Why the Folate Controversy Persists: The Biosocial Complexities of Folate

维生素B-叶酸是科学界和科学界持续争论的中心，争论的焦点是叶酸及其合成形式叶酸在健康和疾病中的作用和影响。虽然现有的研究表明，维生素在我们了解自己的方式中扮演着重要的角色，但这项研究将首次探索叶酸的生物学和社会生活之间的关系，扰乱了将两者分开的分析和尝试。如果我们想要了解构成我们日常生活的生物社会复杂性，以及为什么叶酸争议持续存在，这是必要的。叶酸在细胞生长和发育中起着至关重要的作用，几十年来一直被认为有助于预防出生缺陷，这就是为什么建议试图怀孕的女性和怀孕女性每天补充400毫克的叶酸。这也是世界上60多个国家自愿或强制实施食品强化计划的原因。在英国，根据现有的欧盟规则，添加叶酸的食品目前是自愿的，但在就引入强制性叶酸强化面粉的建议进行公众咨询后，政府最近刚刚决定继续进行强制强化并在此基础上立法。然而，一些科学家和补充和替代医学(CAM)从业者已经并将继续关注高剂量叶酸可能对健康造成的不良影响，包括掩盖低维生素B12状态、老年人认知能力下降、癌症和未代谢叶酸的长期影响。随着更新的科学发展，特别是在营养遗传学和营养表观遗传学领域，这些问题还没有得到解决。对叶酸的科学解释在社交媒体和在线论坛上也越来越多地被辩论，其中有争议的是，一些CAM从业者建议不要使用叶酸。这项拟议的研究回应了围绕叶酸和叶酸的持续争议，对叶酸的生物社会复杂性进行了跨学科和经验性的描述，试图绘制和分析对叶酸的不同理解和辩论中的立场。因此，这项研究的目的不是提供支持和反对叶酸和叶酸的证据，而是产生关于我们为什么、如何摄入以及摄入什么之间的联系的新知识，以及这些化合物在我们体内的作用，目的是扩大公众辩论和社会理论对健康和疾病的理解和体验。长期的雄心是在对慢性病和疾病的生活理解方面产生积极的变化，这将影响科学研究、政策和优先事项。我将采访科学家、政策利益相关者、CAM从业者和普通人，并从科学和医疗保健数据库和在线媒体创建一个全面的文献材料数据库。使用不同类型的地图对收集的数据进行分析，以直观地显示和检查叶酸的生物学和社会生活之间的联系，并解释叶酸争议中的紧张、模棱两可和利害攸关的价值观。研究结果将发表在同行评议的开放获取期刊上，并以在线写作的形式报道，目标是更广泛的受众，目的是影响学术和公众对维生素、健康和疾病的理解的辩论。

The B-vitamin folate is at the centre of an ongoing controversy within science and beyond that focuses on the role and effects of folate and its synthetic form, folic acid, in health and disease. While existing research has shown that vitamins play an important role in how we understand ourselves, this research will be the first to explore the relationship between the biology and social life of folate, disrupting analyses and attempts to separate the two. This is necessary if we are to understand the biosocial complexities that constitute our everyday life, and why the folate controversy persists. Playing a vital role in cell growth and development, folate has been known for decades to help prevent birth defects, which is why women who are trying to conceive and women who are pregnant are advised to take a daily supplement of 400mg of folic acid. It is also why over 60 countries worldwide have introduced food fortification programmes, either voluntarily or mandatory. In the UK, fortification of food products with folic acid is currently voluntary in accordance with existing EU rules, but following a public consultation on the proposal to introduce mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid, the government has just recently decided to proceed with mandatory fortification and legislate on this basis. Concerns, however, have and continue to be raised by some scientists and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners about the possible adverse health effects of high doses of folic acid, including masking of low vitamin B12 status, cognitive decline in older individuals, cancer and long-term effects of unmetabolized folic acid. In the wake of more recent scientific developments, particularly within the disciplines of nutrigenetics and nutritional epigenetics, those concerns have not been settled. Scientific explanations of folate are also increasingly debated on social media and online forums, where controversially, folic acid is advised against by some CAM practitioners. The proposed research responds to the ongoing controversy around folate and folic acid by developing an interdisciplinary and empirical account of the biosocial complexities of folate that seeks to map and analyse the different understandings of folate and positions within the debate. The aim of the research is therefore not to provide evidence for and against folate and folic acid, but to generate new knowledge about the connections between why, how and what we ingest and what these compounds do in our bodies with the aim to extend public debate and social theorising on understandings and experiences of health and disease. The long-term ambition is to create positive changes in understandings of life with chronic illness and disease that will influence scientific research, policy and priorities. I will interview scientists, policy stakeholders, CAM practitioners and lay individuals, and create a comprehensive database of documentary materials from science and healthcare databases and online media. The data collected with be analysed using different kinds of maps to visualise and examine the connections between the biology and social life of folate and to interpret the tensions, ambiguities and values at stake in the folate controversy. Research findings will be published in peer-reviewed, open-access journals and reported in online writings targeting a wider audience with the aim to shape academic and public debate on understandings of vitamins, health and disease.