How to Increase Vitamin B12 Intake?
Like Vitamin C, Vitamin B12 is soluble in water which means that your body expels of any unused content. Hence, your body requires regular intake of the vitamin either through food sources or supplements to maintain proper body functions. Vitamin B12 can be obtain by consuming food from animal sources such as meat, poultry, fish, milk, cheese and eggs. Beef liver and clams are the two richest dietary sources of vitamin B12.
However, increasing your vitamin B12 intake through food may not necessary solve the problem for some. Vitamin B12 deficiency is not always due to insufficient intake of foods containing vitamin B12; it can also be cause by the body’s inability to absorb vitamin B12. To absorb vitamin B12, your stomach needs to produce a particular protein known as gastric intrinsic factor which is obligatory for the absorption of vitamin B12 in the gut. Hence, not being able to produce intrinsic factor can also hinder the absorption of vitamin B12 causing the deficiency.
The production of intrinsic factor in the stomach can be affected by various factors such as age, digestive disorders, use of certain medications such as acid-reducing drugs and diabetes drugs, history of gastric bypass surgery and medical conditions such as pernicious anemia.
Work with your doctor to find out if you’re deficient in vitamin B12 and discuss if vitamin B12 therapy is right for you.
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Sources:
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