Many supplement companies are focused on bringing B12 rich dietary formulas to their consumers, but can this vitamin truly help to achieve the desired benefits? Like boosting energy, losing weight? And if so, how would it work.

Healthy B12 levels are necessary for the proper functioning of the body. It is absolutely necessary in the formation of new tissues and protecting the DNA, but it also may have some influence on one’s overall metabolism rates. Especially if the individual is experiencing general issues with absorption in the stomach, as is common with B12 deficiency.

In a study involving 15,655 participants between the ages of 53 to 57 years, long-term (10-year) use of multivitamins, vitamins B6 and B12, and chromium, were found to be significantly associated with lower levels of weight gain (1). Lack of all the needed vitamins and minerals will cause the system to slow down when it comes to metabolism. This is the body’s way of assuring its own survival. Vitamin B12 is can be an energy booster, and in properly administered amounts it results in the body having healthy, long-lasting energy. This of course will not take off the pounds by itself, but the extra energy stores replacing the feeling of fatigue is often a great motivator to get up and move, resulting in weight loss.

B12 and other health conditions

Alzheimer's disease and dementia

Individuals with Alzheimer's disease often have low blood levels of vitamin B12. One study found lower vitamin B12 levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer's disease than in patients with other types of dementia, though blood levels of vitamin B12 did not differ (2). In another study, low serum vitamin B12 (= 150 pmol/L) or folate (= 10 nmol/L) levels were associated with a doubling of the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in 370 elderly men and women followed over three years (3). In a sample of 1,092 men and women without dementia followed for an average of ten years, those with higher plasma homocysteine levels at baseline had a significantly higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia (4)

Depression

Observational studies have found as many as 30% of patients hospitalized for depression are deficient in vitamin B12 (5). A cross-sectional study of 700 community-living, physically disabled women over the age of 65 found that vitamin B12 deficient women were twice as likely to be severely depressed as non-deficient women (6). A population-based study in 3,884 elderly men and women with depressive disorders found that those with vitamin B12 deficiency were almost 70% more likely to experience depression than those with normal vitamin B12 status (7).

Cancer

Folate is required for synthesis of DNA, and there is evidence that decreased availability of folate results in strands of DNA that are more susceptible to damage. Deficiency of vitamin B12 traps folate in a form that is unusable by the body for DNA synthesis. Both vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies result in a diminished capacity for methylation reactions. Thus, vitamin B12 deficiency may lead to an elevated rate of DNA damage and altered methylation of DNA, both of which are important risk factors for cancer. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, the same biomarker of chromosome breakage was minimized in young adults who were supplemented with 700 mcg of folic acid and 7 mcg of vitamin B12 daily in cereal for two months (8).

1."Dietary supplements and weight control in a middle-age population," Nachtigal MC, Patterson RE, et al, J Altern Complement Med., 2005; 11(5): 909-15.

2. Nourhashemi F, Gillette-Guyonnet S, Andrieu S, et al. Alzheimer disease: protective factors. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;71(2):643S-649S.

3. Clarke R, Smith AD, Jobst KA, Refsum H, Sutton L, Ueland PM. Folate, vitamin B12, and serum total homocysteine levels in confirmed Alzheimer disease. Arch Neurol. 1998;55(11):1449-1455.

4. Wang HX, Wahlin A, Basun H, Fastbom J, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L. Vitamin B(12) and folate in relation to the development of Alzheimer's disease. Neurology. 2001;56(9):1188-1194.

5. Hutto BR. Folate and cobalamin in psychiatric illness. Compr Psychiatry. 1997;38(6):305-314.

6. Penninx BW, Guralnik JM, Ferrucci L, Fried LP, Allen RH, Stabler SP. Vitamin B(12) deficiency and depression in physically disabled older women: epidemiologic evidence from the Women's Health and Aging Study. Am J Psychiatry. 2000;157(5):715-721.

7. Tiemeier H, van Tuijl HR, Hofman A, Meijer J, Kiliaan AJ, Breteler MM. Vitamin B12, folate, and homocysteine in depression: the Rotterdam Study. Am J Psychiatry. 2002;159(12):2099-2101.

8. Fenech M. Micronucleus frequency in human lymphocytes is related to plasma vitamin B12 and homocysteine. Mutat Res. 1999;428(1-2):299-304.

flag