Vitamin B12 or cobalamin has amazing health benefits that include cell maintenance, DNA formation, relief from stress, fatigue and high cholesterol related issues. Vitamin B12 also reduces your risk of Alzheimer’s and other cognitive disorders. But what happens if your body does not get enough B12, since it can’t produce it on its own? Chaos, in simple terms.
The most common symptoms of a B12 deficiency include fatigue, weakness, memory loss, tingling feet, shortness of breath and anemia among others. There can be multiple reasons why you may face a B12 deficiency, ranging from gastritis to lupus and Grave’s disease. With that in mind, in this article, we will try to focus on the different foods that can help you deal with a vitamin B12 deficiency in a proper and effective way. Let’s dive into healthier living.
Vitamin B12 Foods
There are different foods that can help boost your vitamin B12 intake., These include clams, animal liver, sardines, fortified cereals, beef, tuna, trout and more. Let’s take a detailed look at them below.
Beef
Beef is a great source of vitamin B12, as one grilled steak of about 190 grams provides you with 467% of your daily value of B12. It also, at the same time, provides your body with vitamin B2, B3, and B6 as well as zinc and selenium, which are all essential nutrients for your body. For higher concentrations of this vitamin in your body, you can also try grilling or roasting your meat instead of frying, as it helps in preserving higher levels of B12 in your body.
Animal Liver
Liver and kidneys of lamb are one of the highest sources of vitamin B12 for the human body. A 100 gram serving of lamb liver provides you with 3570% of your daily value for vitamin B12. You can also have beef or veal liver as they contain great amounts of B12 in 100 gram servings. At the same time, the lamb liver is also a very important source of other nutrients like vitamin A, B2, copper, and selenium among others. The kidneys of these animals also provide about 3000% of the daily value per 100 gram servings, making them a great source of B12.
Clams
These little shellfish are loaded with nutrients and especially B12 - with 200% of the daily value of B12 per 100 gram servings. They also provide you with iron and other antioxidants, all necessary for your body. Some people also prefer having the broth of boiled clams as they deliver your body with around 300% of the daily value of B12 per 100 gram serving.
Sardines
Sardines are small saltwater fish that are usually sold in canned water, sauces or oil. You can also buy them fresh as they are amazingly nutritious, with a one cup serving providing you 554% daily value of vitamin B12. These small fishes are also a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which help in reducing inflammation and heart related issues.
Fortified Cereal
For those who prefer a vegan or vegetarian diet, fortified cereals make for a good source of vitamin B12. Cereals are infused with vitamin B12 through a food fortification method - there are various products and companies out there which offer great B12 levels in a single serving. However, when you are buying these fortified cereals, make sure you choose products that are low in sugar and high in fiber.
Some other common sources of vitamin B12 include eggs, salmon, trout, fortified dairy and non dairy products, and some other types of fishes. You can also try Wellbeing Nutrition’s Vegan Vitamin B12 Melts that naturally support your body’s ability to fight infections and diseases. Prepared with a plant based source of vitamin B12, methylcobalamin, Vitamin B12 Melts are 99% pure and sugar free too. All you need to do with it is place a Melt’s strip on your tongue and let it melt!
Research:
- Shipton MJ, Thachil J. Vitamin B12 deficiency - A 21st century perspective . Clin Med (Lond). 2015;15(2):145-150. doi:10.7861/clinmedicine.15-2-145. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4953733/)
- Gille D, Schmid A. Vitamin B12 in meat and dairy products. Nutr Rev. 2015 Feb;73(2):106-15. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuu011. PMID: 26024497. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26024497/)
- Harold E. Scheid, B. S. Schweigert, Vitamin B12 Content of Organ Meats, The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 53, Issue 3, July 1954, Pages 419–427, https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/53.3.419. (https://academic.oup.com/jn/article-abstract/53/3/419/4722056?redirectedFrom=fulltext)
- Broth from Canned Clams Is Suitable for Use as an Excellent Source of Free Vitamin B12, Kazumi Ueta, Shigeo Takenaka, Yukinori Yabuta, and Fumio Watanabe, J. Agric. Food Chem. 2011, 59, 22, 12054–12058, Publication Date:October 25, 2011, https://doi.org/10.1021/jf2037104. (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jf2037104)
- Sardines, The World's Healthiest Foods. (http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=147)
- Breakfast cereal fortified with folic acid, vitamin B-6, and vitamin B-12 increases vitamin concentrations and reduces homocysteine concentrations: A randomized trial, Katherine L Tucker,
Beth Olson, Peter Bakun, Gerard E Dallal, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, DOI:10.1093/ajcn/79.5.805, (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8590980_Breakfast_cereal_fortified_with_folic_acid_vitamin_B-6_and_vitamin_B-12_increases_vitamin_concentrations_and_reduces_homocysteine_concentrations_A_randomized_trial)
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