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Although vitamin B12 may not be as buzzy as calcium or an immediate recognizable concept such as vitamin C or vitamin D, it is just as important for your health – and especially your brain health.
This vitamin in water plays a role in a whole series of processes in your body, helps, among other things, produce your DNA, produce red blood cells and generate energy. But new research suggests that we may not get enough B12, which could increase your risk of developing dementia in the future.
This is what neurologists and a dietitian want you to know about vitamin B12, plus its potential impact on your current and future brain health.
Meet the experts: Amit Sachdev, MD, MS, medical director of the Neurology department at Michigan State University; Jessica Cording, RD, author of The Little Book of Game Changers; Clifford Segil, Do, neurologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA
What did the study think?
For the study, which was published in February in the Annals of NeurologyResearchers recruited 231 healthy elderly people without dementia or mild cognitive impairment (which is considered a precursor of dementia). All participants had B12 levels in their blood with an average of 414.8 pmol/l, which is considerably above the set minimum level of 148 pmol/l (everything below is considered “shortage”, explains the study).
The researchers drilled on the data to concentrate on a biologically active component of vitamin B12, which indicates the amount of B12 that the body can actually use. They discovered that participants with a lower active levels of B12 experienced a lower processing speed and reacted slower to visual stimuli, suggesting that they had a lower visual processing speed and slower electrical impulses in the brain. These effects became even clearer in older participants.
During participant MRIS, researchers discovered that people with lower levels of B12 had more lesions about the white matter of their brains, which can be linked to dementia and cognitive decline.
The study concluded that the findings should “challenge” the current B12 recommendations.
What are the current B12 recommendations?
The current recommended intake for B12 varies per age and depends on whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Most adults aged 19 and older are told, however, to strive for 2.4 micrograms B12 per day, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). (If you are pregnant, it increases to 2.6 micrograms, while breastfeeding it increases to 2.8 micrograms.)
But as the study notes, this may not be enough to protect the health of the brain.
What is the ideal B12 range to strive for?
The study does not say what recommended B12 levels should have to Just be that it is possible that some people do not get enough, and that more research is needed in this area to find out optimum levels.
At the moment it is the best way to know if you are getting a good B12 range for your body, getting a blood test, says Jessica Cording, RD, author of The Little Book of Game Changers.
The closure between normal and deficient vitamin B12 blood mirrors varies per lab, but everything lower than 200 or 250 pg/ml is usually considered deficient, according to the NIH. However, there are other markers who can suggest that you are low in B12, so it’s really the best to talk to your care provider about your results when you are tested.
Cording points out that some caregivers will say that your levels are good, even if you are on the low side of the “normal” reach. “I like to see people in the middle of the reach with laboratories for B12,” she says. “There is ‘normal’ and then there is ‘optimal’.”
Someone within “normal” B12 limits can do well with taking their B12 in a multivitamin, says Cording. “If they have a noted shortage, I might be able to put them in a higher dose – 500 micrograms or 1000 micrograms – and see how they feel.”
How does B12 help to function the brain?
B12 does a few different things in the brain. First, it helps to make sugar energy.
“Our brains are on sugar. Vitamin B12 is important for processing that sugar in energy, ”explains Amit Sachdev, MD, MS, medical director of the Neurology department at Michigan State University. “Low B12 levels can lead to mental fog.”
B12 is also needed for optimum cell function and the formation of red blood cells, points out Cording. “All these things can influence cognition,” she adds.
Cording says that she will often recommend that patients have their B12 levels tested when they feel slower than normal, feel tired or feel down and they don’t know why.
Symptoms of low B12 levels can also imitate signs of dementia. “I check a B12 level in all patients I see with memory loss,” says Clifford Segil, Do, Neurologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Ca. Segil also says that B12 is “great for general health and it helps people to give energy.”
Segil says that more research is needed, but to support the new findings. “An intervention that contains better food is something that every neurologist would like to concentrate on,” he says.
Can I get B12 from my regular diet?
Yup, you can get B12 in your diet. These foods have higher levels of B12, according to the NIH:
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Beef -liver, 70.7 micrograms
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Food yeast, 8.3 to 24 micrograms
Dairy products and some breakfast cereals also contain B12, but “it is mainly in animal products,” says Cording.
What kind of B12 supplements are the best?
If you are considering going on a B12 supplement, it is a good idea to first check in with a healthcare provider. “A laboratory test is always a great place to start, because then you know how high the dose should be,” says Cording.
Most people are doing well with a capsule, but you can also get B12 in a tablet that dissolves under your tongue, she says. If you have problems absorbing B12, you may need to get an infusion via IV.
But again, if you suspect that low levels of B12 are a problem, talk to your care provider. They can do a thorough check to see what could be behind your symptoms and find out the next steps from there.
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