Vitamin B-12 is also called cobalamin, because it contains the mineral called cobalt. This water-soluble vitamin is one of the eight vitamins in the vitamin B complex. The B vitamins work together to convert carbohydrates to energy while metabolizing fats and proteins. Symptoms of vitamin B-12 deficiency include muscle weakness and loss of appetite.
B-12 Deficiency
Inadequate vitamin B-12 in your diet, loss of B-12 from chronic bleeding, excretion or vomiting, or impaired ability to absorb the available vitamin B-12 in your food may cause a deficiency. Vegans -- who do not eat meat, poultry, dairy products, fish or eggs -- may suffer from vitamin B-12 deficiency, as do anorexics, who have a deficiency of all food nutrients. People with health problems that cause absorption issues, such as tapeworm infection or pancreatic disease, have difficulty absorbing vitamin B-12. Gastrointestinal illnesses or eating disorders such as bulimia deplete B-12 stores through vomiting, blood and excretion.
Muscle Weakness
Vitamin B-12 plays a key role in red blood cell formation and the conversion of homocysteine into methionine. Methionine is one of the building blocks from which the body builds new proteins, which eventually turn into muscle cells. Vitamin B-12 deficiencies cause illnesses and chronic health conditions, such as anemia, that interfere with the essential nutrient's ability to perform its vital functions. This impaired ability causes chronic fatigue and muscle weakness.
Vitamin B-12 Injections
Some medically based weight-loss clinics prescribe vitamin B-12 injections. Proponents of this type of treatment believe that the shots boost your metabolism and enhance your energy level, which in turn helps you burn more calories and lose weight, but Mayo Clinic nutritionist Katherine Zeratsky argues that unless you already have a vitamin B-12 deficiency, the shots will not provide an energy boost. Since doctors also use vitamin B-12 shots to stimulate appetite in severely underweight patients, taking the shots to promote weight loss may not produce the desired results.
Sarcopenic Obesity
Weight loss and loss of appetite are common among people with vitamin B-12 deficiencies, but B-12 deficient elderly diabetics may suffer from an illness called sarcopenic obesity, explains University of New Mexico exercise physiologist Len Kravitz. This condition occurs when the patient loses muscle mass while gaining a significant amount of body fat. Since muscle weighs more than fat, a doctor who only relies on the scale to measure his older patients' health may not notice this condition. In fact, the loss of muscle tone may cause the patient to lose weight.
References
- MayoClinic.com; Are Vitamin B-12 Injections Helpful for Weight Loss?; Katherine Zeratsky
- Office of Dietary Supplements: Vitamin B-12
- University of New Mexico; Senior Fitness Research Roundup; Len Kravitz
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Vitamin B-12
- Harvard School of Public Health: Three of the B Vitamins: Folate, Vitamin B-6 and Vitamin B-12
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