Everything You Need to Know About Vitamin B12 Deficiency

 

Vitamin B12 is essential for the health of the brain and nervous system. It is also important for the production of DNA and red blood cells. If you don't have enough vitamin B12 in your diet, your body will start to produce an abnormal form of the nutrient called homocysteine. Elevated levels of homocysteine are linked with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and various other health problems.

A vitamin B12 deficiency can cause numerous unpleasant symptoms and lead to serious health problems if it’s not treated in time. But what are the signs of this common deficiency? And how do you get enough of this important vitamin? Read on to learn everything you need to know about vitamin B12 deficiency and its underlying causes, as well as how to prevent and treat it naturally with vitamin B12 supplements or through diet changes.

The things you can get from food

Vitamin b12 food, such as meat and seafood, eggs, leafy greens (vegetables with vitamin b12), and some dairy products are good sources of vitamin B12. The body absorbs vitamin B12 from food in two different ways. The most common way is by letting food sit in your stomach for a while before digesting it. Some vitamins pass into your bloodstream after you eat them. After food passes through your digestive system, certain vitamins get absorbed through receptors in your intestines. Vitamin B12 absorption happens in your ileum (part of the small intestine) which leads directly into your colon. A vitamin b12 deficiency can happen if one or both of these steps aren’t happening properly.

Vitamin B12 in supplements and multivitamins

Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin that occurs naturally in food sources such as fish, meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products. It also can be found in fortified breakfast cereals and nutritional supplements. Supplements can provide Vitamin B12 in different forms; cyanocobalamin is a common form used in multivitamins. However, when taken as a supplement or in multivitamins, Vitamin B12 must first be converted into an active form called methylcobalamin or adenosylcobalamin before it can be absorbed into your body's, in most vitamin b12 absorption sites or cells. The vitamin's absorption site depends on which form of Vitamin B12 you're consuming. Cyanocobalamin needs to undergo an additional conversion process outside of your body before it can become methylcobalamin.

How much vitamin b12 do I need?

As little as 2.4 micrograms of vitamin b12 can put you at risk for deficiency, according to an animal study published in 2014 in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. If you eat meat or drink milk products every day, you shouldn’t have a problem getting enough vitamin b12  unless your body doesn’t absorb it properly. Vitamin b12 absorption sites are mainly two: The ileum, which is at the end of your small intestine, and through cells that line your stomach.

A genetic disorder known as pernicious anemia can cause vitamin b12 absorption issues in your ileum, but some research suggests that up to 30 percent of older adults have low levels of intrinsic factor, which is needed for absorption.

The signs you might be deficient

Vitamin B12 deficiency is an issue that many people don’t think about, but it can have serious consequences. A lack of vitamin B12 in your body can lead to confusion, memory loss, and numbness or tingling in your hands and feet. If left untreated, symptoms can become permanent and life-altering. To keep yourself healthy, you need enough vitamin B12 in your diet on a daily basis.

Check your serum vitamin b12 levels if you suspect a deficiency

Vitamin B12 is absorbed in your small intestine. Your body absorbs most of what you eat, but some can be lost in transit through your digestive system. The Cobalamin class of vitamins includes three types: methylcobalamin, hydroxocobalamin and adenosylcobalamin. That’s not all! There are actually eight types of vitamin b12  cyanocobalamine, hydroxocobalamine, nitrocobalamine, pantothenic acid, 5-deoxyadenosylcobalamine (delta or gamma), mafacorrin or folacin or corrinoid. Only two are active forms of vitamin b12 that can be used by your body: Methylcobalamin and Adenosylcobalamin. If you suspect a deficiency, check your serum vitamin b12 levels with a simple blood test at home. Vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms include fatigue, weakness, constipation, low appetite for meat and fish and numbness or tingling in hands and feet.