B12

5 Things: Highest Sources of Vitamin B12
healthy living

5 Things: Highest Sources of Vitamin B12

There are a lot of B vitamins, and B12 is an important one.
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There are a lot of B vitamins, and B12 is an important one. If you're deficient in this vitamin you can wind up feeling fatigued. Vitamin B12 helps maintain a healthy nervous system and your healthy red blood cells. It is involved in the process of making DNA as well as metabolizing protein. B12 helps make white blood cells, which are important for your immune system, and are necessary for pregnant women since they help with an embryo's neurological development. That's a lot for one little subset of a vitamin, but your body doesn't need much — only 2.4 micrograms (mcg) of B12 a day (2.8 mcg if you're pregnant), and since your body can store several years' worth of this vitamin, a deficiency is rare unless you're not getting it in your diet. Vitamin B12 is mostly found in meat, fish, and dairy products. Check out the highest sources to make sure you're consuming your fill:

  1. 3 oz. clams: 84 mcg (holy B12!)
  2. 3/4 cup fortified breakfast cereal: 6 mcg
  3. 3 oz. of rainbow trout: 5.4 mcg
  4. 1 tbsp Red Star Nutritional Yeast: 4 mcg (great for vegetarians and vegans)
  5. 3 oz. beef: 2.4 mcg

Fit's Tips: To see other sources of vitamin B12, check out this chart. If you're not obtaining enough form your diet, then you'll want to consider taking a B12 supplement.

Source

Know Your A, B, Cs: Vitamin B (How Many Are There?)
Vitamin B

Know Your A, B, Cs: Vitamin B (How Many Are There?)

There are eight B Vitamins to be exact, and they help maintain healthy skin and muscle tone, enhance your immune and nervous system functions, and promote cell growth and division.
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There are eight B Vitamins to be exact, and they help maintain healthy skin and muscle tone, enhance your immune and nervous system functions, and promote cell growth and division.

They are water-soluble vitamins which means that your body can't store them. They need to be replenished daily because whatever the body doesn't use, gets flushed out in your urine.

The eight B vitamins are B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, and B12 - and they all have other names that you're probably more familiar with.

Most people get these vitamins in the food they eat. If you have food restrictions, whether you don't eat meat, dairy products, eggs, or whole grains for whatever reason, you may need to take supplements. When a supplement has all 8 of these B vitamins, it's referred to as vitamin B complex. If you buy separate B vitamins, then they are referred to by their specific name (B1, B12, etc.)

Allow me to explain each one...

Vitamin Benefits Food Sources RDA for women 19+
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) Helps the body convert carbohydrates and fat into energy; essential for normal growth and development; helps to maintain proper functioning of the heart and the nervous and digestive systems Green peas, spinach, liver, beef, pork, navy beans, pinto beans, soybeans, nuts, bananas, whole grain and enriched cereals, and breads 1.4 mg/day
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) Required by the body for the metabolism of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins; helps with cellular processes Asparagus, okra, chard, almonds, leafy greens, cottage cheese, milk, yogurt, meat, eggs, and fish 1.2 mg/day

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