The truth about Vitamin B12

Vitamins by Candace Mathers

One of the most frequent questions people want to convert to veganism ask (and also detractors), is: If you have a wonderful and balanced diet, why do you need to take Vitamin B12?

So what’s this fuss about this vitamin? Do we really need it? How much? Why vegans have to take it as a supplement?

Amazing pic by Dan Cook

In fact, we All need B12

 It’s important, yes, that you know what this vitamin does for us. Some people call the Cobalamin (yes, it has Cobalt) the energy vitamin, as its deficiency would cause weakness and anemia as the frequent first symptoms. 

But it also helps with other important metabolic processes and is instrumental in the nervous system’s function. But that’s too much detail and what’s important here is that there are types of Vitamin B12 and you really need to be aware of this before buying it, in whichever shape you decide to.

 

 

Who or what produces Vitamin B12?

The main source of useful B12 comes from certain bacteria that normally live in plants and soil. 

Animals in the wilderness take them directly from plants (if they are herbivorous) and if they are predators, they eat it when they ingest their pray.

You’re probably guessing by now how Mother Nature intends this to be available for us… Exactly. If we didn’t have to wash throughly our greenies, we would naturally ingest those little fellas that would ensure we cover our needs for Vitamin B12. But we do wash them, we need to. Especially in this overpopulated world where contamination occurs so often and so easily.

So where do we take it from then?

Yes, if you’re not a vegan, you eat it from your meat, poultry, eggs and fish.

If you’re vegan, you could eat unwashed vegetables or take supplements. I’d prefer the second option, although I don’t judge :)

So, is it good to take Vitamin B12 from Animal Source?

It’s not that it’s good or bad. It’s just not necessary. You eat meat, you eat everything that’s inside.  And there’s also one very important “detail”… because animal farms usually cannot walk and eat naturally (they mostly eat industrial processed food), they have to take supplements too, in which are included, nothing more, nothing less… TA DA! Vitamin B12, that’s it!

So you think you’re “naturally” ingesting Vitamin B12, but you’re actually taking the supplements the farmer gave to his cows. Interesting, huh?

Now, the next time someone tells you they don’t like to take supplements because it’s not a “natural” way of having Vitamin B12, you know what to answer. Yes, no one does nowadays.

 

Farm Cows by Jo-Anne McArthur
Amazing pic by Jo-Anne McArthur

How much do you need? Watch out for false claims

More conservative professionals recommend the daily ingest for an adult as 10micrograms. More of this Vitamin, as it’s water-soluble would theoretically be just going through urine, so it’s not a risk if you take more. 

Watch out for false claims as there are different types of Vitamin B12. An example, some people will say that Sauerkraut is a super food because its contain in B12. Yes and no. Sauerkraut IS a wonderful food, full of healthy nutrients and yes, B12. But it’s not the type of B12 you can absorb, so no, don’t think that if you eat everyday 500g of sauerkraut you don’t need the supplements. But you might have anyway a healthy and delicious food :)

Read the labels

 

There are few things you need to take in consideration when taking not only this as a supplement, but any substance.

The daily intake is a recommendation on which vendors usually base their dosis. But do not trust this blindly. Be especially careful, as many, MANY of them show in their labels misleading information in these regards. For instance, they’ll claim their product contains the recommended daily intake, but in very small characters, you’ll find that this  will be only if you take 2 or even 3 of these tablets. This way, you buy a bottle of 90 pieces, thinking it will last 3 months, when you’re only having one month worth of supply. It’s a very common trick, don’t fall for it.

Another less known aspect of supplements is bio-disponibility. When a substance is synthetically obtained, usually, it’s not as well absorbed as those ones Nature creates. But this is often taken in consideration when daily intakes are calculated, so this should be safe if companies say the truth about their products.

Thanks for reading. See you soon. 

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