What is vitamin b12?
Vitamin b12 is a kind of nutrient that helps your body in keeping blood and nerve cells. It also helps in generating DNA, which is the genetic material in all your cell. Vitamin b12 also plays a major role in preventing megaloblastic anemia, a blood condition that makes people tired and weak.
How much vitamin b12 does our body need?
The amount of vitamin b12 your body needs every day is depended upon your age. Average daily recommend amount of different ages listed in micrograms.
Consequences of deficiency of vitamin b12?
The capacity of your body in storing vitamin b12 is 1000 to 2000 times greater than you actually eat in a day. Therefore, the symptoms of vitamin b12 deficiency will take much time or several years to appear.
If a person is suffering from vitamin b12 deficiency, then he/she may feel much tired and weak. It may also lead to pale skin, heart palpitation, loss of appetite, weight loss, and infertility.
In infants, the deficiency of vitamin b12 leads to failure to thrive, delays in reaching the typical developmental milestone, and megaloblastic anemia.
It can also cause damage to the nervous system even in people who don’t have megaloblastic anemia, so it is important to treat the deficiency as soon as possible.
Advantages of vitamin b12
- Help with red blood cell formation and anemia prevention
- May prevent major birth defects
- Support bone health and prevent osteoporosis
- Fair chances of reducing the risk of macular degeneration
- Improve mood and may reduce symptoms of depression
- Prevention of the loss of neurons
- Fair contribution towards energy boost
Dietary supplements for multivitamins that are available on market
Vitamin b12 is available in multivitamin/ multimineral supplements, in b complex supplements, and in supplements containing only vitamin b12. The form of it is also called cyanocobalamin. Other common forms are adenosylcobalamin, methylcobalamin, and hydroxocobalamin.
The other form of vitamin b12 dissolves under the tongue and it is known as sublingual vitamin b12. According to research, any form of vitamin b12 is not greater than others.
The amount of vitamin b12 varies from supplement to supplement. Some supplements provide doses of vitamin b12 that is much higher than the amount recommended, such as 500mcg or 1000mcg but the body absorbs a small amount of it. These doses are safe. Always check a supplement label to understand how much b12 a supplement contains.
A prescription form of vitamin b12 is worth short giving. This will be basically to treat ourselves for vitamin b12 deficiency. The prescription form of vitamin b12 is also available in the nasal which is sprayed in the nose.
