Last night I watched the Dr. Oz Show and when he started to talk about the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency, I paid attention. Almost everything he mentioned – fatigue, low energy,mood swings, poor memory, tingling, a few more – I was experiencing. These symptoms are pretty generic so I listened further reminding myself where do you get Vitamin B12.
First of all, only animal products contain B12 – think red meat. You might remember the red vitamin is B12. Its bright red color comes from the mineral cobalt that’s at the core of the molecule. Cobalt’s presence gives B12 its other name, cobalamin. It is the vitamin required in the smallest amounts, micrograms – a millionth of a gram. The photograph at the top of the page is B12 magnified about 30x.
FYI – nature ensured an efficiency of product design using the same basic structure for B12, hemoglobin, and chlorophyll. The primary difference is what metal is held in its center. The protein hemoglobin that makes our blood red has iron at its core, green plants carry chlorophyll with magnesium at its core. In the diagram of B12, see CO at the center? Basically the other two molecules are similar in almost everything except the core mineral.
But Dr. Oz made his presentation practical, not like me who has to add in some of the molecular science – he gives us body knowledge. I summarize: the B12 we get from food is attached to a protein and needs to be broken down to usable parts by our stomach acid. As we age, supposedly our stomach acid goes down – so why all the acid indigestion in the elderly? Another protein made in the stomach attaches onto B12, it’s called intrinsic factor – if you don’t have that, your cells can’t receive B12.
- One remedy is the animal food choices – grass fed beef, clams, seafood, dairy and eggs. Other foods that contain B12 are poultry, yeast, and sea greens. Some fortified cereals contain B12.
- Another remedy is a supplement of sublingual B12 – it bypasses the need for stomach acid since it comes unattached, no protein accompanies it. You let this tiny pellet dissolve under your tongue – EZ.
I needed to buy a supplement of B12 to see if my symptoms would disappear. And that is the reason for this particular blog. This afternoon I went to my neighborhood Trader Joe’s and stood in front of 2 choices for B12. Another woman came up, saw the B12 on the shelf and grabbed one. I looked at her and said, “You watched Dr. Oz last night, didn’t you?” We both laughed when she said yes followed by the fact that she had every one of the symptoms he mentioned. So here we were both buying sublingual B12. But sales buzzed all over today.
So can B12 hurt you if you take lots? There have been no people reported getting sick from too much B12. Nothing suggests any toxic levels from food or supplements. Though I am a PhD (not a ‘real doc’)I am not allowed to recommend supplements, drugs, etc but I’ve taught nutrition as a biochemist and health educator so know a bit about vitamins. Yet can I recommend vitamin L Love?
A red wine plus….Quintessa
By the way, it was vitamin B12 through the microscope – which is what the top photograph is – that got me started photographing everything, like wine and minerals, under the microscope. That excursion into the land of the invisible opened my mind to the design and shapes of molecules – hidden knowledge, messages. For me that is where the marriage between science and art began – in our molecules.
More science if you want it: Vitamin B12 partners with another B vitamin, folic acid, to support the production of red blood cells, DNA, and the myelin sheath that insulates our nerve cells. B12, folic acid and B6 speed conduction of signals along the nerves. Best to take these 3 together. The other B12 choice at Trader Joe’s contained these other B vitamins.
Absorption of B12 requires Intrinsic factor secreted by the stomach. B12 is stored mainly in the liver and kidney and sometimes it takes 5 years to show deficiencies. The brain and nervous system are first affected by deficient B12. Vitamin B12 helps energize the body and relieves depressed moods.
The federal government has the Office of Dietary Supplements which gives a lot more detail on the science. Useful except I think the RDA (recommended dietary allowance) is way too low. If you ever want to look at the current research on supplements, herbs, complementary medicine, go to the NCCAM.