Vitamin B12 Benefits

Put the pep back in your step! Vitamin B12 helps cells make energy.**

Dragging through the day, fantasizing about pillows and blankets? Might be time to have your vitamin B12 levels checked. While most people get enough of this energy-supporting nutrient from food, some can’t absorb it properly, and others-especially vegetarians and vegans-can have a hard time consuming the daily quota.

If you eat beef, chicken, fish, eggs, milk and other dairy products, you’re probably getting enough of this vitamin. (For perspective: 35 percent of the Daily Value is racked up with a double cheeseburger; 18 percent with a cup of milk; 10 percent with an egg.) But if you’ve picked a plant-based diet, fortified products-such as cereal and soymilk-are your only B12 food options.

Worried you’re in the absorption-issue group? The National Institutes of Health points out that people who fall into these categories should pay attention to vitamin B12 intake:

• •Adults, 50 and older (with age comes less hydrochloric acid in the stomach, making vitamin B12 absorption from food more difficult)
• •Those who’ve had weight loss surgery, celiacs and anemics
• •Vegetarians (who don’t eat meat) and vegans (who don’t eat meat, dairy, eggs or any animal products)

Think you might be a candidate for a this supplement? Good news! They’re inexpensive, come in many different forms-quick-dissolving tablets, great-tasting liquids, traditional capsules-and are available for up to 50% off retail prices at Vitacost.com.