Article on Vitamin B12

By Dominic Bowen


Vitamin B12 is necessary to each cell and system, including the blood and nerve system.

Low levels of vitamin B12 ( as well as foliate and vitamin B6 ) are linked with raised levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that, at raised levels, is connected with a raised chance of coronary illness and stroke and could also perform a part in age-implicated psychological decline and dementia.

Vitamin B12 is found naturally only in foods of animal origin ; plenty of other foods are bolstered with it. The body can store big amounts. Claims, purported benefits : Vitamin B12 inhibits bafflement and memory loss in older folks, protects the heart, peps you up, especially when given as injections. Treats canker sores. Bottom line : many of us over age 50 don't produce enough stomach acid to adequately absorb Vitamin B12.

A bad diet and heavy drinking can also make a contribution to a deficiency. Vegans ( who eat no animal products ) and people with abdominal medical conditions may also be in peril. Tough Vitamin B12 deficiency may lead to bafflement, memory loss, shivering and weakness in the limbs, hallucinations, and listlessness.

A much rarer but more important kind of B12 deficiency that may occur at all ages is pernicious anemia, in which the stomach just about stops producing acid and a protein also required for absorption ( natural factor ), so that almost no B12 from food is lapped up. At first this will cause anemia, but ultimately, when Vitamin B12 stores are exhausted, there could be irrevocable damage caused to the nerve system.

Blood tests can diagnose a Vitamin B12 deficiency ; high quantities of B12 can correct it. Older people need 6 to fifteen micrograms of B12 daily ( the RDA is just 2.4 micrograms ), simply acquired from food or a multi-vitamin. Most multi marketed for seniors have 25 or 30 micrograms. Unless you have been diagnosed as deficient you do not need additional augmentation.




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