Vitamin B12 Deficiency

  • Post category:Vitamins

The effects of Vitamin B12 Deficiency could be devastating and very easily misdiagnosed as a variety of incurable conditions and diseases ranging from Fatigue, mental fog, memory loss, mental health, depression, heart disease, neurological disorders like parkinson’s alzheimer ALS and a lot more…

The first video on the playlist above Is a full feature film based on a true story and the life long campaign of one persistent nurse Sally Pacholok to raise awareness and regular testing of B12 deficiency. It is followed by a documentary where many health professional and recovered B12 deficiency sufferers share their knowledge and stories.

What is B12 and its role in our body?

Most people associate vitamin B12 with energy levels, while true, this is not the full picture. B12 vitamin supports red blood cell production, brain development and function, it plays important role in our nervous system, heart and affects our mental health. B12 helps with melatonin and serotonin production, which can impact sleep and mood, it also contributes and support the thyroid health, our immune system, as well as male fertility and more.

Where do we get Vitamin B12 from?

Although we get Vitamin B12 either by consuming animal foods, supplements, or fortified foods, vitamin B12 is not created by plants or animals, it’s actually created by soil based bacteria. The only organisms to produce vitamin B12 are certain bacteria, and archaea (one cell organisms). Some of these bacteria are found in the soil around the grasses that ruminants (grazing mammals) eat; they proliferate to form part of their gut flora, and continue to produce vitamin B12.

Vitamin B12 is mainly stored in flash and organs of animals, fish and poultry, as well as in eggs and cheese.

Who is at risk of Vitamin B12 deficiency?

We could mistakenly assume that ONLY people who follow vegetarian or vegan diet could develop B12 deficiency. Sadly many more of us could be B12 deficient and the reasons are many. I used to think ‘we are what what eat’ but in truth ‘we are what we absorb’ and many people for a variety of reasons do not absorb enough vitamin B12 despite eating meat fish poultry eggs and cheese. Some people have a genetic disposition, but so many have digestion, allergies, food intolerance and gut issue which could impair absorption of nutrients. People who are on certain medication like; acid neutralising, diabetes and cholesterol medication, even antibiotics…  People who had stomach surgery or general anesthetic, or even dental treatment… the list is long

How does the body absorb and process Vitamin B12?

Our bodies do not make B12. The only way to get it is through our diet. It goes through a lengthy digestive process that begins in our mouth; saliva contains proteins that protect the B-12 from gastric acid in the stomach.  The stomach is lined with ‘parietal cells’ that secrete hydrochloric acid, which help with protein digestion. ‘Parietal cells’ also secretes ‘intrinsic factor’ which is the carrier for B12. B12 bonded with the ‘intrinsic factor  is transported through the duodenum and the jejunum into the ileum which has intrinsic factor B12 receptors. On that journey intrinsic factor and B12 are involved in the synthesis of hormones like melatonin and neurotransmitters, dopamine, serotonin etc.

If we don’t have enough intrinsic factor then the B12, or other necessary enzymes can’t bind to it. In which case we might not be able to absorb the vitamin B12 we need. There are many reasons why some people don’t have enough intrinsic factor as mentioned above. In some cases the immune system is attacking the intrinsic factor because of food intolerance and that can cause what’s called ‘pernicious anemia’.

B12 Absorption Process

What are the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency

This is a mind field – because vitamin B12 is so important to many systems in the body. The symptoms could be varied and confusing. For most people, the biggest symptom of B12 deficiency is fatigue both mental and physical fatigue. Lack of energy and feeling drained. Upset stomach, shortness of breath, neuropathy, nerve pain, muscle pain, anemia. Poor oxygen circulation can produce symptoms of mental illness, brain fog, depression, neurological or psychiatric issues. B12 deficiency is also involved in neurological disorders such as: Alzheimer, Parkinson, memory loss, stress, anxiety, depression, ADD, ADHD, nervous system damage. Some research even suggests that B12 deficiency contributes obsessive compulsive disorder. I highly recommend watching the movie above to get the full picture.

How is B12 measured and what’s normal or deficient?

Levels of Vitamin B12 can be determined by a simple blood test, but it is important to bear in mind that the results could be inaccurate if you are taking folic acid supplements.

180-914 ng/L Normal high/low range
450+ ng/L Healthy/Optimal
180-400 ng/L Conditionally low levels
150-180 ng/L Low levels where disease symptoms start

Be aware that in older adults levels between 200 and 500 pg /mL may also produce symptoms of vitamin B-12 deficiency

Not all Vitamins B12 are equal!

Luckily Vitamin B12 can be easily supplemented. In some cases your Dr. may recommend Vitamin B12 shots. But for most of us Vitamin B12 can be obtained as tablets, capsules, or liquid.

B12, or Cobalamin are available in 4 forms:

Cyanocobalamin a form of B12 that can be metabolised in the body to an active coenzyme. Cyanocobalamin does not occur in nature, it is a by-product from a commercial process of other forms of B12 where it bonded with cyanide, through the process of activated charcoal purification of the vitamin B12, after it was made by bacteria. Since the cyanocobalamin form of B12 is easy to crystallize and is not sensitive to air-oxidation, it is typically used as a form of B12 for food additives and in many common multivitamins.

Hydroxocobalamin is not normally present in the human body. It is the form of B12 produced by bacteria, and is sometimes denoted as B12a. Hydroxocobalamin is the form of B12 patented by Glaxo Group Ltd  in 1961. It is used as generic ingredient in four branded drugs marketed by Merck, Serb Sa, Abraxis Pharm, Actavis Llc, Watson Labs, and Bel Mar. Hydroxocobalamin is produced by bacteria in a pharmacological process for water solution injection. It is converted to Cyanocobalamin in the commercial charcoal filtration step of production. Hydroxocobalamin is cyanide-phil and has been used as an antidote to cyanide poisoning. Hydroxocobalamin is thought to convert into active enzymic forms of B12 more easily than cyanocobalamin. Hydroxocobalamin is more expensive than cyanocobalamin, and has longer retention times in the body. Intramuscular administration of hydroxocobalamin is also the preferred treatment for pediatric patients with intrinsic cobalamin metabolic diseases, for vitamin B12 deficient patients with tobacco amblyopia (which is thought to perhaps have a component of cyanide poisoning from cyanide in cigarette smoke); and for treatment of patients with pernicious anemia who have optic neuropathy.

Adenosylcobalamin (adoB12) and methylcobalamin (MeB12) are the two enzymatically active cofactor forms of B12 that naturally occur in the body. Most of the body’s reserves are stored as adoB12 in the liver. These are converted to the other methylcobalamin form as needed. These are probably the most bioavailable form of B12 Vitamins and tend to be more expensive.

Good news for vegetarians and vegans

 alludes to B12 breakthrough: Discovery could boost vitamin B12 for veggies … using garden cress. It reports UK researchers working with kids on a school project. Their new discovery could help boost the levels of vitamin B12 in certain plants – meaning more nutritionally complete diets for people who follow vegetarian and vegan diets. Full details of the experiment Construction of Fluorescent Analogs to Follow the Uptake and Distribution of Cobalamin (Vitamin B12) in Bacteria, Worms, and Plants”

Testing  & Treatment

Although conventional medicine has come a long way in recognising B12 deficiency should be taken seriously, for many reasons that are important but beyond the scope of this article, the practice on the ground is not always reflecting scientific knowledge, far from it.

Lets take the UK NHS as an example. The NHS Hull and East Riding Prescribing Committee B12 & Folate Guidelines Approved by HERPC: (January 2015. Updated April 2018) Guidelines for the Investigation and Management of Vitamin B12 and Folate Deficiency This document provides an insight into how the NHS view and suggest health professionals evaluate B12 levels, how and when to provide treatment and further testing. An eye opener to say the least. If you are based in the UK and rely on the National Health Service, you need to be aware that your Dr may rely on similar information when assessing B12 levels. According to this document 150 pmol/L is the suggested deficiency threshold, which could be already very low and symptomatic especially for people who are 45 and older.

It is also interesting to compare the advice the NHS provides to health professionals (above), with the NHS information on B12 deficiency provided to the public. Here information on the role of medical procedures like surgery, or the very widespread and commonly prescribed pharmaceutical drugs, as potential cause of malabsorption of Vitamin B12 is played down to virtually non exiting.

Although I focus on the NHS in this segment I assume we may find similar guidelines and practices world wide.

Final words

Although I cover some important points about vitamin B12 deficiency this is by no means an exhaustive resource. If this is something you suspect is at play in your health situation by all means keep researching it and consult with your health practitioner.

While researching it some questions kept coming up in my mind to which I found no answers for as yet. It has to do with the whole food chain – If B12 comes from Bacteria present in the soil what happens to this bacteria on fields sprayed with herbicides, insecticides, chemtrail/ rain cloud seeding practices? Would that destroy those organisms?

And what about the farm animals who are pumped with antibiotic as a matter of course, not just when they demonstrate sign of illness, but as preventative measure. Could they be Vitamin B12 deficient? In which case eating what we consider to be food rich in vitamin B12 may not contain much of it anyways. Then there is all the cooking, preserving, stabilising processes involved in comercial foods production laced with… well, lets just say unnatural substances we are not meant to ingest, would these have an impact on the amount of B12 we get from food?

Fish of course is another source considered rich in vitamin B12 but how safe are fish, especially post Fukushima? Freshwater fish could also be rich in vitamin B12 like carps trout and tilapia. But most available sources of those fish are also intensively farmed using very similar practices of using antibiotics and pesticides. Are those fish also vitamin B12 deficient?

GMO foods could also play a role in both animal and human malabsorption of vitamin B12.

And of course we don’t really know the effect the B12 fortified foods has since it is – lets not forget Cyano-cobalamin which is B12 combined with – well yes cyanide! Is that good for us? Kind of reminds me of the story of how we have fluoride in tap water, or the use of Aspartame in almost everything. All are byproducts of some industrial, chemical, or pharmacological process that otherwise could be costly to safely dispose of.

And finally lets say you already found out you need to take vitamin B12 supplement, and you went out and bought Vitamin B12. Did you check what is in it? yes you may have guessed it by now many off the shelf vitamin B12 supplement are Cyano-cobalamin.

Who knows how many people currently residing in nursing homes with dementia, parkinson, ALS and other debilitating diseases, could have been helped early on by Vitamin B12 supplementation…

Information is power! When it comes to our health it is probably best we don’t give our power away. It is your body – your health – learn about it, research it for yourself, be proactive, take action and do what is best for you!

 

 

 

[suffusion-widgets id=”2″]

Good things come to those who sign up

Spread the love