Originally published in May-June 2004 icon updated January 2008
B-12 -A Truly Crucial Vitamin
What is it?
Vitamin B-12, or cobalamin, is a water soluble vitamin, extremely effective in very small doses. The good news is that the liver has a large store of B-12. However the bad news is that depletion and deficiency is very hard to spot and might take five years to appear. Symptoms are likely to include pernicious anaemia and even brain damage
The vitamin is crucial to life and to general health, being involved in almost every cellular system in the body. Over 300 enzymatic reactions use this vitamin in some way. Some cancers are known to be associated with lowered levels of this vitamin.
Until recently the recommended adult dose was in the region of just 3-5 micrograms per day. However significant, recent research with heart disease patients has shown levels of 100-400 micrograms are much more beneficial.
Heart attacks have been linked to low levels of vitamin B-12. (American Journal of Epidemiology Vol 143).
Why Is It So Important?
In recent years scientists have become more and more knowledgeable and concerned about Vitamin B-12, particularly for people over the age of 50 and/or those on strict vegetarian diets. Some 72 per cent of vegetarians are deficient in this vitamin, as it is most readily found in meat
 The vitamin is known to help form and regenerate red blood
cells Of course, a number of cancer patients change their diet as part of their therapy programme. Some become Vegan or vegetarian. This may result in lowered levels of B-12. As we shall see, some cancers are actually associated with lowered levels of B-12, and so people who change their diet in this way may actually be compounding a problem. In these cases supplementation is essential.
The vitamin is involved in all aspects of your good health. It is known to help form and regenerate red blood cells. It helps prevent cardiovascular disease by lowering blood levels of homocysteine; it promotes growth and appetite in children, improves brain power, concentration and memory, and is involved in a healthy nervous system. It helps maintain a fatty tissue known as the myelin sheath surrounding nerve cells. B-12 is also involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats and the synthesis of protein, DNA and RNA.
Finally it has a complex interconnection with folic acid, a B vitamin essential for accurate DNA replication and thus the concern about its role in cancer. The body cannot use folic acid without B-12.
A Little History
In the 1800´s pernicious anaemia was widespread in Europe. A sore tongue and diarrhoea followed by nerve damage, mental disorder then death in the severest cases.
By the 1930´s two Nobel Prize winners William Murphy and George Minot had clues to the disease noting that people who ate liver soon recovered. Vitamin B-12 was finally isolated after the war.
Sources
The best sources are all animal in origin, especially offal. Liver, kidneys, beef, poultry, milk, cheese, fish, egg yolks. Very little is lost in cooking. However microwaves have been shown to destroy 40 per cent.
Its enemies are acids and alkalis, oestrogen and alcohol. As it is water-soluble it can be flushed from the body. There have been no cases of toxicity from excess consumption.
So Why the Fuss with Cancer?
A number of research studies covering cancers such as colon, stomach or breast have linked the disease to lowered B-12 levels. (For example - Cho, Sang-Woon;Nutrition Review 57 - women with breast cancer have lowered B-12 levels). As part of their treatment some of these women adopt vegetarian diets without added B-12 supplementation.
It is now becoming clear that extracting the B-12 molecule from our foods is difficult without the help of certain Beneficial Bactteria in the Intestine. Low levels of Beneficial Bacteria have been proven in Clinical Trials to reduce folic acid and B-12 production and absorption. Unfortunately estimates suggest as many as 70 per cent of the adult UK population have an imbalance of intestinal flora, leading to inefficiencies in attaining crucial vitamins for our health. You can read more about Beneficial Bacteria by clicking here.
Sadly, the whole orthiodox treatment programme for cancer in the UK, ignores all the research and clinical trials in this area, resulting in a greatly worsened state of healthy gut bacteria, underproduction of essential vitamins, and increasing levels of toxins (like nitrosamines, heavy metals and oestrogenic products) – the good bacteria help chelate and excrete these toxins too).
The complexity of the B-12 production is illustrated in how it is absorbed:
B-12 is a very large molecule. To extract it from protein (and digest the protein) the stomach must secrete adequate amounts of acid plus the digestive enzyme pepsin. This may be a problem for older people; 20-30 per cent do not produce enough acid and may explain why 11 per cent of older people have B-12 deficiency (Journal of American Geriatric Society, Vol 44). Whilst early symptoms are fatigue, memory loss and mental confusion, vitamin B-12 deficiency is linked to Alzheimer´s and dementia (Age and Ageing Vol 23 pg 334).
Our modern diets (where people mix carbohydrates and proteins in their mouths) worsen the acidity issue. Carbohydrate arriving in the stomach, has already mixed with the enzyme Ptyalin, which demands a more alkaline environment. The stomach gets confused and produces a compromise mix of acid and alkali. You should separate your carbohydrate and protein meals, especially as you age.
Then this large molecule needs to combine with an "intrinsic factor"; a protein, in order to be absorbed. And here the Beneficial Bacteria play their part. Sometimes due to genetic defects, sometimes due to stomach injury, or even problems with the intestinal lining, or inadequate friendly flora, the "intrinsic factor" effect is weak.
Researchers at the Turkish Military Academy identified that 77 per cent of people with vitamin B-12 deficiency had Helicobacter pylori. In 1994 the International Agency for Research on Cancer declared Helicobacter pylori a Grade 1 (definite) carcinogen. There is compelling evidence that helicobacter pylori is linked to stomach and gastric cancers so it is important to treat the original infection.
 77 per cent of people with vitamin B-12 deficiency had Helicobacter pylori. Helicobacter pylori is a spiral shaped bacterium that lives in the stomach and duodenum. Half a gallon of gastric juice is produced every day, but helicobacter pylori hides in the mucous membrane and surrounds itself with a neutralising fluid to prevent the gastric juice acid attack. Worse, the immune system sends white cells to kick out the invader but they cannot get through the stomach lining. So they collect and the immune response multiplies. Some bacterium die, helicobacter feeds on the nutrients, more white cells are sent and the vicious circle results in a peptic ulcer.
Breath tests, endoscopy or Vega Testing can all establish its presence. Of course, orthodox medicine recommends a mixture of antibiotics to eradicate the bacterium. However, part of the orthodox cure seems to be acid lowering drugs, which are not very sensible. The bacterium hides from acid in the stomach’s mucous membrane. Acid attacks it. Taking ant-acids prolongs its health! Also ant-acids will alter the chemical potency of the Beneficial bacteria, and lwould of course further reduce the B-12 ingestion. See a homeopath for a more rounded "cure". Clinical trials show that Lactobacillus suppresses helicobacter, but does not eradicate it.
Essential B-12 -Try Chlorella
72 per cent of vegetarians are deficient in B-12. Older people need more of it. People with high risk of heart problems, dementia, Alzheimers, stomach ulcers, anaemia etc need more of it.
Pregnant women need more of it, as it helps cell growth.
 And if you don’t want to eat meat you must supplement. The best natural source is most definitely Chlorella (you can read more by clicking here ). This is an algae, specifically grown as a protein source to feed the Japanese after the war. It contains high levels of vitamins such as beta-carotene and B-12, plus good levels of minerals and enzymes. It is green and has a good chlorophyll content. You can obtain a three month supply in our On-line shop. Our source is Yaeyama, probably the very best natural product produced. We recommend you take Beneficial Bacteria at the same time to ensure the very best absorption characteristics. (Read our article on why you need to take a quality Probiotic containing several strains by clicking here.)
Or you can purchase an Advanced B Complex supplement by clicking here.
Post Script
No doctor in his right mind would try to persuade you not to consume or even supplement vitamin B-12. Yet its formula is barely different to that of vitamin B-17, the controversial, and banned, vitamin that reacts with an enzyme called glucosidase, uniquely found in cancer cells, releasing its cyanide component. Both have such similar ‘cyanide’ components. While glucosidase is known to release the cyanide molecule from vitamin B-17, no work is recorded as taking place with B-12 as yet. At Last - the definitive, research based book on how to build a diet to help beat cancer. Click here to read about it.
|