Vitamins are nutrients your body requires to work properly. Vitamins typically work in concert with special proteins known as enzymes, which are important for speeding up chemical reactions and making new structures. Vitamin B-12 plays a number of different roles in the human body and a deficiency can cause severe problems.
Uses
As a member of the B-complex group of vitamins, B-12 is critical for converting carbohydrates, fats and proteins into energy, so a lack of vitamin B-12 can interfere with your body's metabolism. Vitamin B-12 also is needed to make DNA, which is essential for making new cells in the body such as red blood cells. Vitamin B-12 also functions in the production of myelin, a substance that coats the nerves and speeds nerve signals.
Sources
Animal-based foods, such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products, are rich sources of B-12. For your intestines to absorb vitamin B-12, they need a substance called intrinsic factor, a molecule made by some of the cells in the stomach. Some cases of B-12 deficiency are caused by pernicious anemia, an autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks the cells that produce intrinsic factor.
Lack of B-12
There are two major health problems associated with a vitamin B-12 deficiency. Because of its role in making DNA, a lack of vitamin B-12 can make it difficult to produce new red blood cells, resulting in anemia. This can leave you pale and fatigued. A vitamin B-12 deficiency can also cause peripheral neuropathy, a condition that causes numbness, tingling and pain in your arms and legs.
Risk Factors
The body is able to store enough vitamin B-12 to last you for years, so going with this vitamin won't cause a deficiency in most people. Because B-12 is mostly found in animal-based foods, strict vegans are at risk for a vitamin B-12 and may require supplementation. Because they often have poor nutrition, the elderly and alcoholics also may also develop a vitamin B-12 deficiency.
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