VITAMIN B12

 VITAMIN B 12

Cobalamin is another name for vitamin B-12. All B vitamins are water soluble, the body has a limited capacity to store most of the B-group vitamins (except B12 and folate, which are stored in the liver, kidney, and other tissues, can be stored for years in liver. 

FUNCTIONS:

1. RBC synthesis: prevent anemia and promotes growth in children. The production of red blood cells reduces if vitamin B-12 levels are too low. Anemia can occur if the red blood cell count drops.

Vitamin B 12 nutrient helps keep your body's blood and nerve cells healthy, also prevent megaloblastic anemia, a condition that makes people weak and tired.

2. DNA synthesis: It helps make your DNA & RNA (the body's genetic material) and nerve tissue, 

3. Nerve tissue synthesis:  B12 helps in formation of myelin sheath that surrounds and protect nerves.

4. Energy synthesis: help the body convert food (carbohydrates) into fuel (glucose), which is used to produce energy, also help the body use fats and protein. Vitamin B-12 enables the release of energy by helping the human body absorb folic acid and to help iron work better in the body and boost immune function and mood.

CAUSES OF B12 DEFFIENCY:

1. People do not consume enough vitamin B12: This may be because their diets are not as healthy, or because they have less stomach acid, which the body needs to absorb B12

2. Overgrowth of bacteria in part of the small intestine: (Disorders such as diabetes, systemic sclerosis, and amyloidosis also can slow peristalsis, causing bacterial overgrowth. The excess bacteria consume nutrients, including carbohydrates and vitamin B12, leading to lower calorie intake and vitamin B12 deficiency)

3. Impaired absorption (mal absorption disorders such as celiac disease or certain pancreatic disorders),   H. pylori infection (can cause an ulcer)

4. Lack of good flora in gut: Beneficial flora help us digest and absorb the food we eat.(Antibiotics can affect gut microbes), if you have a clean and healthy gut, your body itself can produce enough B 12.

5. Inflammatory bowel disease affecting the last part of the small intestine

6. Fish tapeworm infection

7. Bariatric surgery for weight loss

8. Surgery that removes the part of the small intestine where vitamin B12 is absorbed

9. Long-term use of such Drugs  as antacids and metformin (used to treat diabetes ), Oral contraceptives (the "pill"), preservatives and other chemicals etc.

10. Repeated exposure to nitrous oxide (laughing gas)

11. Lack of intrinsic factor; Most of the people doesn't lack vitamin B 12 but intrinsic factor. Intrinsic factor may be lacking because abnormal antibodies, produced by an overactive immune system, attack and destroy the stomach cells that produce intrinsic factor—an autoimmune reaction. (the stomach secretes intrinsic factor to absorb b12 in small intestine)

Intrinsic factor can be exhaust by gastritis, celiac disease, stress, worry, anxiety, eating day long and having large meals at the end of day.

12. Less HCL in the stomach leads to less absorption of vitamin B 12

Stomach acid, or gastric acid, is a watery colorless fluid that’s produced by your stomach’s lining.

It’s highly acidic and helps break down food for easier digestion. This helps your body absorb nutrients more easily as food moves through your digestive tract. In order to break down everything from meat to tough, fibrous plants, stomach acid has to be highly acidic.

Certain situations, like medication and stress, can interfere with this all-important fluid. That may prevent your body from producing as much HCl.

Decreased stomach acidity (common among older people): Among older people, absorption may be inadequate because stomach acidity is decreased. Decreased stomach acidity reduces the body’s ability to remove vitamin B12 from the protein in meat. However, the vitamin B12 found in vitamin supplements can continue to be well absorbed even in people with decreased stomach acid.

13. Other Factors: alcohol abuse, smoking

14. People suffering from AIDS

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS:

Brain: depression, mood swings, poor memory, judgment, and understanding, Nervousness, difficulties in concentrating.

Eye: blurred vision,

Gastro: problem with the digestive system, a sore tongue or mouth ulcers, loss of appetite, constipation

Extremities: tingling in the hands and feet, difficulty walking, numbness in hands and feet, Weakness in legs

Lungs: breathlessness 

Ear: tinnitus (ringing, buzzing, or hissing sounds in the ears)

General:  sweating, chronic weakness and fatigue, nerve damage, feeling faint or dizzy, pale skin, loss of weight, difficulty maintaining balance (Poor muscle coordination)

Anemic symptoms: 

MANAGEMENT:

If there is enough cobalt and B6 in your body the bowel can make its own B12. (sources for B6 are banana, brown rice, oats, whole wheat, peanuts, avocados, yeast, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, soybeans, walnut, lentils etc.) nuts, green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli and spinach etc. for cobalt

FOOD RICH IN FOLIC ACID

Folic acid works closely with vitamin B12 in making red blood cells and helps iron function properly in the body. High folic acid intake may mask a vitamin B12 deficiency. 

Legumes: dried beans, lentils, split peas(dal), soya products

Starches: whole grain breads, wheat flour, potato, sweet potato

Fruits and vegetable: Spinach, beetroot, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, asparagus, banana, oranges, peaches

Nuts: Almonds

SOME SOURCES WITH B12

- Seaweed (nori, spirulina, chlorella), eatable Algae, dried green laver and purple laver (available in tablet form) and certain Mushroom (shiitake 5mcg per 100g.)

- Broccoli, asparagus, mung bean sprouts, tassa jute, and water shield, spinach, beetroot, butternut squash, potato

- Found in the root vegetable grown organically, by using organic fertilizers (such as cow manure or hydroponics- technique or growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil)

 - Naturally fermented foods they have enough bacteria to produce B12 (lactic acid bacteria (LAB) mostly species of Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus etc. which helps in fermentation). Every country has their own fermented items. Acid fermentation techniques are simple, effective, and inexpensive,

However, a fermented soybean-based food called tempe contains a considerable amount of Vitamin B12 (0.7–8.0 µg/100 g)

Japanese butterbur, Fermented Korean vegetables (kimuchi) contain traces (fermented vegetables, Chinese cabbage and radish are the major substrates; garlic, green onion, ginger, leaf mustard, hot pepper, parsley, spring onion and carrot are minor ingredients)

Fermented Indian foods Idli and Dosa, appams, dahi, buttermilk, dhokla are traditional probiotic foods which boost vitamin B12 production. vegetable pickle. (Eating pickles provides healthy bacteria to the gut. They also make it easy for the body to meet deficiency of Vitamin B12)

Nutritional quality of lactic fermented bitter gourd and fenugreek leaves. It was of interest to note that vitamin B12 was formed as a result of the fermentation.

Fermented brown rice produces a considerable amount of vitamin B12, which helps prevent fatigue.

Points to note about fermented food items:

Please check Fermentation and Health

SOME POSITIVE FACTS:

1. Some people say it is a hidden agenda of the animal-based food and supplements industry so that people start embracing, animal-based diet, supplements, in the name of “Necessity for Being Healthy”.

2. If plants don’t have B12 then how vegans people are keeping themselves healthy for generations?

Vegans are regularly advised to supplement with B12, but vegetarians and meat eaters often fall short on this important nutrient, which helps keep nerves and blood cells healthy.

A lot of plants contain B12. In fact, the fact of the matter is no animals make B 12. It is made by bacteria in the soil and absorbed by the plants for their growth purpose. Vitamin B 12 is synthesized by some bacteria in the gut microbiota in humans.

Animals like a cow, buffalo, and sheep etc. contain B 12 because they eat all kinds of grass every day.

3. All seeds contain B 12 since it’s necessary for their survival: The seeds don’t have chlorophyll and hence, can’t rely on sunlight for growth. They have B 12 along with other B Vitamins because until it becomes a mature plant and the existence of seed vanishes, it is dependent on B Complex for its growth.

B 12 is made by bacteria in soil and absorbed by plants. Hence, all plants at a certain growth stage have it.

There are numerous plant-based sources of B 12 and B complex, including moong sprouts, wheatgrass juice, pea sprouts, buckwheat, root vegetables like radish, turnip, some varieties of edible mushrooms etc.

4. Vitamin B12 is not made by plants or animals, it's synthesized by microorganisms (bacteria). It used to be that we could get B12 from our drinking water, but since our water supply is now treated and chlorinated to kill bacteria, it no longer supplies this important nutrient.

5. Vitamin B12 is produced by bacteria, not animals or plants. Animals, including humans, must obtain it directly or indirectly from bacteria. 

6. Where does B12 in meat come from?

Farmed animals receive B12 by eating fortified (supplemented) feed, being exposed to bacteria-laden manure and drinking untreated (contaminated) water. Meat contains B12 because the animals accumulate the bacteria over the course of their lifetime being exposed to manure in their living environments, some being fed manure—cows are oftentimes fed poultry waste. 

7. How animal and human intestinal tract works?

Gut bacteria in the large intestine of both cows and humans can make B12; however, cows can absorb it through their large intestine whereas humans can’t—our large intestine has not able to absorb B12 from endogenous sources (mucin, bile acids, digestive enzymes, and epithelial cells) since our exogenous (carbohydrates and proteins) sources have been chemically treated (produce is washed and drinking water is chlorinated to kill bacteria, heavy drugs, antibiotic destroys which kills bacteria that forms B12)

8. Why meat source of B12 is not ideal?

Meat contains protein-bound vitamin B12, but it’s not an ideal source for B12 for two main reasons: 

First, the protein-bound B12 in animal foods can be difficult to absorb. The free, or un-bound, crystalline form found in fortified plant foods is preferred because it’s more easily absorbed. 

Second, animal foods are not the best source because consuming them increases our levels of IGF-1 (Insuline like growth factor) a hormone consistently associated with increased cancer risk and tumor growth, TMAO (Trimethylamine N-oxide) a substance that injures the lining of our blood vessels and promotes the formation of cholesterol plaques,