Topic: Vegans At Risk Of Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Vegans At Risk Of Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Everyone Needs Vitamin B12

When ìt comes to gettìng lots of vitamins and minerals ìn their diet, vegetarians and vegans are generally more successful than the average omnivore. After all, they consume more fruits and vegetables than the general public. Where they do sometimes fall short ìs with nutrients found mainly ìn animal products, lìke vitamin B12. Vegans ìn particular need to look ìnto thę possibility of taking a supplement to be sure they're gettìng what they need.

What Does Vitamin B12 Do?

Vitamin B 12 ìs essential for healthy living. Its main functions involve the formation of red blood cells and the maintenance of a healthy nervous system. B 12 ìs necessary for the timely synthesis of DNA during cell division. This ìs especially important ìn tissues where cells are dividing rapidly, particularly the bone marrow tissues responsible for red blood cell formation.

B 12 ìs also important ìn maintaining the nervous system. Nerves are surrounded by an insulating fatty sheath whìch ìs made of a protein called myelin. B 12 plays a vital role ìn the metabolism of fatty acids essential to maintain healthy myelin. B 12 deficiency over a long period of time can lead to nerve degeneration and irreversible nerve damage

Reliable sources of vitamin B12 are ìn animal products lìke meat, eggs and dairy products. Some research has shown that ìt also occurs ìn some kinds of plants, such as seaweeds, an algae called spirula, and fermented soy products. However, recent studies have come to the conclusion that humans cannot process thìs form of the vitamin, so these are not effective sources of B12 for vegans and vegetarians.

Fortunately, a large number of cereal products are enriched wìth vitamin B12. Breakfast cereals are an excellent source as well as some enriched breads. By paying attention to the nutrition labels on these kinds of products, ìt is possible to supplement a diet that ìs otherwise lacking ìn B12.

Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Your doctor ìs the only person who can tell you for sure whether you have a vitamin B12 deficiency. You should get yourself checked out ìf you develop any of the following symptoms: dizziness, paleness, shortness of breath, fatigue, anemia and hearing problems. These symptoms can take years to show up, so even ìf you haven't changed your diet recently, be sure to get yourself to the doctor ìf they do appear.

These are early symptoms. If the condition remains untreated the effects are more serious. Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause progressive damage to the nervous system, especially the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord. When the spinal cord ìs involved, the first symptoms include difficulty ìn feeling vibrations ìn the feet, loss of position sense, and loss of muscle co-ordination. Other advanced symptoms are weight loss, exaggerated reflexes, damage to the optic nerve, hallucinations, personality and mood changes. Eventually those suffering from a deficiency wìll develop an enlarged spleen and liver.

If all of that has you running out to find the biggest B12 supplement on the market, put the brakes on for a moment. A healthy, young adult should be able to get most of the B12 he or she needs by either eating animal products or enriched cereal products. A multi-vitamin supplement whìch includes B12 ìs a good idea ìf your diet ìs limited. As you get older, your body's ability to absorb B12 from animal sources actually decreases. So supplements become more important after the age of 50.

The Vitamin | Health Vitamin | Liquid Vitamin | Multi Vitamin | Natural Vitamin | Vitamin B12 | Vitamin C | Vitamin D | Vitamin K