Vitamin B12 Recommended Amounts

Vitamin B-12 belongs to a class of nutrients called water-soluble vitamins. Your body uses vitamin B-12 to make various amino acids and fatty acids that are needed to produce the DNA in your cells. Vitamin B-12 also helps ensure that your nerves stay healthy and nerve impulses can travel correctly. The vitamin also plays a role in the formation of healthy red blood cells.

Daily Recommendations

Vitamin B-12 needs vary based on age. Infants between 0 and 6 months require 0.4 mcg of vitamin B-12 per day and infants between 7 and 12 months require 0.5 mcg daily. Toddlers between the ages of 1 and 3 should consume 0.9 mcg, whereas children between 4 and 8 require 1.2 mg daily. Children between 9 and 13 should consume 1.8 mg. From the age of 14 and older, teenagers and adults should consume 2.4 mcg of vitamin B-12 daily.

Special Needs

Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding have slightly increased vitamin B-12 needs. Pregnant women of all ages should aim to consume 2.6 mcg of vitamin B-12, whereas breastfeeding women should aim to consume 2.8 mcg of vitamin B-12 daily.

As people age, their ability to absorb naturally-occurring vitamin B-12 begins to decline. Because of this, the Food and Nutrition Board recommends that adults over the age of 50 consume most of their 2.4 mcg of vitamin B-12 through supplements or fortified foods. It is important to talk to your doctor before beginning any kind of supplementation.

Food Sources

The only sources of naturally-occurring vitamin B-12 are those from animal sources, such as meat, fish, poultry and dairy products. The richest sources include clams, mussels, crabs, salmon and beef. Synthetic vitamin B-12 is often added to fortified soy milk and enriched breakfast cereals.

Considerations

Vitamin B-12 is the only water-soluble vitamin that your body can store. Because of this, a vitamin B-12 deficiency caused by a lack of vitamin B-12 in the diet is rare. When a deficiency due to inadequate vitamin B-12 intake does occur, it usually takes years to develop and usually affects older adults with malabsorption problems or strict vegetarians, according to "Nutrition and You" by Joan Salge Blake. Most vitamin B-12 deficiencies are caused by a lack of production of a protein called intrinsic factor, which is required for the proper absorption of the vitamin.