How Can I Prevent a Vitamin B12 Deficiency If I Eat Vegan?

Those who follow a vegan diet must consume vitamin B12 in the form of dietary supplements and foods fortified with vitamin B12. This is the only way to successfully prevent a vitamin B12 deficiency. Since the vitamin is almost exclusively found in animal foods such as meat or dairy products, vegans cannot meet their needs with purely plant-based foods. Plant foods such as tuber and root vegetables, sea buckthorn, or seaweed contain traces of vitamin B12, but these amounts are not sufficient to ensure that the human body is adequately supplied with the vitamin. The same applies to fermented plant foods such as beer, sauerkraut, or fermented soy.

The German Society for Nutrition (DGE) recommends a vitamin B12 daily intake of 3 micrograms per day for adults and young people over the age of 13. In order to prevent a deficiency, as part of a healthy vegan diet, you should eat foods that are enriched with vitamin B12 two to three times a day in order to get to the daily rate of 3 micrograms without animal food.

Vitamin B12 and its function in the body

Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin, is formed naturally by certain microorganisms. These are mostly bacteria that live symbiotically in the stomach and intestines of animals. However, humans, animals, and plants cannot produce the vitamin themselves.

If you take vitamin B12, for example, through animal foods such as offal or eggs or in the form of dietary supplements, the vitamin B12 contained therein is bound to proteins. In the stomach, the cobalamin is dissolved out by the gastric acid. So that it can be absorbed by the body, it has to be coupled to a specific transport protein. This is the so-called “intrinsic factor”, which is formed by the gastric mucosa. Only in this connection can the vitamin be absorbed by the body in the lower small intestine.

Once ingested, cobalamin is required in the human organism for cell growth and cell division, as well as for the formation of red blood cells and DNA substances. The vitamin is also essential for the so-called myelin sheath, a sheath that closes around nerve fibers. Furthermore, vitamin B12 helps the cells absorb the vitamin folic acid from the group of B vitamins. Furthermore, the B vitamin has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system. It converts the amino acid homocysteine, which can damage the heart and circulatory system, into a harmless amino acid.

Symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency

Vitamin B12 is stored by the liver, which is why a deficiency often only becomes noticeable slowly. It can take two to three years before the reserves in the body are used up and the first signs of deficiency appear. The lack of this vital vitamin can then lead to a special form of anemia in which the red blood cells become abnormally enlarged. In addition, an undersupply of vitamin B12 can damage the central nervous system.

Symptoms of anemia caused by a lack of vitamin B12 are fatigue, poor concentration, and paleness as well as atrophy and injuries to the mucous membranes of the mouth, tongue, and intestines. Since vitamin deficiency damages the nervous system, paralysis, tingling in hands and feet, or unsteadiness in gait can also result. There are also psychiatric disorders such as depression, confusional states, hallucinations, and poor memory.

Vegans and vegetarians who notice such symptoms should consult a doctor as soon as possible. Vitamin B12 deficiency is relatively easy to diagnose with a blood test. If a deficiency is found, the doctor initiates therapy to replenish the vitamin B12 stored in the patient’s body. In the initial phase of treatment, this is often done through injections, later the vitamin can also be administered in tablet form.

To ensure that your body always has an adequate supply of vitamin B12, people who eat vegan should have their blood levels checked regularly by a doctor.

Prevent deficiency symptoms with vitamin supplements

So that the vitamin B12 supply can be guaranteed with a diet without animal products, vegans have numerous supplements and foods enriched with vitamin B12 at their disposal. For example, fruit juices, meat substitutes, breakfast cereals, and other everyday products to which vitamin B12 has been added are available. This is mostly cyanocobalamin, an artificially synthesized form of the vitamin.

According to the EU regulation, however, organic foods may not be fortified with vitamin B12. Anyone who eats a vegan diet and mainly eats food from organic production should therefore cover their need for vitamin B12 in the form of supplements in order to prevent deficiency symptoms.