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What’s the Deal With Vitamin B12?

Each morning, I take a gummy multivitamin for two reasons: (1) I want to live forever, and (2) they taste delicious (so much so, in fact, that I have to stop myself from snacking on them). But lately, I’ve heard from a number of my vegan and vegetarian friends that, instead of joining me in my sweet, sweet supplementation, they actually take individual vitamin B12 supplements every morning. I’m not sure what exactly B12 is or why it’s so important to ingest every day, so I checked in with two experts to find out.

So, what even is it? Well, the first hint is in the name: Vitamin B12 is, in fact, a vitamin. That means it’s essential for us to live, according to registered…

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Featured

 Why tiny amounts of vitamin B12 matter more as we age

Two micrograms is an almost unimaginably small amount. It weighs less than a tiny fragment of a grain of table salt. Yet adults need only around this amount of vitamin B12 each day, depending on the guideline used, to support red blood cells, nerves and DNA production. In 2026, it is 100 years since George Minot and William Murphy reported that a liver-rich diet could treat pernicious anaemia, then a frequently fatal disease. Their work transformed medicine and eventually led scientists to identify vitamin B12 as the substance in liver that treated the disease.

Articles of Interest

Meet B12: Everything You Need to Know about this Powerhouse Vitamin

Unlike many vitamins that your body can store in fat, B12 is primarily stored in the liver, and your body can also reuse it when needed. This makes B12 particularly important for maintaining your nervous system, red blood cell formation, DNA synthesis, and brain health.

Vitamin B12 as Protection for the Aging Brain

You see, the ability to absorb B12 naturally present in foods depends on the presence of adequate stomach acid, the enzyme pepsin and a gastric protein called intrinsic factor to release the vitamin from the food protein it is attached to. Only then can the vitamin be absorbed by the small intestine. As people age, acid-producing cells in the stomach may gradually cease to function, a condition called atrophic gastritis.

Vitamin B12: the essential nutrient with a complicated cancer link

Without enough B12, things can go wrong, sometimes seriously, especially if deficiency is not recognised and treated. Yet in recent years, researchers have been asking whether high levels of B12 intake or high levels of B12 in the blood could be linked to cancer.

What Are the Benefits of Taking Vitamin B12?

Vitamin B12 has become one of the most talked-about health supplements in modern medicine. Over the last few decades, studies have linked this powerful molecule to everything from boosting energy to lowering your risk of heart disease to increasing your memory and even helping your skin achieve a beautiful glow.

What Every Vegan Should Know About Vitamin B12

In over 60 years of vegan experimentation only B12 fortified foods and B12 supplements have proven themselves as reliable sources of B12, capable of supporting optimal health. It is very important that all vegans ensure they have an adequate intake of B12, from fortified foods or supplements.

Resources

10 Surprising Ways Vitamin B12 Benefits Your Entire Body

One of the most notable vitamin B12 benefits is a boost in energy. So if you’re feeling sluggish and you’re not sure why, a lack of vitamin B12 (cobalamin) may be to blame.

13 Vitamin-B12 Foods to Support Energy and Brain Health

One cannot have a well-balanced meal without incorporating vitamin-B12 foods into the mix. The water-soluble vitamin, explains Samantha Dieras, RN, DCN, director of ambulatory nutrition services at Mount Sinai Hospital, plays a vital role in nerve function, blood cell formation, metabolism, DNA production, and many other functions that our bodies need to stay healthy.

B12 Awareness

B12 Awareness is bringing vitamin B12 deficiency to the forefront by educating the public and health care community to the dangers of B12 deficiency. An estimated 15% to 25% of older adults have a B12 deficiency, but many of them are never tested or diagnosed.

Linus Pauling Institute

Vitamin B12 or cobalamin plays essential roles in folate metabolism and in the synthesis of the citric acid cycle intermediate, succinyl-CoA. (More information) Vitamin B12 deficiency is commonly associated with chronic stomach inflammation, which may contribute to an autoimmune vitamin B12 malabsorption syndrome called pernicious anemia and to a food-bound vitamin B12 malabsorption syndrome. Impairment of vitamin B12 absorption can cause megaloblastic anemia and neurologic disorders in deficient subjects.

The Nutrition Source

Vitamin B12, or cobalamin, is naturally found in animal foods. It can also be added to foods or supplements. Vitamin B12 is needed to form red blood cells and DNA. It is also a key player in the function and development of brain and nerve cells.