Vitamin B12
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 th
e 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.