6 Nov 2016

eKhaliyan

Vitamin B12, The Brain's Kryptonite

             Vitamin B12, the brain’s KRYPTONITE

Also known as cobalamin, vitamin B12 is undoubtedly one of the most important dietary component. A diet deficient in cobalamin will severely impair your cognitive development and can present with a lot many neurological symptoms , including mental retardation!

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Not just that, B12 is also involved in your  cellular growth and nutrition and it’s deprivation will  lead to fatigue and tiredness. These are just  two of the many fucntions of this wonder molecule. Here are a few others -

-         Saviour of the HEART ! : Eliminating an amino acid called homocysteine via urine, cobalamin helps prevent the disastrous consequences of circulating homocysteine in the blood, one of them being inflammatory heart diseases

-         Keeps your bones intact: Homocysteine again impairs your bone growth , thus making cobalamin necessary for a healthy bony framework of the body

-         The nerves need it! : The nerves are coated by a sheath of which vit B12 forms a major component, without which the nerves are exposed and more susceptible to damage

-         Improves your mood: Cobalamin has also shown to be useful in keeping one happy and confident about himself

What happens when you don’t take the necessary amount of vit B12? The consequences can be disastrous and better avoided than treated. Some of them are –

-         Mental problems including memory loss, depression, etc.
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     Nerve problems- mainly due to loss of the myelin sheath,  they include tingling sensation, muscle weakness,etc
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         Weakness and fatigue
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           Pale skin
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           Smooth tongue
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           Constipation, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, etc
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           Vision loss

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How do I prevent this disastrous occurrence? 

Well diet is the most important factor for B12 deficiency, and hence diet maintains the key line of treatment in B12 deficient cases. Foods rich in cobalamin are-



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Ø MEAT!! Beef, chicken, turkey, all of it contain the maximum amounts of cobalamin.

Ø EGGS!! Eggs have turned out to be one of the richest source of vitamin B12, making  it an almost compulsory component of diet

Ø Oysters: Oysters , too form one of the major sources of B12. However, given the inadequacy of their supply in the Indian market, their consumption is not much encouraged

Ø Crabs : A delicious sea food, has a lot much to offer other than amazing taste, including abundant B12
  
Ø Salmon : Another major source of B12

Even if the vegetarian diet has not much of B12 to offer, there are certain products which have made it to the list

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Ø CHEESE! Next time your mom yells at you for eating too much cheese, you can tell her why you can never stop having cheese!
Ø Whey powder: One thing body builders will never have to worry about is cobalamin deficiency
Ø Milk and Yogurt: Significant quantities of B12 are found in milk and yogurt
Ø Yeast Extract Spreads


Adequate and appropriate consumption of vit B12 rich food stays the mainstay of preventing this unwanted occasion. Having said that, B12 has become today one of the reasons of advocating eggs to the vegetarian population, thus promoting egg consumption!