Vitamin B12 is water-soluble and is needed by every cell in the body. B12 is a vitamin required for blood formation and rapidly growing tissues. Many people say that the only foods which contain vitamin B12 are animal-derived foods. This is untrue. No foods naturally contain vitamin B12 – neither animal or plant foods. Vitamin B12 is a microbe – a bacteria – it is produced by microorganisms. Vitamin B12 is the only vitamin that contains a trace element – cobalt – which gives this vitamin its chemical name – cobalamin – which is at the centre of its molecular structure. Humans and all vertebrates require cobalt, although it is assimilated only in the form of vitamin B12.
Vitamin B12 is produced exclusively by microorganisms, but is also found in animal flesh due to ingestion, or presence of the micro organisms in the gut. However, since grazing “meat animals” tend to accumulate heavy metals from the environment, it might be suggested that animal sources of B12 are not as “good” a source as might be supposed.
B12 deficiency is most common in elderly white men and least common in black and Asian American women. Hyperhomocysteinemia, which is most strongly associated with low cobalamin concentrations, is also most common in elderly whites, whereas that associated with renal insufficiency is more common in blacks and Asian Americans. Ethnic differences in cobalamin deficiency and the homocysteine patterns associated with it or with renal insufficiency warrant consideration in supplementation strategies.
B vitamins-B-6, B-12 and folate-all nourish the brain. But much remains to be discovered about the relation between these essential nutrients and our brainpower. Low levels of folate are associated with symptoms of depression. More research is needed because many studies of B vitamins and brain function have given inconsistent or conflicting results.
By now, readers of IVU Online News should aware that vegetarians need to pay attention to their B12 levels. As Dr Michael Greger explains in this video (starting about minute 13) from our friends at Vegetarian Society of Hawaii The Latest in Nutrition (see also the VSH Lecture Videos website for talks by other experts), the consequences of low B12 levels are very serious, including death and lifelong incapacitation.
A recent study comparing B12 levels among meat eaters, lacto ovo vegetarians and vegetarians produced findings strongly suggesting that vegetarians on plant based diets may be more susceptible to low B12 levels and their consequences.
Conclusion: Vegans have lower vitamin B12 concentrations, but higher folate concentrations, than vegetarians and omnivores. Half of the vegans were categorized as vitamin B12 deficient and would be expected to have a higher risk of developing clinical symptoms related to vitamin B12 deficiency.
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2010 Jul 21 Serum concentrations of vitamin B12 and folate in British male omnivores, vegetarians and vegans: results from a cross-sectional analysis of the EPIC-Oxford cohort study.
Gilsing AM, Crowe FL, Lloyd-Wright Z, Sanders TA, Appleby PN, Allen NE, Key TJ. Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
The B12 dietary sources are animal products meat: fish, poultry, eggs and milk; and nutritional yeast. Vegans, who consume no animal foods, must take a B12 supplement or eat plant foods fortified with the vitamin. There are many vegan foods fortified with B12. They include non-dairy milks, meat substitutes, breakfast cereals, and one type of nutritional yeast.
The requirement for vitamin B12 is very low. Non-animal sources include Red Star Vegetarian Support Formula or T-6635+ nutritional yeast (a little less than 1 Tablespoon supplies the adult RDA), and vitamin B12 fortified soymilk. It is especially important for pregnant and lactating women, infants, and children to have reliable sources of vitamin B12 in their diets. Excerpted from the book Simply Vegan: Quick Vegetarian Meals by Debra Wasserman.
What Every Vegan Should Know About Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12: Are You Getting It?
Related articles:
Meat Eaters: The Caveman Argument
The Best Overall Anti-Cancer Diet
Fruits and Vegetables: Reducing Pesticide Exposure
The Raw and Living Food Vegan Diet
celticmusicfan
September 6, 2010
Just goes to show that too much or lack of is not healthy. I will pay attention ow on to what I am putting in my stomach. Very informative. A lot of people should read this. I didn’t even know that it is derived from bacteria.
Funkkeejooce
September 6, 2010
I learn something new everyday. I never knew anything about that although I did study Food Knowledge & Nutrition during my Hotel studies. Thank you for this piece of information TT. :)
nothingprofound
September 6, 2010
I eat lots of cereal, so perhaps that’s my source of B12. Otherwise I’m clueless as to where I might be getting some or any in my diet.
Ladygoodwood
September 7, 2010
This is a very detailed post. It is a casue for concern that as our obesity levels rise, our nutritional health declines and the sales of vitamins and mineral go up. there’s something out of kilter there.
As a little girl, growing up in Yorkshire, we had an old family doctor. He must have been in his 70′s when I was small. He used to say that if everyone just drank one pint of milk a day, we would get all the nutrients we needed from a natural source.
I am 50 now, and I still drink my pint of milk a day – albeit semi-skimmed now.
Sandra Lee
September 7, 2010
Thanks for writing about this. It’s something that every vegetarian should know as the consequences can be so dangerous. I’ve read that B12 is stored in the liver, so it may take quite a few years on a veg. diet before the deficiency appears and becomes problematic.
Dyeve
September 8, 2010
Honestly, I had no idea of some things you just related here in your cool post (twits must approach to him .. :) ) ..but I knew that Vitamin B12 is resistant to heat, air, but is destroyed by light, ultraviolet and acids that can be”recovered” from the caps milk, eggs ..etc.
Also,I’ve heard that scientists believe there is a connection between vitamin B12 and the evolution of Alzheimer’s disease. A lack of vitamin B12 to eliminate that substance – homocysteine, which, when exceeding a certain level, is harmful to brain cells.
Like every time I discover interesting things in here. :)
Thanks for them! Wishing you a Happy Life!
Dy,
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Charlene
October 8, 2010
I am a vegetarian with historically low B12 levels. However, nutritional yeast has been the savior in my case. (And it’s yummy!)
timethief
October 8, 2010
Yes it is yummy and more people ought to try it. :)