Vitamin B12 supplements correct deficiencies as well as injections

Taking supplements of vitamin B12 appear to correct deficiencies of the vitamin just as efficiently as B12 injections but the doses needed would far exceed the RDA of this vitamin.

Elderly people often develop vitamin B12 deficiencies as the effects of ageing impact the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from food. Yet the vitamin has been shown to reduce levels of the amino acid homocysteine, high levels of which are linked to increase risk of heart disease and Alzheimer’s.

Traditional treatment for this vitamin deficiency is through injections of cobalamin but taking supplements is a painless and therefore, preferable method.

Researchers investigated the doses of cyanocobalamin supplements needed to correct this deficiency, they found that only daily doses of at least 647 mug of cyanocobalamin could reduce the deficiency by 80-90 per cent.

Their study tested different daily doses of vitamin B12 supplements in 120 people over the age of 70.

“The lowest dose of oral cyanocobalamin required to normalize mild vitamin B12 deficiency is more than 200 times greater than the recommended dietary allowance, which is approximately 3 mug daily,” the authors write in the 23 May issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Courtesy of nutraingredients.com