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.
Key Points. Common causes of vitamin B12 deficiency include inadequate dietary amounts (eg, in vegans), impaired absorption, age-related decreased acid secretion, and autoimmune metaplastic atrophic gastritis (which causes pernicious anemia).
Key points about vitamin B12 deficiency anemia
Without enough red blood cells, your tissues and organs don't get enough oxygen. 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.
A lack of vitamin B12 can cause neurological problems, which affect your nervous system, such as: vision problems. memory loss. pins and needles.
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.
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.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can indeed lead to weight gain. But the weight gain is not a direct result of the deficiency. Instead, vitamin B12 deficiency causes lethargy or lack of energy, and in turn, inactivity causes weight gain. When you lack the energy to move, you don't burn fat.
One primary symptom of B12 deficiency is fatigue – a level of tiredness or exhaustion so deep that it affects daily life activities. Other symptoms are neurological and may include tingling in the extremities, confusion, memory loss, depression and difficulty maintaining balance.
Stage 1 is decreased levels of vitamin B12 in the blood. Stage 2 is low concentration of vitamin B12 in the cell and metabolic abnormalities. Stage 3 is increased levels of homocysteine and MMA and decreased DNA synthesis resulting in neuropsychiatric symptoms. Stage 4 is macrocytic anemia.
Bananas are a cheap, healthy, and nutrient-dense fruit that can easily become a part of every individual's diet. It is one of the best fruits rich in vitamin B12.
Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
Vitamin B-12 deficiency can affect the digestive tract. A lack of red blood cells means that not enough oxygen reaches the gut. Insufficient oxygen here may lead to a person both feeling and being sick. It may also cause diarrhea.
One organism that is associated with vitamin B12 deficiency is Helicobacter pylori, found in over half of all patients. Adequate treatment of this infection has been shown to result in an increase in the concentration of the vitamin.
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.
B12 also plays a role in the production of melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate our circadian rhythms. It is possible that a deficiency of B12 could lead to disrupted sleep patterns. Vitamin B12 also helps in the production of energy. Low levels of B12 cause a reduction in the formation of red blood cells.
What Abnormal Results Mean. Values of less than 160 pg/mL (118 pmol/L) are a possible sign of a vitamin B12 deficiency. People with this deficiency are likely to have or develop symptoms. Older adults with a vitamin B12 level less than 100 pg/mL (74 pmol/L) may also have symptoms.
Stress is known to deplete our levels of B vitamins, especially vitamin B12. Vegetarians, vegans and those on restricted diets can struggle to get enough vitamin B12 to meet their body's needs.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can have distressing neuropsychiatric symptoms. It can have an etiological role in clinical presentations like depression, anxiety, psychosis, dementia, and delirium, requiring screening of at-risk populations.
If a healthy diet is followed, an insufficient supply of vitamin B12 is rare in healthy adults, but an insufficient supply can occur with persistent stress due to the fact that the usual diet no longer supplies enough.
The main causes of B12 malabsorption include inherited disorders (Intrinsic factor deficiency, Imerslund-Gräsbeck disease, Addison's pernicious anemia, obesity, bariatric surgery and gastrectomies.
Food. Large amounts of B12 come from animal products, like red meat and fish. It's also found in poultry, eggs, dairy, and some plant-based or fortified foods. Don't worry if you don't know how to change your diet.
Several commercially available test kits allow you to collect a sample for vitamin B12 testing at home. Some kits test only your vitamin B12 level. Others test B12 in combination with other vitamins, and there are at-home micronutrient test kits that include B12 in the panel.
Vitamin B12, or cobalamin, is naturally found in animal foods. It can also be added to foods or supplements. Vitamin B12 is needed to form red blood cells and DNA. It is also a key player in the function and development of brain and nerve cells.