Vitamin B-12 Deficiency
Vitamin B12 is required for proper red blood cell formation, neurological function Vitamin B12 is naturally found in animal products, including fish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk, and milk products. Vitamin B12 is generally not present in plant foods, but fortified breakfast cereals are a readily available source of vitamin B12- Pyridoxine
- Thiamine or thiamin
- Niacin or niacinamide
- Palmitate
- ascorbic acid
- Riboflavin
- Mixed tocopherols
- B12
- cyanocobalamin
- more
Vitamins are not foods, so instead of vitamins and minerals on a label, you should be looking for the names of foods and herbs on the label. Don't be fooled by high milligrams, high potency, standardization or any other such terms that just do not apply to real foods from nature.
VITAMIN B COMPLEX DEFICIENCY:
MAJOR CAUSES
Vitamin B complex comprises a number of vitamins that exist as a family. They should not be taken individually. In this modern era, millions of people suffer from a deficiency of vitamin B for several reasons, chief among which are:
- Stress: emotional, physical and spiritual
- Processed foods in the diet: these are not real foods and so they tax the body
- Refined sugar. The average person consumes at least 140 pounds of sugar a year which robs the body of its vitamin B stores
- Drugs: both recreational and prescription drugs deplete vitamin B
- Toxins: poisons in the environment and personal care products deplete vitamin B complex
- Malnutrition. Most people are malnourished because they are not eating the right kinds of foods
- Cooking. Most people do not eat enough real, raw foods, so vitamin B is killed or so depleted that people are not getting enough of it in the diet
DO YOU HAVE ANY OF THESE SYMPTOMS?
Once your body has been deprived of the vitamin B complex due to reasons stated above, it begins to show symptoms (signs) of altered, diminished or poor health. This is because the vitamin B complex (within foods, not vitamin pills) is responsible for such a wide variety of activities, including cellular differentiation, transmission of nerve electricity, health of nerve cells, heart pulse rate, muscular contraction, digestion, brain function, thought processes and energy production. Without adequate vitamin B complex from foods, you can experience one or more of any one of these symptoms:
- mental problems
- heart palpitations, heart arrythmias, fibrillation
- indigestion
- chronic fatigue
- chronic exhaustion
- paranoia, vague fears, fear that something dreadful is about to happen
- ADD (attention deficiency), inability to concentrate, irritability
- feeling of uneasiness thoughts of dying, nervousness
- easy agitation, frustration
- inability to sleep (insomnia)
- restlessness
- tingling in hands
- tingling fingers and toes
- rashes
- crying spells, inability to cope
- soreness all over
CHRONIC VITAMIN B DEFICIENCY
Vitamin B deficiency can sneak up on you, because it doesn't have to create serious health problems right away. In fact, medical researchers have discovered that very often there can be no detectable signs according to scientific instrumentation, that you are experiencing a deficiency. For example, *memory impairment due to vitamin B12 deficiency can precede blood symptoms of deficiency by years. Evidence that vitamin B12 deficiency accounts for some cognition deficits in older people comes from a study that revealed abnormal short-term memory in more than two-thirds of clients with pernicious anemia. The researchers recommend that a diagnosis of senile dementia should not be made, even in the absence of anemia, until vitamin B12 status is determined biochemically.* This means that it is possible that certain mental disorders can be directly attributable to vitamin B complex deficiency, and it is easier to first start replenishing stores of vitamin B complex than to begin treating difficult mental illnesses with drugs, therapy or psychological counseling.
When vitamin B deficiency becomes chronic (long-lasting), other problems can occur, including troubles with your adrenal system. The adrenal glands serve many purposes, but in relation to this topic, they are the back up system for making energy. When there is a chronic lack of vitamin B complex then the adrenal glands are called upon to produce quick energy by injecting certain hormones like adrenaline into your system so that you can cope with life. If this goes on for a long time, then the adrenal glands become impaired or worn out, leading to even more health problems.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP YOURSELF
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