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Here's to Your Health:  Vitamin B12  |
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CountryGirl85
True Blue Farmgirl
225 Posts
Laura
Oswego
IL
USA
225 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 23 2006 : 9:41:49 PM
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My last few blood tests showed that I have a B12 deficiency. I've been a vegetarian for about 4 years and I eat eggs, dairy, and have recently started eating fish, so I don't think it's diet related. My doctor wants me to get B12 injections once a week for a month. I was wondering if anyone else has this problem, especially the vegetarians.
Laura
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." Anne Frank |
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Nancy Gartenman
True Blue Farmgirl
9093 Posts
Nancy
West Seneca
New York
USA
9093 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2006 : 07:14:26 AM
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LAURA,
Go on google and type in vitaminB12, LOTS OF INFO THERE.
NANCY JO |
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sqrl
True Blue Farmgirl
605 Posts
Melissa
Northern California
USA
605 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2006 : 08:33:43 AM
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You only need B12 in very small amounts. Getting the injections, I don't know if I would do it. I not a big fan of injecting any vitamin in concentrated amounts. Not unless it's some kind of cure for some horrible disorder or something. You should certainly be able to get it from food. Actually your body produces it in your small intestine from the flora. If you do not have a good population of flora in your intestine than you won't produce enough B12. So a good place to start would be yogurt, if you don't do dairy than you could just take a lacobiocius (spell?) suppliment. This is good for you anyway it would also help with any yeast or bladder infections and all kinds of stuff. Other things that are good sources for B12 are brewer's yeast - this is a very good source of it, blue/green agae - problem with this is polution, you want to know where they are harvesting it because if it comes from a place like the Great Lake than it could be pretty poluted. Of course meat is the best source of B12 which is why us vegetarians have to be careful, although there are many people who believe that it's the vegans who are the one's who have to worry, because it you get enough cultures (from yogurt or the like)in your diet your body will produce enough B12 and you don't need to get it from meat. I believe that eggs are also a very good source of B12. Than again you could always take a suppliment. But I strongly advise that you take a B Complex and not just B12. Because taking just one B could and probably will make you deficent in the other Bs. This is why I would stay away from the injections. You see, to the body Bs are very similar they are called coenymes and they all do different jobs but it's like they work together so when one's off the other's will eventually follow. Hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions.
Blessed Be
www.sqrlbee.com
www.smallsqrl.blogspot.com
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2006 : 09:54:09 AM
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While diet certainly can play a role, there are those folks whose bodies do not retain B12. A Schilling (blood) test will confirm this. There is also a familial tendency towards this condition.
Laura - do you find yourself easily fatigued?? You might find it almost miraculous if you have a B12 shot at how good you will feel.
The vitamin is not concentrated into a high dose injection...it is given only in amounts to bring it up to what your blood level should be.
Diane
http://www.daisyfarm.blogspot.com |
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CountryGirl85
True Blue Farmgirl
225 Posts
Laura
Oswego
IL
USA
225 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2006 : 8:42:25 PM
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Thanks for the advice! Sqrl, I'm also weary of getting injections and read about cases where it is a life-long thing. I'd really like to get all my vitamins from food, and if nescessary, oral supplements, but I question the high amounts in some of them. I was taking one and it didn't seem to help. I made sure I talked to the nurse about it and she told me my B12 wasn't below the normal range, but still at a lower level than the doctor likes to see. I have struggled with depression in the past, which is now under control, but I do have a lack of energy and it seems like I'm always tired, so I'm hoping this will help. I'm also going to work on eating a more balanced diet. Thank you all for the advice! It's nice to get other opinions and I really appreciate it!
Laura
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." Anne Frank |
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sqrl
True Blue Farmgirl
605 Posts
Melissa
Northern California
USA
605 Posts |
Posted - Mar 27 2006 : 08:42:09 AM
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Good luck with this Laura. A B complex is known to help with depression and nervousness. May be you could start with taking suppliments while you get yourself on a more balance diet and that after a while the diet could just take over and you won't even need the suppliments. If ya need anything, you just let me know.
Blessed Be
www.sqrlbee.com
www.smallsqrl.blogspot.com
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OregonGal
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Chris
No. IL
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - Mar 27 2006 : 7:33:28 PM
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If you have a lack of energy, it may also be because of a low thyroid level , I would ask about that if you had blood lab tests....that will cause decrease in energy. I know about that, I thought I had low iron or something like that, but it was the thyroid.
"...a merry heart does good like a medicine, it has the power to cure." |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Apr 22 2006 : 9:59:28 PM
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When you say you are tired of injections, is that because you have health problems other than the B12 problem? if so i would ask the doctor more questions before i refused the injections in case he feels the B12 is related in some way to other things going on with your health. Are you being treated for anemia? Any thyroid diseases (which can cause pernicious anemia)? i don't think that you gave enough information in your original post for anyone here to give you definitive medical advice or to encourage you to ignore your doctor's advice.
Also, B12 attaches to special proteins in the stomach from the foods that you eat and is then carried to the small intestine for absorption, it isn't made there.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." -E. B. White
http://www.betweenthecities.com/blog/ljr/
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Destiny~
True Blue Farmgirl
195 Posts
Dar
west
TX
USA
195 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2006 : 11:52:21 AM
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What kind of test can they perform to detect the B12 deficiency?
I often wonder if I have one and I need to get my yearly checkup soon so I thought I'd ask about it. I'm a lousy vegetarian-I only eat a limited selection of foods and they're not all healthy.
Let us, together, sow seeds for a better harvest-a harvest for hope.
Jane Goodall, Harvest for Hope |
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rabbithorns
True Blue Farmgirl
544 Posts
Allison
Fort Scott
KS
USA
544 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2006 : 1:08:43 PM
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B12 is manufactured in the body. It's not something you actually "take" but its manufacture is stimulated rfom eating animal products. You can get B12 from animal fats so if you eat cheese that should help. But cheese if quite fatty so you might want to include nutritional yeast to your diet. You can sprinkle in and on foods. It's an acquired taste, but I used to sprinkle it on popcorn.
Also most B vitamins aren't absorbed well unless accompanied by other B vitamins (like a complex) so it's best to get them in your food where other B vitamins are present. A cheese sandwich on whole grain bread would be perfect.
Also if you want to get a "real" count of your nutritional contents - take some alfalfa tablets (a couple a day) along with a handful of raisins (iron) and a vitamin C food - like an orange (not OJ- there's no C in that regardless of what the labels say and not Vit C pills: ascorbic acid is only 1 of 16 components of Vit C and IS NOT the same thing as Vit C). That combination creates iron-rich blood, meaning, you have actually made MORE red blood cells where nutrients can go. If you do that and eat well, all your blood tests will make you look like a super-hero! |
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Destiny~
True Blue Farmgirl
195 Posts
Dar
west
TX
USA
195 Posts |
Posted - Apr 25 2006 : 1:20:34 PM
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I'm allergic to dairy-which is all the more reason I'm probably not in the best of health. I used to use Brewer's Yeast I'll have to see if I still have it.
I also don't like raisins-any other suggestions?
"Let us, together, sow seeds for a better harvest-a harvest for hope."
Jane Goodall, Harvest for Hope |
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rabbithorns
True Blue Farmgirl
544 Posts
Allison
Fort Scott
KS
USA
544 Posts |
Posted - Apr 25 2006 : 1:31:33 PM
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| Any iron rich food will do when building up red blood cell count, but try to eat a Vit C rish food as well to help absord the iron. Tomatoes and strawberries are also C rich. Chocolate has iron, but not that much. |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Apr 25 2006 : 2:30:08 PM
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Broccoli is supposed to be very iron rich too and was suggested to me once as a good iron builder when I had a little problem with that.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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Destiny~
True Blue Farmgirl
195 Posts
Dar
west
TX
USA
195 Posts |
Posted - Apr 26 2006 : 05:15:22 AM
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I have some Kelp tabs, would they suffice for Iron?
"Let us, together, sow seeds for a better harvest-a harvest for hope."
Jane Goodall, Harvest for Hope |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - May 02 2006 : 1:43:23 PM
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B12 is not made by the body. At least not in a way that allows us to absorb it. I do recall reading that it might be made in the colon (?) but that we can't absorb it from there. It would make sense that we could produce it there since the production of B12 requires bacteria though. B12 is released from foods through digestion and then absorbed after combining with intrinsic factor. The only reliable, unfortified sources are meat, dairy and eggs. Here are a couple of helpful websites I have taken some of my information from. There's an interesting tidbit about the lack of B12 deficiency anemia in vegans in developing nations being because of the fact that those countries still fertilize with human feces which is rich in B12 (which would relate back to the B12 being made in the colon thing).
http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/vitaminb12.asp
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/b12.html
Dar, one of them states that cold cereals are a good option for vegetarians as a source of B12. You could have it with soy milk. I didn't notice if you said you can eat eggs or not, but that is another good source. There is information on those websites about how much you get different natural sources as well as how much your body requires.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." -E. B. White
http://www.betweenthecities.com/blog/ljr/
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Alaskagrown
Farmgirl at Heart
6 Posts
Katherine
Skagway
Alaska
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - May 06 2006 : 11:39:26 PM
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I know that you said you are a vegetarian but do you eat seafood? Clams and oysters have high iron contents. Yummy!! I love them. Plus eating fish is all around good for you too. I have struggled with anemia all of my life and I am not a vegetarian. Although after seeing our tiny grocery stores rotten meat selection I often consider it.
Best wishes~Katherine
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none~Shakespeare |
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rabbithorns
True Blue Farmgirl
544 Posts
Allison
Fort Scott
KS
USA
544 Posts |
Posted - May 07 2006 : 8:52:34 PM
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My mistake. B12 is made in the body but, yes, in the gut and not in the amounts and accesibility we need to sustain. Thank you for the reminder. But B12 is stored in the liver for some time and so if we are eating enough B12 foods regularly in the diet, we would not need to supplement it. Some foods are enriched with b12 such as some soy milks and other foods. Best to check labels for foods that have it added if you're not eating animal products that contain it naturally.
Thanks Laura for making me get that clear! I would hate to have misled anyone by accident. Yay! for FarmGirl support! We're so good to each other. Is there an emoticon for hugs?  |
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Here's to Your Health: Vitamin B12 |
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Vitamin B12
