Getting enough Vitamin B12
A lack of vitamin B12 can make you anaemic, cause nerve damage and psychiatric abnormalities, and even raise your risk of heart disease.
Sue RaddMar 20, 2023, 12:39 AM
A lack of vitamin B12 can make you anaemic, cause nerve damage and psychiatric abnormalities, and even raise your risk of heart disease. When did you last have your levels checked?
Deficiency Problems
In the early stages, vitamin B12 deficiency may cause numbness, tingling, poor balance or fatigue. Fortunately, these are all reversible. It’s the long-term lack of B12 that’s a serious cause for concern, since it can lead to irreversible brain damage.
An inadequate diet is one of the main reasons for low levels of B12, especially among vegans and vegetarians. Those over the age of 50 are at particular risk, as are people who are taking metformin medication for diabetes or pre-diabetes.
Where To Get B12
Very small amounts of vitamin B12 can be produced in the mouth and colon, but these are either insufficient to meet the daily requirement or too far down in the intestinal tract to be available for absorption, which occurs in the small intestine. Vitamin B12 needs to come regularly from either food, supplements or injections.
It’s a good idea for those who are over 50, who are taking metformin, or who are vegan (or vegetarians who consume little or no dairy) to check their blood levels of B12 annually.
More Articles
Nov 9, 2022
Does God Give Signs?
Is it appropriate to ask God for a sign when you want to know whether or not to do something?
Nov 9, 2022
An Exile in Babylon
Let's look at the historicity and accuracy of a long-disputed, even ignored, archaeological source - the Bible
Nov 9, 2022
Love and Obedience
Which comes first?
Mar 20, 2023
7 Non-Material Ways of Giving
Christmas may be a season of giving, but as Victor Parachin discovers, you don't have to go broke doing so
Mar 20, 2023
Ben Carson: The Faith of a Surgeon
Jarrod Stackelroth explores the life and faith of one ofthe world's bestknown and "gifted" neurosurgeons.