Facts About Vitamins

Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) - Recommended daily allowance of vitamin B12, the best sources and symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency

B12 is just one of a large number of essential B vitamins necessary for a strong and healthy mind and body. Also known as cobalamin, vitamin B12 has a great number and wide range of uses in various body organs and processes. These tasks include helping with the conversion of all the fats, proteins and carbohydrates we eat daily into the energy our cells need to function. It is also involved in the creation of healthy red blood cells, vital to the smooth running of the body and which help to prevent heart disease. Among the vital roles Vitamin B12 has, it plays an important part in helping the immune system to keep running efficiently and helping to form the covering that protects the body's many nerve cells making it an essential part of the nervous system.

It is not only in the production of red blood cells that B12 has an essential role; in fact it is vital for every cell in the body, from white blood cells to nerve cells and every type in between. Without B12 the body’s immunity to bacteria and viruses would be dramatically reduced as its absence would cause the white blood cells to loose their effectiveness and thus the effectiveness of entire immune system would be compromised. Nerve cells need B12 to form a fatty layer that coats them and protects them against damage, brain cells are particularly prone to this kind of damage and disease if there is not enough B12 present to maintain the protective layer.

Although it does so much and is vital for many of the processes that enable our body’s to function properly we actually need to eat only very little B12. Most people consume far more B12 than is actually necessary to fulfill the body’s requirements (more than the recommended daily allowance); there are several good reasons for this. First the body is quite bad at absorbing B12 so we only absorb a fraction of the amount we eat, so we need to eat a lot to absorb enough into our bodies. The body helps B12 absorption by creating a substance that aids the process, however this only allows half of the B12 we eat to be absorbed. B12 deficiency is extremely rare and is made even more unlikely by the fact that it can recycle the B12 that it has previously absorbed meaning it lasts for quite a while working inside the body. A few people do develop anaemia due to lack of vitamin B12 in their diet, the lack of B12 affects red blood cell production. Groups of people that may be affected by this include young children who are fussy eaters and those who are on restricted diets for other reasons. It is important to encourage those on a restricted diet to eat as wide a range of foods as possible in order to gain enough B12 as well as other essential nutrients.

Vitamin B12 or cobalamin is a water-soluble B-complex vitamin which plays a highly important role in the normal functioning of the brain, nervous system, production of the red blood cells as well as in DNA synthesis. It is also necessary for folic acid to fulfill its role. Like folic acid depends on vitamin B12, latter depends on folic acid as well. Vitamin B12 is the most complex of all known vitamins, while its deficiency can cause serious damage to health, especially to the brain and nervous system. Vitamin B12 is required only in small quantities. The recommended daily allowance for adults is 2 micrograms and 2,2 to 2,5 for pregnant and breast-feeding women. Like vitamin D, vitamin B12 is found only in foods that come from animals: fish, meat, dairy products, shellfish and eggs. Thus vegetarians who do not consume animal products of any kind are at increased risk for vitamin B12 deficiency. Besides strict vegetarians, people at higher risk for vitamin B12 deficiency are also the elderly and people with increased vitamin B12 requirements associated with pregnancy or some medical conditions. Signs and symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency are very nonspecific and similar to those in many health problems: tiredness, irritability, fatigue, poor memory, depression, numbness in hands and legs, anemia, tingling tongue, sores at the corners of the mouth and disorientation

Vitamin B12 deficiency is believed to increase the risk of the following diseases and disorders: Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, high cholesterol, shaky-legs syndrome and angioplasty.