Why vitamin B12 is so important!

Veröffentlicht am: June 12, 2024
Sarah Allen
Sarah Allen

Nutritionist and dietician

Do you feel exhausted, drained and weak from time to time? This may be due to a vitamin B12 deficiency.

Hardly any other vitamin has such a strong influence on your well-being and physical performance as vitamin B12.

What is vitamin B12?

Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is a water-soluble vitamin. Your body needs B12 vitamins for energy metabolism, for forming blood cells and for building the nerve sheaths.

This vitamin is one of the few vitamins that humans cannot produce themselves. As a vital vitamin, it is involved in numerous processes in our body.

Contents

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What is the effect of vitamin B12 capsules?

1. Maintaining the body's energy level with vitamin B12 capsules

Cobalamin is often advertised as the vitamin for “more power and energy” because vitamin B12 supports the metabolism.

The vitamin is needed to convert carbohydrates into glucose that can be used by the body. Glucose from carbohydrate-containing foods serves as an energy source for the body. Therefore, people with vitamin B12 deficiency often suffer from fatigue.

2. Vitamin B12 capsules support digestion

Cobalamin is involved in digestive symptoms. How do vitamin B12 capsules contribute to healthy digestion? For example, it promotes the colonization of healthy bacteria in the gut. This eliminates harmful bacteria from the digestive tract while simultaneously colonizing it with healthy bacteria. This is the best way to prevent digestive disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease or candida infections.

➤ By the way: humans also have B12-producing bacteria in their large intestine.

3. Vitamin B12 for a healthy nervous system and to boost mood

One property of vitamin B12 has been particularly well researched: the vitamin is involved in regulating a healthy nervous system and can also reduce the occurrence of mood disorders such as depression or anxiety.

Vitamin B12 is needed for concentration and cognition, for example for learning.

➤ A deficiency can therefore lead to concentration difficulties and an increased risk of attention disorders.

4. Vitamin B12 is essential for a healthy pregnancy

Everyone needs regular vitamins and minerals. During pregnancy, an adequate intake is even more important because the child also needs to be supplied. Some nutrients are particularly important for expectant mothers to keep an eye on.

Vitamin B12 is needed to create nucleic acid – or DNA – which is the basic genetic material for our bodies. As such, vitamin B12 is not only a key nutrient for growth and development, but a vital component of a healthy pregnancy. Vitamin B12 interacts with folic acid in the body and can therefore help to reduce birth defects such as neural tube defects

➤ 26% of women suffer from a vitamin B12 deficiency during pregnancy.

5. Vitamin B12 capsules for heart health

Vitamin B12 supports the health of the cardiovascular system in a variety of ways. This is particularly important because heart disease, such as heart attacks, is the number one cause of death worldwide today. Vitamin B12 helps to lower elevated levels of homocysteine, which is considered one of the major risk factors for heart disease. Homocysteine is an amino acid.

Some evidence suggests that in addition to lowering homocysteine levels, vitamin B12 may also help to lower high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

What causes vitamin B12 deficiency?

Vitamin B12 is responsible for the nervous system. Among other things, a deficiency can lead to the destruction of the so-called myelin sheath and to nerve damage.

Common causes of deficiency are:

  • chronic inflammation of the stomach and intestines
  • deficiency of the protein intrinsic factor
  • taking medication for diabetes or too much stomach acid
  • regular alcohol consumption

A B12 deficiency is difficult to detect because there are no consistent symptoms. Some people notice the symptoms and for some, it is more subtle and gradual. If left untreated, a B12 deficiency can lead to irreversible nerve damage and other health problems.

➤ In Germany, one in ten people has a vitamin B12 deficiency

8 signs and symptoms that indicate a true vitamin B12 deficiency:

1. Shortness of breath and dizziness: Since not enough oxygen is transported to the cells, symptoms such as shortness of breath and dizziness occur.

2. Weakness and fatigue: A low level of red blood cells in the blood means that too little oxygen is transported – this leads to fatigue and weakness.

3. Vision problems: Nerve damage can also occur in the eye, leading to blurred vision and impaired vision – an optical neuropathy.

4. Glossitis and mouth ulcers: The tongue is inflamed, and its shape and color change. It can lead to a smoothing of the surface of the tongue where the taste buds are located. Speaking and eating becomes difficult.

5. Pale or yellowish skin: Vitamin B12 is important for the production of red blood cells. If not enough of these are produced, anemia can result. The proportion of red blood cells in the blood is reduced. At the same time, the red blood cells that are formed are very fragile. If they break open, an excess of bilirubin can result, which makes the skin appear yellow.

6. Mood swings: High homocysteine levels can damage brain tissue, which impedes signals to and from the brain. This results in mood swings.

7. Sensation of “ants crawling”: Long-term deficiency causes nerve damage. Myelin (the protective sheath around nerves) is not produced enough and a tingling sensation begins in the feet and hands.

8. Changes in mobility: A damaged nervous system leads to balance and coordination disorders. This can lead to more frequent falls.

Who can suffer from a vitamin B12 deficiency?

A deficiency is most common in senior citizens. There is an increased risk for people who do not get enough vitamin B12 from their diet.

Particularly at-risk groups:

  • Vegans and vegetarians: vitamin B12 is almost exclusively found in animal-based foods. The vitamin stores last for about 3 to 5 years.
  • People over 50: older adults produce less gastric acid, which is essential for the absorption of vitamin B12.
  • Pregnant women and infants: a deficiency can lead to greater risks and complications for babies
  • People taking certain medications, such as medication for heartburn or diabetes
  • Sufferers of Crohn's disease: inflammatory bowel disease

➤ Over-65s: one in four people suffer from a vitamin B12 deficiency

Which foods contain vitamin B12?

The right diet can prevent a vitamin B12 deficiency. It is very important to regularly consume vitamin B12 foods. Cobalamin can only be produced by microorganisms and enters the animal and human organism via the food chain.

Good sources of vitamin B12 are:

  • meat & offal
  • eggs
  • fish
  • dairy products (cheese, yogurt, etc.)

Foods of plant origin may contain traces of vitamin B12 due to bacterial fermentation, as in the case of sauerkraut. Seaweed such as chlorella and spirulina, as well as products containing cyanobacteria, are also advertised as plant-based sources of vitamin B12.

According to current knowledge, it is not possible to get enough vitamin B12 from plant-based foods alone. People on a vegan diet are therefore recommended to take a vitamin B12 supplement on a permanent basis to ensure an adequate vitamin B12 supply.

Did you know that animals usually absorb vitamin B12 through fortified feed? Ruminants, such as cows, can also produce vitamin B12 themselves.

How much vitamin B12 do we need?

The need for vitamin B12 depends on many factors, such as age, eating habits, previous illnesses, medication taken or similar.

The average daily requirement in micrograms (µg) by age:

Infants

0 to 3 months

 0.4_µg   

4 to 11 months

 0.8_µg

Children

1 to 3 years

 1.0_µg

4 to 6 years

 1.5_µg

7 to 9 years

 1.8_µg

10 to 12 years  

 2.0_µg

13 to 14 years

 3.0_µg

Teenagers + adults   

From 15 years

 3.0_µg

Pregnant women

 

 3.5_µg

Breastfeeding

 

 4.0_µg

Conclusion:

  • Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin that is needed for the production of new DNA, red blood cells, proteins, hormones and lipids. Cobalamin is particularly important for a strong immune system and healthy nerves.
  • A vitamin B12 deficiency can be recognized by symptoms such as shortness of breath, dizziness, weakness, fatigue and also visual disturbances.
  • Vegans and vegetarians, the elderly, pregnant women and infants, as well as people who regularly take medication, are particularly at risk.
  • The largest proportion of vitamin B12 sources is found in meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. The German Nutrition Society recommends that adults consume 4µg/day.

 

Sources (in English):

Lindsay H Allen, How common is vitamin B-12 deficiency?, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 89, Issue 2, February 2009, Pages 693S–696S,

Markle H. V. (1996). Cobalamin. Critical reviews in clinical laboratory sciences, 33(4), 247–356, doi.10.3109/10408369609081009

Pawlak, R., Lester, S. E., & Babatunde, T. (2014). The prevalence of cobalamin deficiency among vegetarians assessed by serum vitamin B12: a review of literature. European journal of clinical nutrition, 68(5), 541–548, doi.10.1038/ejcn.2014.46

Arve Ulvik, Stein Emil Vollset, Geir Hoff, Per Magne Ueland, Coffee Consumption and Circulating B-Vitamins in Healthy Middle-Aged Men and Women, Clinical Chemistry, Volume 54, Issue 9, 1 September 2008, Pages 1489–1496

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Stockton, L., Simonsen, C., & Seago, S. (2017). Nitrous oxide-induced vitamin B12 deficiency. Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center), 30(2), 171–172, doi.10.1080/08998280.2017.11929571

Marshall, S.M. 60 years of metformin use: a glance at the past and a look to the future. Diabetologia 60, 1561–1565 (2017), doi.10.1007/s00125-017-4343-y

Aroda, V. R., Edelstein, S. L., Goldberg, R. B., Knowler, W. C., Marcovina, S. M., Orchard, T. J., Bray, G. A., Schade, D. S., Temprosa, M. G., White, N. H., Crandall, J. P., & Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group (2016). Long-term Metformin Use and Vitamin B12 Deficiency in the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study. The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 101(4), 1754–1761, doi.10.1210/jc.2015-3754

Bannister, C. A., Holden, S. E., Jenkins-Jones, S., Morgan, C. L., Halcox, J. P., Schernthaner, G., Mukherjee, J., & Currie, C. J. (2014). Can people with type 2 diabetes live longer than those without? A comparison of mortality in people initiated with metformin or sulphonylurea monotherapy and matched, non-diabetic controls. Diabetes, obesity & metabolism, 16(11), 1165–1173, doi.10.1111/dom.12354