Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Vitamin B12 Deficiency and Its Impact on Brain

Vitamin B12: Vitamin B12 is one of the eight B vitamins 'B Complex' group. It is a water-soluble vitamin. It plays an important role in maintaining healthy body and brain. It plays a crucial role in making and maintenance of red blood cells. It helps to maintain healthy nervous system.

Impact on the Brain: Vitamin B12 plays a crucial role in healthy functioning of the brain, improves cognitive levels, helps memory, concentration and focus, promotes healthy metabolism, healthy neurotransmitter system, avoids brain shrinkage, helps improve brain power, it improves nervous system, provides energy quickly, promotes healthy digestion, helps treat diseases like Alzheimer's disease.

Vitamin B12 Deficiency: Unlike other vitamins, vitamin B12 is found in animal products like fish, meat, poultry, liver, kidney, eggs, dairy products etc. Vitamin B12 may found in plant products but in very small amounts and are not considered as good sources like animal products.

The people who are strictly vegetarians and the babies born to these vegetarians are considered at risk of vitamin B12 deficiency as they will not eat animal products.

The deficiency of vitamin B12 occurs when the body doesn't receive sufficient amounts of vitamin B12 from the diet. And also the deficiency occurs among those who are
  • Older people, because their bodies can't absorb vitamin B12 from the food they ate.
  • The people having digestive problems may not absorb vitamin B12 to the sufficient levels.
  • The people having surgical problems may not absorb vitamin B12.
Vitamin B12 deficiency leads to poor memory, memory loss, lower levels of concentration and focus, rapid brain shrinkage, lower levels of energy.

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