The word is getting out about how essential Vitamin B12 is for our nerve function, red blood cells, DNA synthesis and — especially for our brains! This super important brain and energy vitamin is found in animal food sources like meat, fish, dairy, and eggs, as well as the fortified vegan and vegetarian sources. But here’s the kicker: if the necessary intrinsic factor isn’t present in your stomach, you won’t be able to utilize the Vitamin B12 you consume in your well-balanced diet.
How can you tell if you have low B12? One of the most common symptoms of low B12 levels is feeling tired. This Runner’s World article cites B12 deficiency as a common health issue that could make you feel tired.
In her Personal Health column in The New York Times, “Vitamin B12 as Protection for the Aging Brain,”, Jane E. Brody doesn’t miss that absorption of Vitamin B12 is key to having healthy levels of Vitamin B12 in your body. In other words, eating a well-balanced diet doesn’t rule out that you might be deficient in your daily intake of Vitamin B12.
Brody stresses that she eats well and doesn’t feel the need to take a multivitamin, only Vitamin D, but after looking at the “accumulating” research about Vitamin B12 and brain health — and the fact that “many people do not know they produce inadequate amounts of stomach acid” — she is “prompted to consider also taking a Vitamin B12 supplement in hopes of protecting my aging brain.”
Brody, “as a woman of a certain age,” cites the advice and estimation of the National Academy of Medicine that “between 10 percent and 30 percent of people older than 50 produce too little stomach acid to release B12 from its carrier protein in foods, and as the years advance, the percentage of [people who are] low-acid producers rises.”
The growing research shows Vitamin B12 is essential for brain health, especially as we age. Yet Vitamin B12 is a common deficiency, with more than 3 million cases per year. Having your Vitamin B12 levels checked is a good idea, even as a young or middle-aged adult. If you do learn that your B12 levels are low or borderline, injectable Vitamin B12 is one of the best ways to ensure Vitamin B12 absorption and correct a B12 deficiency. B12 LOVE shots are Methylcobalamin B12, the superior, most bioactive form of injectable Vitamin B12.
Visit one of our 7 locations and see why B12 LOVE is an effective, convenient, and affordable way to increase your Vitamin B12 and feel better!
All the best,
B12 LOVE Team
