B12: A Nurse Gives the Lowdown September 22, 2009

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Get excited: Kelli the nurse is back again to bestow her infinite wisdom on you! Check out what she has to say about the age old vegan question: "What about B12?" (though, of course, we're just giving you this info to be nice—we're not trying to replace your doctor or nutritionist! If you need medical, dietary or other professional advice, of course go see a qualified specialist who can advise on your individual needs), then comment with what you'd like Kelli to answer next (you can check out Kelli's past guest blogs here).
-Marta

So, you're ready for the quick and dirty about vitamin B12? Well, when I say "dirty," I literally mean dirty! B12 is a vitamin that comes from bacteria in soil and the intestines of animals that walk on all fours.

Our great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents never had trouble getting B12 from vegetables, because there was B12 in the water and on the skins of veggies grown in the ground. This idea of B12 deficiency (a lack of the vitamin) in healthy people didn't come about until we industrialized the way we produce food and started treating our water with chemicals to prevent disease that were due to contaminated drinking water. Now, most of us drink chlorinated drinking water and eat vegetables that were grown in soil that is rich with chemicals and pesticides, instead of natural B12-rich fertilizer.

We all need B12 for normal blood formation and function of our nervous system, but the amount that we need is often debated. Those crazy guys at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have set the daily value (DV) at 6 micrograms per day. The percent daily value (%DV) that you find on most food containers is based on this value. The National Institute of Health (NIH), however, have set their recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) at a much lower level:

Ages 4-8: 1.2 micrograms
Ages 9-13: 1.8 micrograms
Ages 14+: 2.4 micrograms

So, even though my 8 ounce glass of soymilk claims that it only has 50 percent of the B12 I need in one day, it is 50 percent of 6 micrograms (3 micrograms in fact!). If the %DVs were based on the NIH's recommendations, my glass of soymilk would be able to tell me that it had more than 100 percent of my daily B12. Confusing, right? The truth is that most of us really don't know how much of any vitamin you truly need. All of our bodies are different and therefore metabolize foods and vitamins differently. People who eat the animals that produce B12, almost always get enough B12. Those who do not eat animals can get it through much tastier sources or through supplementation.

But if you don't think you've been getting your daily value of B12 recently, there is no need to fear. Your liver is a super organ that has tons of superhero powers. It can regenerate itself when it is hurt (If that isn't superhero, I don't know what is!) and it can store enough B12 to last you for almost a decade! If you are just now going veg, went veg in the past decade, or get enough B12 most days of the week ... you should be fine!**


Some great sources of B12 (can also be called cobalamin or cyanocobalamin on food labels) include:

Daily vitamins
Fortified breakfast cereals
Fortified soy milk
Fortified vegetarian meat
Fortified energy or granola bars, like Luna Bars
Nutritional Yeast

Different daily vitamins, cereals, soymilks, and granola bars have varying amounts of B12. I challenge you to read your food labels and let me know where your B12 came from today.

I'll go first. I just ate 1/2 a cup of Post Grapenuts Cereal and 1 cup of Silk soymilk. Grape-Nuts have 25%DV and Silk has 50%DV (Remember, %DV is out of 6 micrograms). I ate 75% of 6 micrograms. That is 4.5 micrograms of B12 in breakfast alone! I am set!

**I do want to warn you: Though often rare, some people can develop B12 deficiency. You should talk to your family doctor if you have a gluten allergy, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, a family history of intestinal disorders, if you are planning a pregnancy, or have any of the following symptoms: extreme fatigue, sore mouth and tongue, abnormal periods, orpersistent tingling of the hands and feet.

-Kelli

Kelli Ellis is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing who is currently working on her Master's at Penn State University while working at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

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