I’m starting a new series where every Friday, I’ll answer a nutritional, lifestyle, exercise, or spiritual health question from a reader. I thought the question below about B12 was a great place to start, as deficiency of this important vitamin is growing in leaps and bounds, and not just with vegetarians and vegans.

Got a question you want answered? Just email me at christine@holisticwithhumor.com, and every Friday, I’ll answer one in the order it was received.

Question:

I’m starting to get tingling feet. No, not because I’m in a relationship, haha, but I’m thinking I am low on B vitamins as a vegetarian. I take a solid multivitamin with 100% of all the Bs already. But, should I start taking a complex too? Vitamins are hella expensive and so I don’t wanna waste the cash/OD from the Bs already in my multi, so wanted to see what you thought.

-M.E., New York City

Answer:

Off the top of my head, I would say it is probably low B12. Problem is, there actually isn’t a really good way to supplement it, because the body doesn’t absorb it from supplements (even sublingual, contrary to popular marketing). Getting vitamin B12 shots is the best way, and after a certain time, becomes almost necessary for veggies, as you get no real source of it (it hasn’t been proven that you get anywhere near an adequate source from sea vegetables and certainly not nutritional yeast).

Meat eaters should also pay attention to their B12 levels; like Vitamin D, which was once thought easily obtained and a very uncommon deficiency, vitamin B12 is starting to show up as a deficiency across ages and eating preferences.

B12 is not only important for the myelin sheath around your nerves, but also to ward off vitamin B12 deficiency anemia and for your thyroid. Memory loss, sluggishness, numbness in hands and feet, optic issues, and autoimmune disorders are all possible symptoms associated with low B12.

I’ve been trying to find the “next best thing” to shots, and it seems like a nasal spray is the way to go, since absorption through the nose is higher (though the spray highlighted is in the cyanocobalamin form, which has to be converted for use by the body, while the methylcobalamin form can be used directly – here is a mouth spray in this form). Problem is, you can only get nasal sprays by prescription.

I know the lab testing place Any Lab Test Now does B12 tests, and also shots, in some locations. You need a prescription from a doctor to get shots, but there are doctors that will write you the prescription and show you have to give yourself injections. This, of course, would be based off of lab testing. Certain weight loss centers are also employing B12 shots, as they have been linked to increased metabolism in those who are suffering from low B12, but there is no real concrete evidence that they help you to lose weight.

- Christine Garvin, MA, NE

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