Searching the long list of vitamins and their role in your body can be hard if you don’t know what you are looking for. Also, some vitamins are better understood than others: While you may understand the benefits of vitamin C, D, E & K, chances are you’re a little less familiar with B vitamins, especially B12 and what they do.
Vitamin B12 came into the spotlight right after the celebrities started posting about their B12 shots. People are going hysterical about taking B12, without seeing if they even need it.
Before settling for the hype, you need to know what vitamin B12 is and what its role is in our body. Here we discuss if you are falling off the optimal levels and what to do if you are.
What is Vitamin B12?
Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble micronutrient that’s found commonly in many animal foods that you eat.
It is one of the 8 B vitamins. All B vitamins help the body convert carbohydrates into glucose, thus adding energy to body cells. These B-complex vitamins also aid the body in using fats and proteins.
We can’t emphasize more about the importance of B vitamins for promoting healthy skin, hair, eyes, and liver.
There are several forms of B12, but most of them contain the mineral cobalt, as per the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This allows scientists to study these nutrients as they pertain not only to vitamin B12 status, so we can learn how it affects everything from health to cognition, absorption, and digestion — but also ways to inhibit chronic diseases like dementia and cancer through better governance of your body.
Role of Vitamin B12 in our body
Apart from nourishing nerve cells, vitamin B12 helps in the production of DNA and RNA. Working closely with vitamin B9, B12 helps in making red blood cells and regulates iron quantity throughout your body. Together, they produce S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) , a vital compound for immune function and mood regulation.
Vitamins B12, B6, and B9 work closely in regulating amino acid homocysteine levels in the blood.
If someone has heart disease, their homocysteine levels ought to pop up. However, it’s not still clear if homocysteine is a cause of heart disease or just a signal that someone might have heart disease.
While the shortage of vitamin B12 is found rarely in young adults, it’s just very common for elderly people to get mild deficiencies.
It could be because of their diets low in B12 or they might have less stomach acid, which the body needs to absorb B12. We’ve noted down the most eminent ranges of symptoms in people falling short in vitamin B12.
Symptoms of Vitamin B12 deficiency
- Fatigue
- Shortness of breath
- Diarrhea
- Nervousness
- Numbness
- Tingling sensation in the fingers and toes
- Severe deficiency of B12 causes nerve damage.
Who is at risk?
- Vegans: Those munching only on a plant-based diet are possibly going to miss vitamin B12, as most of it comes through animal sources.
- People who are prone to absorbing nutrients because of Crohn’s disease, pancreatic disease, weight loss surgery, or medications.
- Individuals infected with Helicobacter pylori that cause ulcers have lower B12 levels. H. Pylori damages stomach cells that make intrinsic factors, a substance the body needs to absorb B12.
- Those with HIV, Diabetes.
- Aged people run low in vitamin B12.
- Too much consumption of vitamin B9.
Medical uses of Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is commonly used in treating:
- Pernicious anemia- Six patients with pernicious anemia were given daily inhalation as smoking vitamins can help in a rapid rise in its level. The therapy worked in complete clinical and hematological remission of vitamin B12.
- Heart disease- B-complex vitamins, especially vitamin B12, help lower homocysteine levels. People who are concerned about heart disease should try to get enough B vitamins from healthy foods.
- Pulmonary Diffusion Defects- Cyanocobalamin was provided to patients with pulmonary diffusion defects in vitamin B12 inhalers. Each of the groups reported having a raise in B12 levels, therefore suggesting absorption had occurred by diffusion through the lung alveoli.
- Breast cancer- As vitamin B12 works with folate in the body, it might help reduce breast cancer chances. A preliminary study suggested that post-menopause in women having the lowest amounts of B12 in their diet had an increased risk for breast cancer.
- Male infertility- Research shows that vitamin B12 supplements improve sperm counts and its ability to swim. Scientists confirm more research in this aspect.
The Most Efficient Form Of Taking Vitamin B12
Though animal-based food sources form the chief source of vitamin B12, it isn’t an effective way of absorption. Some people with malabsorption issues fail at meeting the optimum level.
With science developing at such a mad level, we have vitamin vapes available for quicker absorption and more effective B12 induction in our bodies.
One can keep vitamin B12 vape pens, for instance. They are easy to carry and grip around. The inhalation science leads back millennia and can be used by all age groups.
Thanks to technological advances, for coming up with such a compelling alternative.
So humanity can bloom.
