Vitamins (misc)

  • Have a diverse diet. Get good vitamins. If necessary use supplements.

B12 cobalamin

Daily need - 2.4 μg(=mcg). Has cobalt.

Deficit Symptoms -

fatigue, numbness, memory issues, pernicious anaemia, gait problems, tremors, psychoses (including post-partum), migraines, moodiness .. Late treatment leads to irreversible damage. Higher cancer risk.

Deficiency symptoms (eg less macrocytosis in blood cells) is partly masked by folic acid fortification - neurological symptoms remain/ become exacerbated.

Deficit detection

  • (low) B12 and (high) homocysteine level check.
    • blood tests
      • Serum B12
      • HoloTranscobalamin
      • Homocysteine (high=bad)
      • Methylmalonic Acid (high=bad)
      • UCBC unsaturated b12 binding capacity
    • tissue concentration tests - more complicated, expensive. (may have enough in blood - on the wrong protein Haptocorrin, and not getting it absorbed into tissues due to delivery protein Transcobalamin deficiency.)

High risk groups

Low supply

  • Vegetarians, avoiders of red meat.

High demand

  • young, pregnant, breast-feeding women

Malabsorption

  • Those taking medicines regularly - including (stomach) acidity blockers, statins, oral birth control pills, nitrous oxide anesthesia etc..
  • Low stomach acid. Celiac disease. Food allergies. Eating disorders. Parasites. Autoimmune disorders.
  • Age over 50

Sources

  • 1 micrograms (mcg) in 240ml of milk or yogurt
  • 0.6 mcg per large egg
  • Liver, red meat

Fermented products such as tempeh and miso (obtained from fermented soya beans), shiitake mushrooms and algae (spirulina and nori) contain substances which are similar chemically to vitamin B12. However, they do not work in the body in the same way as the active vitamin so these foods cannot be relied upon as sources of vitamin B12.

On cobalt shortfall -

The bacteria Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are among those that are capable of producing vitamin B12. Propionibacterium shermanii in cheese and some species of Streptomyces are found in soil and fermented foods as well. My experience of growing organic stuff for the last 50 yr shows that Streptomyces in soil with organic carbon above 5% produce B12 which has been tested in bottle gaurd too.

These days the fodder that cow eats and the food we eat doesn’t contain enough Cobalt as a mineral in available form hence the curd and the gut bacteria can’t produce much of B12.

  • Rajesh Gupta

Supplements

  • Vegan/ vegetarian 120-250 mg/day. Double in case of high demand (eg. pregnancy)
  • Overdose risk very low.

Deficiency correction

  • Take 1000 mcgs orally daily
  • Intramuscular Injection

Made by bacteria

  • Hydroxycobalamin
  • Methyl cobalamin
  • Adenosyl cobalamin

Synthetic

  • Cyanocobalamin - cheaper, but inferior. avoid.

B9 Folate

b12 deficiency implies body can’t use folic acid.