Vitamin B12 Benefits

Vitamin B12, also called cobalamin since it contains the metal cobalt, is widely known as the “energy vitamin.” Its main purpose, however, is to maintain healthy nerve cells and red blood cells, as well as assisting in the making DNA. It is found mainly in meat and dairy products.

Whether you are taking supplements or not, Vitamin B12 benefits have been documented again and again. This essential nutrient has been shown to help support higher energy levels, emotional stability, mental clarity and more. In combination with folic acid and vitamin B6, vitamin B12 serves to control homocysteine levels. Excessive amounts of homocysteine can increase the risk of stroke, coronary heart disease, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer's disease. A lot of people who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome receive shots of vitamin B12 to help correct it, and it can also help with depression and weight loss.

For people who want to lose weight using B12, the weight loss does not come from the vitamin directly. Better yet, shots or injections of vitamin B12 will increase the energy in your have and hopefully lead to being more active and exercising more frequently. By doing so, it in turn increases your metabolism, leading to weight loss. The benefit of receiving B12 shots for this reason is that the weight loss happens more naturally than simply fasting or a lot of other diets.

Vitamin B12 benefits similar to shots also come from taking supplements. An important thing to remember when selecting a B12 supplement is to make sure you choose a sublingual form of B12. This is important because, although regular supplements such as b-complex vitamins or even multi-vitamins might have plenty of B12, these particular vitamins are poorly absorbed by the stomach and the intestine. It will still give you some benefits mentioned above, but swallowing vitamin B12 in pill form is not the best option. When a sublingual form of B12 is placed under the tongue and dissolved, the B12 enters the blood stream directly through the blood vessels right under the tongue. This is a much more effective way to raise B12 levels in the body, and therefore increase the benefits desired.

Another thing to watch out for when selecting a vitamin B12 supplement is the “methyl” vitamin B12. There are two main ingredients used in sublingual B12 supplements: cyanocobalamin and methylcobalamin. The cheapest and most common ingredient used in supplements is cyanocobalamin. Although cyanocobalamin is still a good option, the best products on the market now use methylcobalamin as the main ingredient. The reason for this is that the liver must convert cyanocobalamin to methylcobalamin before the body can utilize it. Watch out for television advertisements as well, as most nationally advertised brands use the cheaper cyanocobalamin ingredient in their product, yet charge higher than normal prices.