Vegetarians, you have GOT to read this
Possibly the quickest and may help support mood and energy is a B12 injection. As a matter of fact, B12 is probably my number 1 favorite . Many people may notice changes in mood (anxiety and depression), energy, brain fog, memory, and overall wellbeing, sometimes after only 1 short. This seems remarkable, as according to blood work, most Canadians have enough B12. And here lies the possible problem, are Canadian ranges set too low?
Japan and many European countries certainly think so. Japan and many countries throughout Europe believe anything below 405pmol/L is not sufficient. In Canada, anything above 220 pmol/L is considered adequate. That means that while other countries would offer care between 40 – 60% of the Canadian population which have values below 500 pmol/L, Canada dismisses this as normal and no care is suggested or given.
With mental health issues on the rise, it’s surprising that Canada hasn’t re-evaluated their reference ranges and suggested supplementation for disease prevention. Low levels of B12 can lead to all sorts of mental health issues, from psychosis to anxiety to depression and hallucination. It is also vital in red blood cell formation, so for proper oxygenation, which is needed for energy, B12 is essential. Shortness of breath, joint pain, memory loss? You might need more B12 than you are getting. B12 is also needed in DNA formation, detoxification, nerve protection, lipid metabolism, as well as cell, blood, and mucous membranes formation.
Another difficulty is B12 is hard to absorb, as we need adequate levels of stomach acid (which most of us do not have, despite the occasional heartburn), and intrinsic factor, a substance needed to actively absorb B12 in the gut. Genetically, some of us just don’t make intrinsic factor.
Finally, your diet will play a major role in how well you absorb your nutrients. B12 is made from animals, thus, plant-based diets will not provide B12. Blue-green algae and eggs are often consumed by vegetarians as a B12 source, but unfortunately, Vitamin B12 in eggs seems to be poorly absorbed (< 9%) (2) relative to other animal food products, and most of the edible blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) used for human supplements predominantly contain pseudo-vitamin B12, which is inactive in humans (2). So, the supplement company can rightly claim it contains B12, it just, unfortunately, won’t help you.
Side effects are few, such that there is no upper limit or red flag on blood work of ‘too much’ B12. A safe, quick and easy method to support overall health. If you’ve had them in the past or never tried them, now with the days getting shorter might just be the time to start supplementation again.
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. https://wholehealthchicago.com/2015/04/27/b12-deficiency-still-americas-1-missed-diagnosis/
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Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2007 Nov;232(10):1266-74. Vitamin B12 sources and bioavailability.