vitamin D. The wide range of human...
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...adaptations of Africans in response to sun exposure: the evolution of darker skin to protect folic acid and increased cholesterol to produce vitamin D. But when populations with darker skin move to...
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