Found exclusively in foods of animal origin and in the intestinal flora, vitamin B12 is essential to the body by its action as well as by the benefits it brings to guarantee the proper functioning of the body.
Present in eggs, meat, shellfish, liver and dairy products mainly, it is vegetarians who generally suffer from a severe vitamin B12 deficiency, which poses a real problem for health. What properties does this vitamin have, what does the body need from it? We tell you everything!
What are the benefits of vitamin B12?
In normal times, and for a person not suffering from any kind of lack or deficiency, the daily intake of vitamin B12 recommended by specialists in nutrition is of 2.4 µg for children andt 2.6 µg in the case of adults. If this daily dose is respected thanks to the consumption animal products mentioned above, there will be no need to take additional food supplements. As a result, the functioning of each part of your body is established very normally and this through the contribution of vitamin B12 which has the following virtues:
- Contributes to normal energy and homocysteine metabolism
- Contributes to normal functioning of the nervous system
- Contributes to the activity of mental functions
- Promotes the formation of red blood cells
- Significantly reduces fatigue
- Promotes cell division
- Strengthens the immune system.
Once assimilated by the body, Vitamin B12 will lodge directly in the liver where it will be stored for several years. This explains the fact that vegans don’t be prone to deficiency only following some time from the start of their diet. Intestinal malabsorption can also cause this deficiency, due to several pathologies that might cause this deficiency. The taking of food supplements in these two cases cannot always be the answer to everything, and consulting a specialist opinion remains by far the best option to take.
