Vitamin B-12 is designed to give you vascular health, vim, and vigor! Vit B-12 is known as the energy vitamin because it plays an important role in the formation of the red blood cells that deliver oxygen to all parts of the body. It also supports cardiovascular health by working with vitamin B-6 and folic acid to help control harmful homocysteine. While adequate B-12 intake is important for everyone, supplementation may be particularly helpful for vegans because the vitamin is found primarily in animal-based foods.

When is Vitamin B-12 cyanocobamin required?

Cobolamin is needed in the manufacture of red blood cells and the maintenance of red blood cells and it stimulates appetite, promotes growth and release energy. It is often used with older people to give an energy boost, assist in preventing mental deterioration and helps with speeding up thought processes. Some people are also of the opinion that it helps with clearing up infections and provide protection against allergies and cancer. This vitamin is also used in the metabolism of fats, proteins and carbohydrates.

Deficiency of vitamin B-12

Some symptoms of a deficiency will include a sore tongue, weakness, fatigue, and weight loss, back pain and apathy. It might further result in loss of balance, decreased reflexes, tingling of the fingers, ringing in the ears etc.

A deficiency may also result in the raising of the level of homocysteine in the blood - which in high doses can be toxic to the brain, which may be involved in Alzheimer disease. Severe deficiency may result in pernicious anemia also called Addisonian pernicious anemia.

Another problem that appears in deficiency is the eroding of the myelin sheath - the fatty sheath of tissue, which insulates the nerve fibers in your body.

Best used with

Iron, calcium, sodium, potassium as well as vitamin C are good in nutritional synergy.

When more may be required

People on strict vegan and macrobiotic diets are often deficient on Vitamin B-12.

Some people suffer from a potentially serious problem, causing the vitamin not to be absorbed in the intestinal tract, which can lead to pernicious (destructive) anemia.

Anybody consuming alcohol should look at their B-12 levels or if you take laxatives or antacids regularly.

Older people could also benefit from this vitamin as the intestinal situation changes as you age, and many people older than sixty have difficulty extracting the vitamin from ingested food since the correct stomach acids are not present.

Enemy of vitamin B-12

Excessive alcohol can impair the absorption of this vitamin.

Other interesting points

Vitamin B-12 can not be manufactured by any plants, and therefore is only found in animal products - therefore a deficiency may happens to people on a strict vegan diet.

Unlike other water-soluble vitamins, B-12 needs some 3 hours to be absorbed where other B vitamins are absorbed nearly immediately.

Food sources of vitamin B-12

Vitamin B-12 is present in liver, organ meat, muscle meat, shellfish, eggs, cheese, fish, and can be manufactured in the body. Although milk contains B-12, processing of milk may lead to destruction of the vitamin.

*source anyvitamins