One of the most important vitamins is vitamin B12. You need it to live a healthy life. Vitamin B12 ensures proper functioning of the nervous system, plays a role in the production of red blood cells and helps to form your DNA. It is therefore important to avoid a shortage. It does not or hardly occur naturally in plant-based foods, which is why we regularly see a shortage in vegetarians and vegans. In that case, the intake of vitamin B12 supplements is not an unnecessary luxury.
Symptoms
In addition to a vegan diet without B12 supplements, an absorption disorder can also be a cause of a deficiency. But what do you notice that you are deficient? You may then experience the following symptoms:
- tingling in the fingers (paresthesia);
- a burning or numbness in the arms or legs (restless leg syndrome);
- (extreme) fatigue;
- shortness of breath;
- depression;
- muscle weakness;
- amnesia;
- poor concentration;
- diarrhea, loss of appetite and weight loss;
- itchy skin;
- coordination disorders;
- dizziness;
- palpitations;
- ringing in the ears.
A long-term B12 deficiency can have very serious consequences with permanent damage to health as a result. Do you experience the above symptoms? Then always go to the doctor. Because many of the above complaints do not seem so serious at first glance, and also occur in many other diseases, it can sometimes take a long time before a deficiency of B12 is identified. Wondering if you have a deficiency? Then take the online b12 vitamin test.
Clean and hygienic
Vitamin B12 is made for bacteria that live on plants, in your gut and in water. We used to get B12 by drinking raw water and eating unwashed fruits and vegetables. Today we live so clean that there is practically no more vitamin B12 in our drinking water and plant-based food. So is meat the solution? This also does not guarantee an adequate intake of B12. Our cattle nowadays also eat more clean feed and drink clean water, they too often receive B12 supplements to stay healthy. That does ensure that there is B12 in milk and meat, but that is actually the same as the B12 that you find in supplements. It is therefore preferable to take a supplement yourself, instead of getting it second-hand. The reason vegans, but even meat eaters, need a B12 supplement these days is because we live so clean and hygienic.
Risk of too high a dose nil
Whether you are a vegetarian, vegan or meat eater, it is advisable to regularly take a B12 supplement, for example from b12.nl. B12 is often added to, for example, plant-based milk and meat substitutes for vegetarians and vegans, but the amount of B12 is not sufficient for a healthy life. As far as is known from research, it is not harmful to get too much vitamin B12, because you simply pee the excess out again. However, a small group of people can suffer from acne. This is because the activity of bacteria on the skin can be influenced by the vitamin B12 so that more inflammatory substances are produced. However, this does not hurt and only occurs in a very small percentage of users of high-dose B12. The risk is therefore nil, and you would rather take in too much than too little.
Recommended amount
How much vitamin B12 do you need exactly? There are several types of B12 active for humans, of which cyanocobalamin is the best researched and cheapest form. For cyanocobalamin B12 it is recommended to take a supplement of 50 µg daily or a supplement of 2000 µg weekly.