B-Complex Vitamins – Vitamin B12 Health Benefits

Unlike most B vitamins, vitamin B12, also known as cyanocobalamin or cobalamin, is unusual in the sense that you can store enough B12 in your liver to last you for around two years. It is also a vitamin in which vegans or vegetarians are most likely to become deficient in, as it is only found in significant amounts in animal based foods.

Another unusual fact about vitamin B12 is that it cannot be made directly in the body, as its synthesis depends on the presence of microorganisms such as yeast and bacteria.

If one wishes to obtain optimal health, it is therefore essential to eat animal foods containing B12 or to take vitamin B12 supplements. Some argue that spirulina algae is a good source of B12, however, studies have shown that the B12 it does contain has a very low bioavailability and therefore cannot be counted upon as a dietary source of B12.

Why Is Vitamin B12 Important?

Vitamin B12 is one of eight members of the water soluble vitamin B group complex as shown below:

•    Vitamin B1 (thiamine)
•    Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
•    Vitamin B3 (niacin)
•    Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)
•    Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
•    Vitamin B7 (biotin)
•    Vitamin B9 (folic acid)
•    Vitamin B12 (cobalamins)

If you would like to learn more about the vitamin B group complex as a whole and the beneficial effects they have in the body, please see the following two videos by Living Now Life Coach Bianca as the rest of this article shall focus exclusively on the health benefits of vitamin B12.

Cobalamin plays many essential roles within the body that help to keep you functioning in optimal health. It is from these roles in the body that cobalamin is then able to create many of the health benefits associated with its intake.

So lets first look at the major activities it is involved with in the body, and then some of the possible beneficial effects that you can expect to experience from including it in your diet or in supplement form.

Red Blood Cells

All cells in the body require a set of instructions in order for them to be produced and function normally. This instruction set comes in the form of genetic information stored in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules. Out of all the cells that are produced in your body, red blood cells are one of the most important because without them you would be unable to transport oxygen around your body and so you would die.

Cobalamin is a vitamin that is essential for red blood cell production as it is needed for the proper synthesis of DNA. Without cobalamin, DNA synthesis can become impaired leading to abnormally shaped red blood cells that are unable to transport oxygen properly. When this happens, a person is said to suffer from anemia which can cause symptoms such as fatigue and a shortness of breath.

In fact, since virtually every cell and tissue in your body requires a regular and constant supply of oxygen, a deficiency in the body can negatively affect your overall level of general health.

The brain for example, uses up a large amount of your oxygen supply, typically around 15-20%, and if it doesn’t get enough oxygen, you are likely to experience impairments relating to your ability to think clearly, concentrate and remember new information that you come across.

So as you can see, cobalamin plays a vitally important role in helping to keep you alive and functioning normally. So this is definitely one vitamin that you don’t want to be without!

Brain

In your brain there are specialized nerve cells known as neurons. These cells continually form throughout your life, and are what allow you to think, learn and remember. Surrounding each neuron is a fatty coating known as the myelin sheath that insulates nerve cells and enables them to send messages more quickly throughout your nervous system.

Due to its role in DNA synthesis, vitamin B12 helps to maintain the myelin sheath and thereby keeps nerve cells healthy and functioning properly. This is obviously a very important role to play, as if nerve cells become damaged then you may experience a loss of sensation or movement in regions of the body that are controlled by those nerves. Unfortunately, such damage tends to be permanent and so cannot be reversed.

Another interesting role of vitamin B12 is the effect it has on the brain as a whole. As we age, the volume of the brain begins to shrink, a process known as age related brain atrophy, which can subsequently lead to cognitive impairments such as a reduced ability to inhibit irrelevant stimuli when trying to focus on something in particular, and a reduced divided attention ability such as doing two tasks at once like driving whilst speaking on a cell phone. Brain atrophy has also been linked to neurological disorders such as depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in older adults.

Some studies have shown that individuals who tend to have low levels of vitamin B12 in their diet tend to experience greater reductions in brain volume as they age, thereby making them more susceptible to suffering from cognitive impairments and brain disorders. What is even more alarming is that these individuals only had low levels of B12 and were not deficient, which suggests that B12 plays a crucial role in helping to maintain a healthy brain as you age.

Furthermore, vitamin B12 is also important for the production of the chemical messengers that the brain uses to communicate with itself and to regulate the functions of the body.

Neurotransmitters such as serotonin for example, can affect your mood causing you to feel happy or sad, whilst neurohormones such as melatonin, can affect how awake you feel during the day and how easily you are able to fall asleep at night. So not only is B12 important for keeping your brain healthy, but it is also important for allowing you to feel healthy!

Energy

If there is one thing that you should remember about the B vitamins as a whole, it is that they are essential for giving your body energy by allowing you to properly utilize the nutrients found in the foods that you eat as part of your normal everyday diet.

Certain enzymes that are required for the breakdown of proteins, carbohydrates and fats for example, depend upon the presence of vitamin B12. Thus without B12 and the B vitamins in general, you won’t be gaining the maximum amount of nutrition as you should be, even if you are eating nutritious foods to begin with. Some believe that a lack of nutrients in the diet can lead to weight gain by causing people to overeat in an attempt to obtain the level of nutrients that their body requires.

Interestingly, taking a whole food vitamin B supplement, such as several teaspoons of brewers yeast with a meal, can help you to better digest your food and will keep you feeling full for longer before hunger pangs set in again. This is especially true if that meal contains a lot of protein, as protein is known to increase levels of a hormone that controls how hungry you feel.

What Are The Health Benefits Of B12 (Cobalamin)?

The beneficial health effects of vitamin B12 come largely as a result of the roles it plays within the body as has just been discussed. These are, DNA synthesis, red blood cell production, neurological roles and energy metabolism. A list and summary of the main health benefits can be found below.

• Important for cell production and renewal, so can help to keep skin, hair and nails healthy.

• Reduces risk of peripheral neuropathy by maintaining health of the nervous system.

• May reduce incidence of depression and improve mental health.

• Seems to reduce the risk of brain atrophy in the elderly and thus degenerative brain disorders.

• Needed for the production of red blood cells and the prevention of anaemia.

• Vital for energy metabolism from protein, carbohydrate and fat containing foods.

• Low levels of B12 may increase the risk of breast cancer in women.

• Increases the bioavailability of folic acid, and when the two are combined together, can help to control homocysteine levels which may then reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

• May assist weight loss by increasing metabolism.

• Needed by pregnant women to ensure healthy development of fetus.

• Needed for the production of melatonin which helps to promote easier and deeper sleep.

• May help to increase sperm count in men.

• Helps to strengthen your immune system.

Vit-B12 Videos

The following videos discuss some further reasons why cobalamin B12 helps to promote wellness.

How Much Vitamin B12 Do You Need?

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin B12 is 2mg, although a therapeutic dosage is considered to be 1000-3000mg/day.

Where Do You Get It From?

Vitamin B12 is virtually absent from plant foods, so it is best to eat foods such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs and cheese to get a reasonable amount that your body requires. Algae, such a spirulina, has not been shown to be a good source of vitamin B12.

What Can Cause A Deficiency?

Excessive alcohol consumption, contraceptive pills, sleeping pills and a vegetarian/vegan diet can all lead to a deficiency in vitamin B12.

In general, most people who eat a healthy balanced diet should not experience a deficiency of B12 at the current RDA. However, some researchers have called for the B12 RDA limit to be increased by 500% as they believe that the current limit is far too low.

It should also be noted that in the previous study referenced earlier in this article, those who had low levels of vitamin B12, but were not deficient, showed a greater decrease in brain volume compared to those who had higher levels of B12. This does seem to support the idea that the current B12 RDA limit is lower than it should be.

Signs Of Deficiency

Some of the signs of a vitamin B12 deficiency include:

• Fatigue
• Poor memory
• Poor concentration
• Mood swings
• Breathlessness
• Anemia
• Muscle soreness/tingling

Who Needs Vitamin B12 Supplements?

Vegans, vegetarians, alcoholics, people taking contraceptives, cholesterol lowering or diabetic drugs or those suffering from chronic fatigue may all benefit from taking vitamin B12 supplements.

Unless you are eating a lot of B12 rich foods such as liver, supplementation may be your only way to achieve therapeutic doses. This may necessary for example, if you are taking B12 to promote brain health.

Note: The absorption of vitamin B12 is heavily dependent upon the presence of hydrochloric acid in your stomach. As hydrochloric acid levels tend to decline as you age, you may therefore wish to take B12 as part of a vitamin B group complex to increase stomach acid secretion or to take hydrochloric acid supplements with your meals.

If you are purchasing supplements, look for liposomal vitamin b12 supplements as they offer the best bioavailability.

Best Food Sources

Some of the best food sources to obtain vitamin B12 naturally from your diet are:

• Liver
• Duck
• Plaice
• Scrambled eggs
• Beef
• Cheese
• Yeast extract