Vitamin B12 plays an important role in our body's metabolism because it helps break down food and turn it into energy.
Further, it aids the production of red blood cells which transport oxygen to the cells. This vitamin also plays a role in building DNA. Vitamin B12 maintains a healthy nervous system, helps memory, concentration and balance.
Even though our body needs only small quantities of vitamin B12, deficiency of it is dangerous to the body. If we don't take in enough of it, this can lead to anemia. Symptoms of this disease are exhaustion, lack of appetite, depression, bleeding gums, numb limbs, loss of balance, difficulties concentrating.
To avoid these problems, we can obtain this crucial vitamin by eating a balanced and healthy diet, by focusing on eating products with a high content of it.
Foods rich in vitamin B12 include mussels and oysters, salmon, various meats - lamb, turkey, rabbit, veal and chicken.
Liver, eggs and dairy products, among which feta cheese, yoghurt, cottage cheese, also have a high quantity of this vitamin. B12 is contained in fish, brewer's yeast, bee pollen and raspberries. It's also found in the algae spirulina, chlorella, phytoplankton. The vitamin can be found in small quantities in barley, tofu, soy pasta, parsley shiitake mushrooms, sourdough bread.
Vitamin B12 is important both for men and women. Ladies shouldn't deprive themselves of meat and dairy products in their daily diet. Many experts believe that for those who don't eat meat, the deficiency of B12 can turn into a serious problem.
Vegetarians are advised not to give up on dairy products. As for vegans, who only eat food of plant origin, they are advised to take vitamin B12 in the form of a food supplement.
Even so, many vegans and vegetarians claim that eating wild and homegrown raw foods is enough for obtaining the required quantity of B12.
Their argument is that this vitamin isn't found in natural form in the food but is a bacteria produced by microorganisms. Therefore, a healthy digestive system and more specifically healthy intestines are decisive for the presence of B12.
