Although getting more vitamin B-12 than your body needs won't boost your energy levels, sufficient dietary vitamin B-12 helps you maintain your health and normal energy levels. Your body uses vitamin B-12 for several functions related to creating and releasing energy, so lack of this vitamin can leave you feeling tired. Vegans and older adults are at higher-than-average at risk for vitamin B-12 deficiency. A blood test can determine whether or not you're deficient in this vitamin.
Required Amounts
The body requires only small amounts of vitamin B-12 for health. Children ages 9 to 13 need 1.8 micrograms vitamin B-12 daily, while teens and adults older than the age of 14 need 2.4 micrpgrams daily, advise experts from the National Institutes of Health. Expectant mothers should aim to get 2.6 micrograms of vitamin B-12 a day and nursing mothers should get 2.8 micrograms.
Vitamin B-12 and Energy
Vitamin B-12 helps in the formation of red blood cells. Your body uses vitamin B-12 to turn one type of protein into another protein called succinyl-CoA. This chemical reaction helps you use dietary fats and protein as energy. Your body also needs succinyl-CoA to create hemoglobin, the part of your red blood cells that carries oxygen. Lack of vitamin B-12 leads to a lack of hemoglobin and low blood oxygen, which can leave you feeling fatigued.
Signs of Deficiency
Symptoms of vitamin B-12 deficiency include fatigue, weakness, reduced appetite, weight loss and constipation. Because vitamin B-12 is important for normal neurological function, lack of this vitamin may cause neurological problems such as numbness or tingling in your hands and feet, poor balance, impaired memory, confusion and depression. A blood test may reveal megaloblastic anemia, a condition in which the body produces malformed red blood cells that don't carry oxygen efficiently. If you're deficient in vitamin B-12, you may need dietary supplements. If your deficiency is due to your stomach's inability to absorb vitamin B-12, you may need an injection.
Vitamin B-12 Sources
Getting sufficient dietary vitamin B-12 can help prevent deficiency and resulting fatigue. Sources of vitamin B-12 include shellfish such as clams, mussels and crab, and fish such as salmon, rockfish, trout and tuna. A 3-oz. serving of clams provides 84 micrograms of vitamin B-12 and the same amount of salmon provides 2.4 micrograms. Other sources of vitamin B-12 include beef, beef liver, chicken, eggs and dairy products. Vegans who eat no animal products should take vitamin B-12 supplements, suggests Oregon State University's Linus Pauling Institute. Because adults older than 50 may not efficiently absorb dietary B-12, they may need supplements or more B-12-fortified foods.
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