B12 Better for Vegetarians?

Many experts previously believed that strict vegetarians were the primary group that could develop a vitamin B12 deficiency. If you had adequate stores of this important nutrient in your body, the experts believed you were "safe" for many years from developing a B12 deficiency.

Now we know better.

Vitamin B12 depletion and deficiency are much more common than previously thought, especially in the over-60 population. In fact, it's believed that almost one in four people over 60 have deficient levels of this vital vitamin.

Equally disturbing are emerging signs that other age groups harbor suboptimal blood levels of B12 as well.

Why is vitamin B12 deficiency such a big deal?

Your body depends on vitamin B12 for a host of functions, including…

· Helping to maintain normal energy levels*

· Promoting healthy neurological activity, including mental alertness*

· Supporting normal homocysteine levels for healthy cardiac function*

· Helping to ease occasional stress and sleeplessness*

· Maintaining healthy cell growth and repair*

· Promoting normal immune function*

· Supporting normal metabolism of carbohydrates and fats*

When your blood levels of vitamin B12 are low, one or more of these functions may be disrupted.*

Without adequate blood levels of B12, you can experience symptoms related to low energy, mental fatigue, mood changes, sleep difficulties, and even occasional indigestion.*

Your body relies on the efficient conversion of carbohydrates to glucose - your body's source of fuel - just like your car needs to be able to use gas to run smoothly. Vitamin B12 plays a major role in that conversion in your body.* Likewise, B12 enables your body to convert fatty acids into energy as well.*

Contrary to what you might have heard, there's really no solid evidence that supplemental vitamin B12 helps you lose weight.

Overall, vitamin B12 is a nutrient your body cannot do without for efficient, healthy metabolism of fats and carbohydrates.*

The older you get the more likely you are to have a vitamin B12 deficiency. The two ways that you become deficient in vitamin B12 are from not getting enough in your diet and from losing the ability to absorb it.

The older you get the more your digestive system breaks down, especially if you have been following the standard American diet. Specifically the lining of your stomach gradually loses its ability to produce hydrochloric acid which releases vitamin B 12 from your food. The use of antacids or anti ulcer drugs will also lower your stomach acid secretion and decrease your ability to absorb vitamin B 12. Infection with Helicobactor pylori, a common contributor to stomach ulcers, can also result in vitamin B12 deficiency.

However the main cause of vitamin B 12 deficiency is a term researchers call food-cobalamin malabsorption syndrome. Cobalamin is the scientific term for vitamin B12. This typically results when your stomach lining loses its ability to produce intrinsic factor which is a protein that binds to vitamin B12 and allows your body to absorb it at the end of your small intestine.

If you often feel tired, run-down, and lacking in energy, you're not alone. Low energy is one of our country's biggest health complaints.

Some of the top reasons for this are:

· Refined foods sold in grocery stores are depleted of vital nutrients...

· Refined foods are loaded with sugar...

· Refined foods are full of chemicals...

· Refined foods are overloaded with food colorings; and...

· Refined foods are loaded with preservatives...

...but it doesn't stop there, either.

Add the harmful effects of caffeine, pollution, conventional therapies, and the stress most of us experience everyday... and you've got yourself a recipe for energy drain.



If you avoid meat, you need b12.

Many people avoid red meats for a large variety of reasons. If you are one of them, you are at a high risk for developing vitamin B12 deficiency. Why? Because plant sources have virtually no vitamin B12. And oral forms of B12 in nearly all supplements are practically useless, as little is absorbed into your bloodstream.

Vegetarians should take this essential micronutrient to ensure an adequate supply of it, because it is found almost exclusively in animal tissues. And, the few plant foods that are sources of B12 are actually B12 analogs -- not the form that provides all the benefits of the real deal.

Simply put, an analog is a substance that blocks the uptake of true B12. The result being, your body's need for the nutrient actually increases.

Furthermore, your body's need for this nutrient may also increase if you take Metformin©. Metformin may interfere with calcium metabolism. And this interference may reduce B12 absorption, because this absorption requires calcium.

Studies suggest that 10% to 30% of patients taking Metformin show evidence of reduced Vitamin B12 Methylcobolamin Spray absorption. That's why it is important to speak with your doctor to discuss the best way to maintain Vegan Vitamin B12 Methylcobolamin Spray levels when taking this medication.

Now, if getting a good night's sleep has also become increasingly more difficult for you, here's...