Experts Warn Vegetarians, Seniors on B12

Ripping a page from the Bingo playbook, experts are now advising people – particularly vegetarians and older adults – to start taking B12 supplements. This recommendation comes from the Harvard Health Newsletter, which claims that, for different reasons, both groups are at risk of B12 deficiency, which can result in everything from the relatively minor (fatigue, dizziness) to the very serious (nerve damage, anemia, dementia).

Vitamin B12 is essential for maintaining healthy nerve cells and red blood cells. It occurs naturally only in animal products such as meat, poultry and fish, and to a lesser extent in eggs and dairy products such as milk and cheese. As such, vegetarians, particularly vegans, are pretty much out of luck when it comes to getting B12 naturally. In terms of older adults, because the stomach lining thins as we age, those into middle age or older often cannot properly produce the digestive acids needed to remove B12 from foods.

An easy solution for both groups is to start taking multivitamins or even eating cereals that have been fortified with B12. Another plus with these methods of getting the vitamin is that the B12 is in a different form than the B12 you would find in meats, making it more easy to digest and absorb into the body.

Places to shop for B12 and other vitamins online:

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