Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is part of the B vitamin group. The human body assimilates it from dairy products, eggs and
meat, and there are few vegetable food sources for it. Almost no vegetables contain vitamin B12 with the
exception of some algae.
What it serves for!
Blood cell production and nervous system maintenance are not possible without vitamin B12. This vitamin
has a major role in DNA synthesis and cellular division. Adults and children need this vitamin just as much.
In the brain, vitamin B12 maintains the myelin by its role in the metabolism of fatty acids.
Vitamin B12 deficiency
The body can store small amounts of vitamin B12, most of it in the liver. The bile excretes and reabsorbs it
into a circuit that is known as enterohepatic circulation. If you don't get enough of this vitamin from your
diet, you are likely to develop anemia or neurological problems, although problems can appear within
twenty years from the switch to a B12-deficient diet.
Deficiencies are more common with vegans and vegetarians and symptoms may include anemia with
excessive tiredness, poor immune function, pallor, menstrual disorders and breathlessness. Permanent
neurological damage only occurs after prolonged vitamin B12 deficiency.
Balance your diet!
You'll have no imbalance in the body if your diet contains enough dairy products, eggs and meat.
Nevertheless, milk boiling and yogurt fermentation could destroy this vitamin. As for vegetable sources,
there is not sufficient data to support the use of spirulina as a dietary supplement to compensate for vitamin
B12 diet deficiency.
There are studies that suggest that spirulina contains B12 analogues, which are compounds with a similar
structure to B12. Scientists do not know whether these analogues are good or bad, but there are chances for
these substances to compete with the real vitamin B12 and interfere with its metabolism. This means that on
the long run, a B12 vegetal product could do more harm than good.
Special mentions!
Nutritionists have reached a consensus that no vegetal sources for vitamin B12 are reliable, and therefore
vegans and vegetarians are advised to consume foods fortified with vitamin B12. Sunflower margarines,
breakfast cereals, soya milk and yeast extracts are fortified with vitamin B12.
Nursing mothers require a higher intake of vitamin B12, but pregnant women don't. No toxic reactions have
been associated with high vitamin B12 intakes.
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