Everyone needs vitamin B12: it helps the body to produce red blood cells and maintain a healthy brain function, along with many other things. But do you get enough of it?
Here is what to know about vitamin B12 and whether you should think about increasing your levels.
A blessing for brain health
“Vitamin B12 is important for brain health because it helps to protect neurons in the brain, which supports memory and thinking skills,” says Michel Ruthenstein, a nutritionist in the heart disease and the adopted teacher in New York. It is soluble in water, so the body does not store it in large quantities, and the daily amount is necessary.
The current federal recommendations are for adults to get 2.4 MCG of vitamin B12 per day. Wonderful food sources in B12 include seafood such as shellfish, salmon, tuna, beef and immune products such as food yeast, vegetable milk, some bread and breakfast, says Rothstein.
But some recent research indicates that some people may need more than that. Vitamin B12 insufficiency can affect naturalDr. Ary Green, a professor at the University of California, the Department of Ophthalmology in San Francisco, says. In a conversation Ticket, Green and his colleagues found that people who had B12 levels that were technically normal but at the bottom of the range were suffering from poor brain function. “We can discover nervous weakness at the levels that are currently” normal “, independently of other factors such as the years of education,” says Dr. Alexandra Bodri Richard, residing at McChel University and co -author of the study. “For us, this must activate a conversation about the B12 amount needed for the optimal nervous function.”
Read more: Should you take vitamin D supplement?
last studies Ownership Find That people with Alzheimer’s disease and Mild cognitive weakness tends to decrease B12 levels – and Supplements with B12 can reduce the rate of brain atrophy.
However, at the opposite end, the study showed signs of a possible harmful effect on the brain when people had high levels of B12 in their blood. “This calls for more studies to assess the health levels of B12 on both ends of the spectrum,” says Dr. Ahmed Abdhak, one of the authors of the study and a clinical coach in the UCSF.
Should you take the B12 accessory?
You can (and you should get the B12 from your diet, but some people may face difficult time to get adequate levels of nutrients from food alone.
The elderly is likely to develop shortcomings in vitamin B12 because vitamin requires absorption of stomach acid, and stomach acid production begins to decrease with age. Routhenstein recommends people to consider their B12 case starting from 50 years old or if they are at risk of B12 deficiency. This category includes vegetarians and vegetarians, and people who take specific medications that interfere with the absorption of B12 such as metformin pump inhibitors or proton, and those who suffer from intestinal disorders such as CROHN, digestive disorders, or stomach infection.
You can test vitamin B12 deficiency in annual materialism. If you are incomplete, your doctor may recommend a sequel.
Read more: 7 sudden symptoms of Lyme disease
UCSF authors recommend examining levels that start from the age of 70, but you can examine them in a standard blood test at any age through an initial care doctor.
Dr. Ralph Green, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of California, Davis – and another author in that recent study – that the verification of B12 may also be valuable for people who have non -interpreted symptoms linked to the B12 deficiency. For those who suffer from low stomach function, he says that eating supplements is likely the best way to enhance absorption, and the level of supplements that a person should consume depends on whether or not absorption is normal.
Pregnant women, also, need a B12 height to support fetus’s brain growth; If you are pregnant, see OB-GYN around your perfect B12 levels.
What kind of B12 supplement is the best?
Rothstein says that B12 in nutritional supplements and fortified foods can be absorbed more easily than food, especially for older adults and those with absorption problems.
If your doctor has advised you to take over the B12 supplement, it is better to ask them to recommend specific doses and brands. But Routhenstein recommends that these general guidelines choose the B12 supplement.
- Always look for those who suffer from methyl cobalamin on the label, because this is the most biological B12 forms, which means that the body can absorb it with the best. It also says it is the perfect form of heart and brain health and nerve function.
- The tongue (under the tongue) or the B12 is often described for better absorption. “By bypassing the digestive system and entering the bloodstream directly,” says Rothstein.
Of course, there is no supplement to everyone, and there are other ways to support brain health, including maintaining a healthy diet and exercise. Bodri Richard says activities that stimulate multiple brain areas at one time are excellent in promoting cognitive life.
Practicing a musical instrument, dancing, and studying a foreign language daily, for example, all brain circles responsible for vision, hearing, movement and emotions “and more. She says:” It is like a full body exercise of the brain. ”