Learn about Vitamin B12

Good for:
• Nerve formation and making red blood cells

Signs of deficiency:
• Tiredness due to anaemia and abnormalities of nervous system function

Good sources:
• Fish, liver, beef, milk and cheese (preferably organic)

Vitamin B12 deficiency:
• Often experienced by vegetarians and vegans because our dietary sources of vitamin B12 are animal in origin

Recommended daily requirements:
• 1 microgram. No danger of overdose exists so there is no real upper limit. The vitamin dissolves in water and excess is excreted in urine

B12 is destroyed by:
• Water, sunlight, alcohol, oestrogen (The Pill and HRT) and sleeping pills

Research shows that vitamin pill-poppers are healthier!

New research indicates that taking a single daily multi-vitamin is inadequate and that NOT taking supplements may be harmful to your health.

A study of hundreds of people found that the more supplements people took, the better their health was and the study authors reported “a greater degree of supplement use was associated with more favourable concentrations of serum homocysteine, C-reactive protein, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as lower risk of prevalent elevated blood pressure and diabetes.”

Indeed good news. Contributors to this Blog are all fans of plenty of good quality nutrients, especially as many vegetables and fruit in supermarkets today are low in the minerals and vitamins we would expect them to contain. In my Clinical Nutrition practice I’ve seen many people respond amazingly to even a simple regimen of high-dose Vitamin C, fish oil and a good quality multi-vitamin.

(Block G, Jensen CD, Norkus EP, Dalvi TB, Wong LG, McManus JF, Hudes ML. Usage patterns, health, and nutritional status of long-term multiple dietary supplement users: a cross-sectional study. Nutr J. 2007 Oct 24;6(1):30)