Vitamin B12: why do we need it and what is it found in?
You need vitamins to survive and vitamin B12 is crucial for the body to work. Lots of people don’t tend to know about what vitamins the body needs and therefor become sick. Being sick can come from the immune system being damaged by the lack of vitamins. If you don’t know what vitamins you need when you are sick then I would suggest finding out. It’s a great way to know what your body is lacking. this enables you to have control over your health.
This vitamin is an essential nutrient for red blood cells, nerve function and DNA synthesis. If it is lacking, you need to somehow get some ingot your body.
What happens if we don’t get enough?
Vitamin B12 prevents:
- Fatigue and the lack of energy.
- Soreness in your mouth.
- concentration can dwindle.
- paleness in your skin.
- Diarrhoea or constipation
If vitamin B12 levels have been low for a long time:
- confusion or change of mental state.
- depression
- Loss of balance
- Numbness and tingling in hands and feet.
Now you can see all of these things can affect your performance in sports and exercise. Especially if your exercising and not getting the right nutrition into your body. If you focus on exercise and not nutrition you won’t get the results you want. You need to focus on both and then you will get more than you want.
What foods is it found in?
Foods with high Vitamin B12:
- Meat
- Fish
- Dairy
- Eggs
- Sea food
- Fortified cereals
- Nutritional yeast
Now this is were you need to look at your diet to see if you are lacking in anything. If you’re a vegan or vegetarian, you are more likely to be deficient. However, you can get Vitamin B12 from cereals and nutritional yeast as well as a supplement. Before you take a supplement make sure you check with your GP before taking it.
What should you do if you have a deficiency?
If you have a deficiency or you have identified that you have one of the side effects above. Don’t panic I would suggest going to your GP to have a check. Change your diet to have more vitamin B12 and see how it goes in the weeks after. You need to stick with your change of diet so that you can see the difference in you the way you feel.
Last note:
You cannot have too much vitamin B12 in your diet, there won’t be any bad side effects from consuming too much. Unless you are elegiac to Vitamin B12 that is why you need to talk to a GP first.
As a personal trainer in Windsor I like to make sure all my clients are on a balanced diet. To help with energy levels and wellbeing. A balanced diet will have all the macro and micro nutrients you need for a healthy lifestyle.
