The reason why I am writing about vitamin B12, is because it is so important and so many people do not take enough of this vitamin every day. I also want to look at the role of iron in our bodies and will writing about that next time around.
Vitamin B12 is vital to our every day life. The scientific name is cyanocobamin and is required in the manufacturing and maintaining of red blood cells, growth, release of energy, carbohydrate metabolism, good digestion, maintains the substance that covers our nerves, fights ageing, improves memory and better concentration. It is also needed to help absorb calcium into our bodies.
The daily recommended allowance for men and woman is around 2 micrograms per day. An overdose of vitamin B12 is not really possible because excess vitamins are released from the body through urine. No symptoms of taking too much vitamin B12 has been recorded, or is known at this moment in time.
What we do know is that if you do not take enough vitamin B12, it will result in a deficiency and can include symptoms like weight loss, back pain, weakness, fatigue, tingling of fingers, tiredness, poor appetite, depression, lack of balance, eroding of fatty tissue and the insulating of the nerve fibres. A deficiency can also lead to irreversible neurological damage.
Vitamin B12 is not manufactured by any plants and can only be found in animal products. Because of this, the people that are most prone to vitamin B12 deficiency, are vegetarians and specially vegans. They might therefor have to take a vitamin B12 supplement. Food that contains vitamin B12 naturally includes organic chicken, liver, kidney, red meats, shellfish, fish like salmon, eggs, cheese and cow’s milk.
The biggest enemy to vitamin B12 is water, sunlight, alcohol and sleeping pills. Therefor you have to make sure that you store these foods in the refrigerator and you take a supplement (or extra vitamin B12) if you know that you will be consuming lots of alcohol in a specific period of time. Alcohol is known to destroy most of the B vitamins, so make sure you take in a little bit extra vitamins before you go out. Also take care when you boil or cook these foods in water. Use only a little bit and don’t cook for too long.
Vitamin B12 differs greatly from the other vitamin B complex when it comes to absorption into the body. Vitamin B12 needs more than 3 hours in your body before it is absorbed while the rest of the B complex is absorbed immediately. An interesting fact about vitamin B12 is that it is now being tested as a possibility in reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s and even controlling it. This is in testing stage, so we hope that it can be proven in the future. It might turn out to be a great cure, maybe a way of controlling it or giving relieve to the person from the symptoms itself.
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