It is important for vegetarians to make sure they get enough vitamin B12, an essential nutrient found only in animal products, including meat, dairy products and eggs. There are no reliable sources of vitamin B12 in vegetarian foods. Vitamin B12 analogues (substances similar to vitamin B12) are found in some plants, especially after they have been fermented with vitamin B12-producing yeast. These analogues, however, are not absorbed by humans, and may even block vitamin B12 absorption in those who follow a vegetarian diet.
Until recently, vegetarians who eat dairy products and eggs-lacto-ovarian vegetarians- assumed they were getting enough vitamin B12 from those sources. However, several recent studies have shown that most vegetarians in developing countries have vitamin B12 deficiency.
We re-absorb and re-use most of the vitamin B12 in our bodies, so it takes a long time for symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency to appear, even in a vegetarian. When the symptoms do appear, they are non-specific-fatigue, weakness, constipation, mental cloudiness-and we usually do not recognize that a lack of vitamin B12 is the problem.
Vegetarians need vitamin B12 to make red blood cells, nervous tissue and DNA. Because of vitamin B12 deficiency, vegetarians may eventually become anemic. They experience fatigue and weakness because they do not have enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen to the tissues that need it.
Another problem vegetarians can experience as a result of vitamin B12 deficiency is degradation of nervous tissue. Neuritis (tingling or numbness in the extremities) and cognitive problems similar to dementia can be caused by vitamin B12 deficiency.
It is essential that vegetarians take vitamin B12 supplements during pregnancy and lactation. The baby will "steal" the mother's vitamin B12 reserves if needed. Vitamin B12 deficiency in the fetus or in nursing infants can cause seizures, lethargy, failure to thrive and neurological abnormalities, including spinal cord defects.
Although vegetarians usually get vitamin B12 in dairy products and eggs they do not absorb it well, especially as they get older. Much of the vitamin B12 a vegetarian consumes in dairy products, eggs or vitamin pills is excreted in the feces. It is difficult to correct long-standing vitamin B12 deficiency in vegetarians by taking a vitamin pill. That is why most physicians use vitamin B12 injections to treat the deficiency.
The B12 Patch is now available to prevent and treat vitamin B12 deficiency. Vitamin B12 is easily absorbed through the skin, which means the B12 Patch is an effective, painless and easy way to supplement vitamin B12.
