What Does Vitamin B12 Do And Why Do We Need It In Our Diet?
What does vitamin B12 do? Look out for signs of vitamin B12 deficiencies with the list of symptoms on this page. You need vegan vitamin B12 in your diet.
The vegan diet when based on fruits, vegetables and legumes, gives us plenty of vitamins and minerals for our bodies' nutritional requirements. Apart from possibly vitamin B12 that is. You can get this essential nutrient in the vegan diet if you eat foods which are fortified with it, but after reading this page, you may decide to take a B12 supplement as the benefits of vitamin B12 are essential.
We also need vitamins B12 and 6 (readily available in vegan foods), along with folic acid (also readily available in plant based foods) to break down and regulate homocysteine levels in the blood.
Homocysteine is an amino acid in the blood which is strongly influenced by diet, as well as genetic factors and needs to be controlled as too much of it can cause heart disease, stroke and vascular disease. Chances are that if your homocysteine levels are too high, you are not getting enough vitamin B12, vitamin B6 and folic acid. The good news is that by adding these back into your diet will often help return your homocysteine levels to a normal level.
Vitamin B12 is important and can only be found in plant based foods in minute amounts. Also, some people - and this includes meat eaters - cannot absorb vitamin B12 from their diets and need to take supplements or have injections to reach their daily requirements.
So you can see that the benefits of vitamin B12 cannot be underestimated and the "what does vitamin B12 do?" question is an important one. It is vital for us to create new red blood cells which is a major benefit of vitamin B12, but what do these red blood cells actually do and what does vitamin B12 do to help them?
In adults, blood cells are made by red bone marrow, which is found inside the centre of the hips, ribs, breastbone and backbone, plus the thigh.
Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cell, and their job is to attach themselves to oxygen and carry the oxygen via the circulation to the tissues. When they get to an area where the oxygen is needed, they release it and pick up carbon dioxide which they carry back to the lungs. A shortage of red blood cells is called anaemia. Red blood cells have a major job in the body and only live up to around 120 days before (hopefully) being replenished by new red blood cells. Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient in our diet. It is required for development of red blood cells, and is used to make the protective coating surrounding the nerves.
The body needs B12 and folic acid to optimize red cell regrowth and if there is a lack of one or more of these nutrients, anaemia will develop. B12 and folic acid work together for maximum effect in supplying new red blood cells and can improve or remove B12 deficiency. Adults need around 400 micrograms of folic acid per day and
according to the NIH (National Institues of Health), healthy people should have no more than 1,000 micrograms per day as large amounts can trigger the damaging effects of a B12 deficiency. Vegan foods contain folic acid but there are vitamin B12 supplements which also contain this vitamin. Some people may choose one of these dual action supplements to maximise their B12 intake.
The FDA'2 RDA is 2.4 mcg's per day for adults - which is the smallest amount required for any vitamin. Between 10% - 30% of older people may have trouble absorbing vitamin B12 from foods, so it may be advisable that people aged 50 and older to take a supplement of vitamin B12. It is also advised that pregnant and lactating women increase their B12 to around 2.6 - 2.8 mcg's per day.
It is important to remember that the more you take B12, the more it becomes absorbed by the body. Therefore it may be better to make sure you are getting enough B12 daily rather than stocking up when you remember. Basically, the less often you consume vitamin B12, the higher the amount your body needs to give you the required intake.
You should take a daily vitamin B12 supplement of 5-10 micrograms or a weekly vitamin B12 supplement of 2000 micrograms. The slight excess of the daily requirements takes into consideration the amount of B12 which is or could be absorbed into the body. Also, by consuming slightly more than the recommended intake shouldn't do any harm. There is no Tolerable Upper Intake Level for vitamin B12 at the moment so try to stick to the recommended guidelines as there may be dangers from too high a dose for some people with certain conditions.
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Your body needs vitamin B12 in order to create red blood cells to keep the nervous system healthy. A lack of red blood cells can cause anaemia, affect the nervous system and cause neurological symptoms. A lack of vitamin B12 will cause your body to be unable to renew the red blood cell supply in your body and can cause some serious disorders. You need to look out for signs of vitamin B12 deficiencies.
