Among the nutrients needed by the human body, and vitamin are the most familiar and unfamiliar substances to everyone. It may sound familiar, but most people don’t understand the functions and importance of most vitamins. Although it is unfamiliar, the functions of some vitamins are familiar to everyone.
Among the many vitamins, B vitamins are an extremely large family, including eight kinds of vitamins. Among these eight vitamins, vitamin B12 is relatively closely related to our lives.
Although the daily recommended dietary amount of vitamin B12 is very low, its role cannot be underestimated. If the human body lacks vitamin B12, the body may have several major symptoms. Doctors remind four types of people to pay attention to supplementation.
What is Vitamin B12?
Vitamin B12 is also called " cobalamin ". There is a cobalt ion in the center of its chemical structure. It is the only vitamin that contains metal elements among many vitamins. Vitamin B12 is water-soluble and can be excreted from the body with urine, so it is difficult to accumulate excessive amounts of vitamin B12 in the body and cause poisoning. But just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean it’s impossible, so the dosage must be controlled.
In addition, vitamin B12 is relatively unstable and is easily decomposed in strong acidic and alkaline environments, as well as when heated.
What are the symptoms if you are deficient in vitamin B12?
First, it is megaloblastic anemia.
Our stomach not only secretes gastric acid , but also secretes a glycoprotein called intrinsic factor . This glycoprotein can bind vitamin B12, prevent vitamin B12 from being decomposed by gastric acid, and promote the absorption of vitamin B12 in the intestine (the stomach has a weak ability to absorb vitamin B12 and has almost no ability to absorb vitamin B12).
This is why vitamin B12 is easily decomposed in a strong acidic environment but can remain active in the stomach.
Vitamin B12 is an essential component in the process of turning folic acid into active tetrahydrofolate , and tetrahydrofolate is an indispensable part of the synthesis of DNA during the maturation of blood cells. Therefore, once vitamin B12 deficiency occurs, it will cause DNA synthesis in blood cells to be blocked, leading to megaloblastic anemia.
At the same time, according to the mechanism, the lack of intrinsic factor in our stomach will also lead to the deficiency of vitamin B12, which will also lead to megaloblastic anemia.
Secondly, neurological diseases.
Tetrahydrofolate can also promote the development of nerve tissue cells. If tetrahydrofolate is lacking, the development of nerve cells will be affected.. From the mechanism of vitamin B12 and folic acid mentioned above, we can know that the deficiency of vitamin B12 will lead to the deficiency of tetrahydrofolate. Therefore, vitamin B12 will also cause some related diseases of nervous system .
At the same time, vitamin B12 can also assist in the synthesis of nervous tissue lipoproteins, protect myelin and other functions. Myelin is a layer of cells wrapped around our nerve cells, which protects the nerve cells and enables "jump conduction" of nerve impulses. Therefore, vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to some neurological disorders and deformation of , spinal cord, and , seriously affecting our nervous system.
Then, the sense of taste decreases or is missing.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can also cause the atrophy of our taste buds. We know that our tongues are rough and covered with many small bumps, which are taste buds. The lack of vitamin B12 leads to the atrophy of taste buds, which also means that the small bumps on our tongues disappear, which we often call "mirror tongue" .
Of course, "mirror tongue" is not only related to vitamin B12 deficiency, but also related to iron deficiency anemia . According to relevant journal studies, iron deficiency can cause the mucous membrane on the surface of the tongue to thin and the taste buds to shrink.
Therefore, once "mirror tongue" appears, you must pay attention to whether you have vitamin B12 deficiency.
Finally, metabolic abnormalities.
Vitamin B12 can metabolize the fat in our body and reasonably distribute the consumption of the three major nutrients in our body. If vitamin B12 is lacking, it will lead to an imbalance in the consumption of our three major nutrients, , and thus affect our metabolism.
4 groups of people are prone to lack of vitamin B12
Some groups of people are more likely to be deficient in vitamin B12 due to various reasons, such as the following 4 groups of people. I hope everyone will pay attention to supplements:
1, vegetarians
We know that vitamin B12 mainly exists in the liver, meat, milk, eggs and other places of animals, and higher plants hardly produce vitamin B12, so it is difficult for the human body to obtain vitamin B12 from plants. Because of this, vegetarians are often one of the main groups of people suffering from vitamin B12 deficiency.
Here we recommend that vegetarians eat more fermented bean curd, cheese and other foods that are processed by microorganisms . These foods generally contain more vitamin B12. In this way, you can keep your vegetarian diet unchanged and supplement vitamin B12.
2, Stomach disease patients
Patients with gastric disease generally take proton pump inhibitors (such as omeprazole , etc.) to inhibit the production of gastric acid. While these drugs inhibit the secretion of gastric acid in the stomach, they also inhibit the production of intrinsic factor by the gastric parietal cells of the stomach.
The relationship between intrinsic factor and vitamin B12 is extremely close. The lack of intrinsic factor will inhibit the absorption of vitamin B12, leading to vitamin B12 deficiency.
For these patients, we generally use a combined injection of intrinsic factor and vitamin B12 for supplementation.
3. Long-term drinkers
Long-term drinking will affect the absorption of vitamin B12. Long-term drinking can inhibit the activity of gastric parietal cells, leading to reduced secretion of intrinsic factors, which in turn leads to vitamin B12 deficiency. For such patients, it is recommended that while taking vitamin B12 tablets to supplement vitamin B12, they should also limit alcohol consumption.
It should be noted that the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency caused by drinking are similar to Guillain-Barré syndrome. When we have symptoms of numbness in the limbs, fatigue, and poor appetite, and go to the doctor, we must clearly explain our drinking to the doctor.
4, Enteritis or those who have had intestinal surgery
As mentioned earlier, vitamin B12 is mainly absorbed through the intestines, and the amount of vitamin B12 absorbed by the stomach is minimal. Therefore, those who have enteritis or have undergone intestinal surgery will have a reduced ability to absorb vitamin B12 to varying degrees, and the possibility of vitamin B12 deficiency will also be greatly increased.
For this type of patients, it is recommended to supplement the treatment with a combined injection of intrinsic factor and vitamin B12, just like patients with gastric disease.
Summary:
Vitamin B12 is mainly found in animal livers, meat, eggs, milk, beans and soy products. Therefore, we must eat a balanced diet, not be picky about food, and not overeat. This will prevent you from lacking vitamin B12.
wishes everyone a healthy life.
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