Key points about vitamin B12 deficiency anemia
Without enough oxygen, your body can't work as well. Symptoms include weak muscles, numbness, trouble walking, nausea, weight loss, irritability, fatigue, and increased heart rate.
Not getting enough vitamin B12 to the point of a deficiency can cause a variety of serious symptoms including depression, joint pain, and fatigue. Sometimes these effects can be debilitating to the point where you might think you're dying or seriously ill.
How to raise your B12 levels fast. The most common way to treat B12 deficiencies is by adjusting your diet. If this is unsuccessful, vitamin supplements may be recommended. If you're looking to boost the amount of vitamin B12 in your diet, you should eat more animal products, like meat, seafood, dairy and eggs.
Diet. Some people can develop a vitamin B12 deficiency as a result of not getting enough vitamin B12 from their diet. A diet that includes meat, fish and dairy products usually provides enough vitamin B12, but people who do not regularly eat these foods can become deficient.
There are certain foods that also need a cut-down in case of vitamin B12 deficiency. “Some foods and drinks can interfere with vitamin B complex intake like alcohol, caffeine and processed foods, etc should be avoided completely,” Shah added.
Bananas also contain fibre and potassium. It helps manage blood pressure, reduce stress, and relieve constipation and ulcer problems. The fruit also helps regulate body temperature. Another fruit that is rich in vitamin B12 is blueberries.
[1] People who regularly take medications that suppress stomach acid for conditions like gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or peptic ulcer disease—such as proton-pump inhibitors, H2 blockers, or other antacids—may have difficulty absorbing vitamin B12 from food.
Most healthy people who have a well-balanced diet do not need to worry much about vitamin B12 deficiency. However, for those at risk (such as those with celiac disease), measures of blood vitamin B12 levels and, in some cases, preventive therapy with vitamin B12 may be recommended.
How Long Does It Take to Recover From Vitamin B12 Deficiency? Recovery from vitamin B12 deficiency takes time. You may not have any improvement during the first few months of treatment. Improvement may be gradual and may continue for up to six to 12 months.
Mild vitamin B12 deficiency in otherwise healthy individuals can result from dietary patterns that result in insufficient dietary intake of animal source foods including strict vegetarian and vegan diets, or can be caused by changes in stomach function resulting from aging and/or pharmaceutical use [12].
Vitamin B12 testing requires a blood sample, which is usually taken from your arm in a medical office, health clinic, hospital, or lab.
Cow milk is a good source of this vitamin, with one cup providing about a solid amount of riboflavin. A cup also contains B12, along with some B1 and B5. The human body absorbs B2 from milk particularly well, and most people get all the riboflavin they need from dairy products, meat, and vegetables.
Vegetables– Usually, most vegetables contain some amount of Vitamin B12, but there are some Vitamin B12 foods for vegetarians that contain a very high amount of Vitamin B12 namely- Spinach, Beetroot, Potatoes, Mushrooms, alfalfa, and others.
One hard-boiled egg has about 0.6 micrograms of B12. That's 25% of your daily value. But you'll need to eat the whole egg. Most of the B12 comes from the yolk.
Vitamin B12
The recommended daily intake of B12 is about 2µg, with a serving of two eggs satisfying 15% of your everyday requirements.
Fruits like apples, bananas, blueberries and oranges are some fruits that are high in vitamin B12.
Among animal-based foods, chicken is a good source of vitamin B12. So another way to ensure that your body is not nutritionally deficient is to include chicken in your diet, which is also a source of lean protein.
Beetroots are enriched with iron and are also a storehouse of Vitamin B12. Apart from that it also contains essential nutrients, and are a great source of fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C. You can have beetroots in cooked or boiled versions.
Furthermore, caffeine interferes with the metabolism of certain B vitamins, including thiamine. However, because caffeine increases stomach acid secretion, it actually boosts the absorption of vitamin B12.
There are 13 vitamins the body absolutely needs: vitamins A, C, D, E, K and the B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and folate). Avocados naturally contain many of these vitamins.