Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Persons with a standard "omnivore" type of diet usually get enough vitamin B₁₂, however, those who have inflammatory conditions in the intestine, such as IBD, or have atrophic gastritis, or who are on medication for gastric ulcers, or are taking metformin for diabetes, or who are vegans, or are seventh day adventists, can be deficient in vitamin B₁₂. The recommended daily dietary intake for vitamin B₁₂ is 6 microgram. Representative amounts found in food are given in the table below. There is almost no vitamin B₁₂ in any vegetable.

From the above table it can be seen that whilst eggs and chicken can substitute for fish, liver, and beef, that you would need 10 eggs per day, with a cholesterol of 201 mg/egg (2.1 gm/10 eggs), or you would need around 60 oz of chicken, with a cholesterol value of 80mg/3 oz (4.8 gm/60 oz). Contrast that to 12 oz of beef (cholesterol (0.24gm/12 oz).

No matter what the source of dietary vitamin B12 is, in order for it to be absorbed it must be first "released" from food by the action of gastric acid, and must then be bound to gastric Intrinsic Factor. Inhibition of production of gastric acid also inhibits the "release" of vitamin B12 from food. 

Dietary insufficiency in vitamin B12, is often associated with a co-deficiency in iron, as the majority of foods that are high in vitamin B12 are also high in iron. Despite this, the co-deficiencies, of either iron with vitamin B12, or vitamin B12 deficiency with iron deficiency are often missed.

Alternative sources of Vitamin B₁₂ 

During the initial phases of dietary insufficiency, it is possible to compensate for a deficient diet by daily supplementation with oral vitamin B₁₂ tablets, or multivitamins. Unfortunately, once the levels of vitamin B₁₂ in serum and more particularly in the brain start to decrease, and a long time before any overt signs of deficiency occur, it is almost impossible to get sufficient vitamin B₁₂ either by changing your diet, or by the use of supplements. This problem is exacerbated in those who have gastro-intestinal disorders, or who are on drugs that interfere with vitamin B₁₂ metabolism or absorption. At this stage sufficient vitamin B₁₂ can only be obtained by ultra high dose oral supplement, or regular injections, or more recently through topical application of The topical form of vitamin B₁₂ developed by Boston Transdermal. This form of vitamin B₁₂ is a specially formulated preparation that is an easy to apply to the skin using a needle-free delivery system. Twice weekly application of a this topical form of  vitamin B₁₂ to the forearm and can supply adequate vitamin B₁₂ even for those on vegan or vegetarian diets. In addition, the topical formulation is particularly suited to patients who may have gastro-intestinal problems, such as Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, or those who are on oral medications such as metformin, cholestyramine, cymetidine, clofibrate, colchicine, methotrexate, methyldopa, neomycin, omeprazole, some oral contraceptives, phenobarbital, ranitidine, tetracyclines, valproic acid and zidovudine (AZT) that either affect vitamin B₁₂ uptake or which cause vitamin B₁₂ deficiency. In vegetarian and vegan diets, dietary insufficiency with vitamin B₁₂ is further complicated by deficiencies in some essential amino acids, such as methionine.

Further Information on Dietary Requirements for vitamin B₁₂

Further Information on the recommended daily allowance for vitamin B₁₂ can be found at the following web-sites

http://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2013/04/22/problems-of-vegetarianism/?goback=%2Egde_1104187_member_234582553 :

https://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/diet-and-health-O

Further information on topical vitamin B₁₂ can be obtained by contacting b12oils.com  directly.