How to manage vitamin B12 deficiency?

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I can understand your concern. Vitamin B12 does a lot of things for your body. It helps make your DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and your red blood cells. Since your body does not make vitamin B12, you have to get it from animal-based foods or from supplements. And you should do that on a regular basis. While B12 is stored in the liver for up to five years, you can eventually become deficient if your diet does not help maintain the levels. Regarding the intake, it depends on things including your age, your eating habits and medical conditions, and what medications you take. The average recommended daily amounts, measured in micrograms (mcg), vary by age:

Infants up to age six months: 0.4 mcg.

Babies (seven to twelve months): 0.5 mcg.

Toddlers (1 to 3 years): 0.9 mcg.

Kids (4 to 8 years): 1.2 mcg.

Children (9 to 13 years): 1.8 mcg.

Teens (14 to18 years): 2.4 mcg.

Adults (above 18 years): 2.4 mcg (2.6 mcg per day if pregnant and 2.8 mcg per day if breastfeeding).

The food sources of vitamin B12 include animal foods, which have it naturally, or from items that have been fortified with it. Animal sources include dairy products, eggs, fish, meat, and poultry. If you are looking for a food fortified with B12, check the product's nutrition facts label. With age, it can become harder to absorb this vitamin. It can also happen if you have had weight loss surgery or another operation that removed part of your stomach, or if you drink heavily.

You may also be more likely to get a vitamin B12 deficiency if you have atrophic gastritis, in which your stomach lining has thinned. Pernicious anemia, which makes it hard for your body to absorb vitamin B12. Conditions that affect your small intestine, such as Crohn's disease, celiac disease, bacterial growth, or a parasite. Misused alcohol or drinking heavily, can make it harder for your body to absorb nutrients or prevent you from eating enough calories. One sign that you lack enough B12 may be glossitis, or a swollen, inflamed tongue. Certain medications that interfere with the absorption of B12 are heartburn medicines including proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) such as Esomeprazole , Lansoprazole, Omeprazole , Pantoprazole, and Rabeprazole, H2 blockers such as Famotidine, and certain diabetes medicines such as Metformin .

You can also get vitamin B12 deficiency if you follow a vegan diet (meaning you do not eat any animal products, including meat, milk, cheese, and eggs) or if you are a vegetarian who does not eat enough eggs or dairy products to meet your vitamin B12 needs. In both cases, you can add fortified foods to your diet or take supplements to meet this need. In case of a pregnant woman on a vegan or vegetarian diet, and plan only to breastfeed your baby? One should talk to the doctor before they have their baby so that they have a plan in place for how they will get enough vitamin B12 to keep their baby healthy. Without enough vitamin B12, the baby could have developmental delays and not thrive and grow the way they should. If you have vitamin B12 deficiency, you could become anemic.

A mild deficiency may cause no symptoms. But if untreated, it may lead to symptoms such as: weakness, tiredness, lightheadedness, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, pale skin, a smooth tongue, constipation, diarrhea, loss of appetite, gas, nerve problems like numbness or tingling, muscle weakness, problems walking, vision loss, mental problems like depression, memory loss, or behavioral changes.

Treatment includes, if you have pernicious anemia or have trouble absorbing vitamin B12, you will need shots of this vitamin at first. You may need to keep getting these shots, take high doses of a supplement by mouth, or get it nasally after that. If you do not eat animal products, you have options. You can change your diet to include vitamin B12 fortified grains, a supplement or B12 shots, or a high-dose oral vitamin B12 if you are deficient. Older adults who have a vitamin B12 deficiency will likely have to take a daily B12 supplement or a multivitamin that contains B12. For most people, treatment resolves the problem. But, any nerve damage that happened due to the deficiency could be permanent.

Prevention includes; most people can prevent vitamin B12 deficiency by eating enough meat, poultry, seafood, dairy products, and eggs. Suppose you do not eat animal products, or you have a medical condition that limits how well your body absorbs nutrients. In that case, you can take vitamin B12 in a multivitamin or other supplement and foods fortified with vitamin B12. If you choose to take vitamin B12 supplements, let your doctor know, so they can tell you how much you need, or make sure they will not affect any medicines you are taking.

I hope this helps you.

Thank you.

Regards.