Vitamin B12: What to Know

Do you get enough vitamin B12? You'll want to make sure that you do, in order to stay healthy.

Vitamin B12 does a lot of things for your body. It helps make your DNA and your red blood cells, for example.

Since your body doesn't make vitamin B12, you have to get it from animal-based foods or from supplements. And you should do that on a regular basis. While B12 is stored in the liver for up to 5 years, you can eventually become deficient if your diet doesn't help maintain the levels.

Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Most people in the U.S. get enough of this nutrient. If you're not sure, you can ask your doctor if you should get a blood test to check your vitamin B12 level.

With age, it can become harder to absorb this vitamin. It can also happen if you have had weight loss surgery or another operation that removed part of your stomach, or if you drink heavily.

You may also be more likely to get a vitamin B12 deficiency if you have:

You can also get vitamin B12 deficiency if you follow a vegan diet (meaning you don't eat any animal products, including meat, milk, cheese, and eggs) or you are a vegetarian who doesn't eat enough eggs or dairy products to meet your vitamin B12 needs. In both of those cases, you can add fortified foods to your diet or take supplements to meet this need. Learn more about the different types of vitamin B supplements.

Treatment

If you have pernicious anemia or have trouble absorbing vitamin B12, you'll need shots of this vitamin at first. You may need to keep getting these shots, take high doses of a supplement by mouth, or get it nasally after that

If you don't eat animal products, you have options. You can change your diet to include vitamin B12-fortified grains, a supplement or B12 shots, or a high-dose oral vitamin B12 if you are deficient.

Older adults who have a vitamin B12 deficiency will likely have to take a daily B12 supplement or a multivitamin that contains B12.

For most people, treatment resolves the problem. But, any nerve damage that happened due to the deficiency could be permanent.

Prevention

Most people can prevent vitamin B12 deficiency by eating enough meat, poultry, seafood, dairy products, and eggs.

If you don't eat animal products, or you have a medical condition that limits how well your body absorbs nutrients, you can take vitamin B12 in a multivitamin or other supplement and foods fortified with vitamin B12.

If you choose to take vitamin B12 supplements, let your doctor know, so they can tell you how much you need, or make sure they won't affect any medicines you're taking.

 





Post time: Feb-23-2023