Vitamin B12 is crucial for your body. The body does not produce this vitamin and you have to consume it with some foods that have this vitamin or you should take supplements regularly because the body does not keep the vitamin for a long period.
Even though this vitamin is tremendously important for your health, we often forget to consume it.
The lack of vitamin B12 in the organism can provoke neurological problems and diseases on a long term. This means that the body cells do not receive enough B12.
There is a condition called B12 deficiency and it is really important for you to know which the symptoms are so you can prevent it.
Here in the text you are going to find out how important B12 is for you to be healthy and which food is rich with this vitamin.
How vitamin B12 helps your body?
- It helps you digest better!
Vitamin B12 helps you to produce the enzymes connected with the digestion. These enzymes are helping to disintegrate the food in your stomach and thus it keeps you metabolism healthy. This vitamin is destroying the dangerous bacteria and it is helping to the development of healthy bacteria in the digestive system. On this way vitamin B12 is helping the prevention of Candida, digestive problems and inflammation of the bowel.
- It is preventing damage of the nerves
The nerves are covered by myelin sheath which offers a protection to them. It prevents the toxins to get inside. Without it, they can be destroyed or damaged. Moreover, this can be followed with some disorders related to the nerves. Moreover, the nerves cannot transmit signals from and to the brain when they are dead or damaged.
- Helps in the prevention of strokes and heart diseases
Most deaths in the United States are provoked by hearth diseases. A study has found that the homocysteine when is raised, it can increase the possibility of heart diseases. Believe it or not, it increases the risk more than increased levels of cholesterol. The vitamin B12 lowers the level of homocysteine.
- Vitamin B12 gives you energy
This vitamin helps your organism to produce energy and thus it keeps the cells healthy. If you have less vitamin B12 than it is necessary, the cells will starve and they will become weak. Your organism needs this vitamin in order to turn carbohydrate in glucose that the body can use. The glucose is the crucial part of the process of production of energy. If there is a deficiency of vitamin B12, the body can be tired and fatigued.
- It keeps the bones healthy
If you have problems with the bones and osteoporosis, B12 will help you. These patients suffer from a high level of homocysteine. This vitamin helps your organism to lower the level of homocysteine and that will help patients with bone issues.
- It helps the production of erythrocytes and it prevents anemia
Erythrocytes are produced with the help of vitamin B12, thus they are protecting the body of anemia. The symptoms of megaloblastic anemia are chronic weakness and fatigue.
The symptoms that you have deficiency of vitamin B12 are the following:
- Weakness in the muscles
If you cannot move a bag or you feel that the muscles in your body are week; you probably have a lack of oxygen that the erythrocytes carry in you cells. If you have deficiency of B12 and lack of oxygen in the cells of your muscles, you will be definitely suffering from weakness in the muscles.
- Problems with the eyes
Your vision can be damaged or changed by a long vitamin B12 deficiency. If you have a lack of vitamin B12 in your organism, the eyes can suffer and that will lead to harm to your optic nerves and you can be sensible to light, the central vision can be reduced, you can suffer from vision that is doubled or blurred. All this can lead to optic neuropathy.
- You can feel dizzy
You can notice that you have deficiency of vitamin B12 if you suffer from dizziness, lightheadedness or often from a bout of vertigo. You can notice this when you walk through the stairs up or down and if you stand up too fast of too sudden from a bed or a chair.
- You feel inexplicably tired
If you feel constantly tired, you may have an early signal of B12 deficiency, particularly if there is no reason for this fatigue. The lack of vitamin B12 leads to an insufficient level of oxygen that is being transported in your organism and that provokes fatigue.
- You have pale skin
Lower amount of B12 in your organism leads to pale skin. That means that there is insufficient amount of erythrocytes in your metabolism. Instead of that, the organism is producing bilirubin and that causes your face to turn pale.
- You forget a lot
If you forget a lot and that is uncharacteristic for you, you may have a chronic lack of vitamin B12. Fortunately, this is not a signal for dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
- You feel pin and needle in your body
Paraesthesia is a condition that can be caused by a lack of B12. This condition is also known as pins and needles. You feel tingles and prickles on your body. You can feel these symptoms especially in the feet and the arms. Actually, this is provoked by a B12 deficiency that has caused damages of the nerves.
What to consume in order to take vitamin B12 with the food that you are eating?
- Liver (chicken and beef) – there is 81 milligrams in only 3 ounces
- One filet of salmon – there is 19.5 milligrams in only 108 grams
- One filet of herring – there is 18.7 milligrams in only 143 grams
- In the mackerels – there is 15.3 milligrams in just 3 ounces
- In the sardine – there is 13.3 milligrams in a cup
- In the tuna – there is 9.3 milligrams in only 3 ounces
- The trout has 9.1 milligrams in a fillet
- The organic yogurts – there is 2,3 milligrams in a container of yogurt (Greek, plain)
- Turkeys – there is 1, 1 mg in only three ounces.
- Milk (raw) – there is 1 milligram in one cup of raw milk
- Tenderloin (beef) – there is 0.9 mg in three ounces
- Lamb meat – there is 0,8 mg in three ounces
You can take B12 if you eat cheeses, cereal, milk based on plants such as coconuts, soy or almonds. All these are non-vegan sources. You can also find B12 in nutritional yeast.
This vitamin is really important and has a lot of properties that will help you stop many health problems. It is extremely important to know how to find out do you have B12 deficiency and to stop it on time.
On that way, you are going to offer you body a protection from serious health issues.