Vitamin B12 - Cobalamin

Vitamin B12 is a hardworking vitamin. It is used to treat anemia and fatigue. For those on a very strict vegetarian diet it is easily depleted. 

This vitamin like so many of the other B vitamins is very important to cell production especially red blood cells. It is necessary for energy, healthy nerves, converting beta-carotene into Vitamin A and helping our body produce melatonin.

We need a special enzyme to properly absorb this vitamin. For a deficiency you can take a tablet under your tongue or a doctor can inject it which  bypasses the absorption problem. In order to absorb and use B12 we need a good supply of calcium, B6 and iron.

Considering how important it is I was certainly hoping to find it could be easily added to our diet. According to healthalicious.com there are some very delicious foods that are good for adding B12 to your diet. I don't like them all but there are enough that I do like that I'm not worried. Top of the list is shellfish - particularly cooked clam. Then beef liver, fish, crab and other crustaceans, fortified soy products and fortified cereal (All-Bran). By this point in the list I was getting a little worried to be honest, but the next four saved the day - red meat, milk and yogurt, Swiss cheese and eggs. Sounds good to me.

What would be your favourite way of adding B12 to your diet?

 

The information about Vitamin B12 comes from the Encyclopedia of Natural Healing, Alive Publishing Group, 1997.