It might seem like a strange link to you, but the Vitamin B-12 is an incredibly important nutrient for your body. When you are deficient, which is quite common, you can experience ringing in the ears, among other issues.
Vitamin B -12 is involved in so many different functions in your body, including energy, memory, mental function, sleep quality, and skin and hair health. It’s critical that you get enough of it on a daily basis.
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of B-12
Mental Function – Research shows that treating mental symptoms with B-12 can greatly improve clarity.
Ringing in Ears – People who suffer from tinnitus are often deficient in this vitamin. Supplementing and eating foods rich in B -12 can help the symptoms of this irritating condition for many people.
Healthy Sleep – B -12 is crucial in the production of melatonin. That is the hormone responsible for giving us a great night’s sleep. As we get older, our bodies are less efficient at making melatonin.
Mood and Nervous System – B-12 has an essential role in keeping your nerve cells healthy, and supporting your entire nervous system function. It also helps to synthesize serotonin and dopamine, which both affect your mood and emotions.
One of the curious things about B-12 is that despite being a nutrient your body can’t function without, a deficiency can be quite hard to recognize, especially at first.
The thing is, deficiency in this vitamin is a real issue. In the US alone, deficiency estimates are as high as 39%. And the amount of people with low or borderline B-12 levels is even higher.
Let’s take a look at some of the symptoms of deficiency
- Trouble focusing and brain fog.
- Tinnitus
- Memory problems.
- Digestive issues
- Loss of appetite
- Constant fatigue
- Muscles aches
- Feelings of dizziness
- Mood swings
- Anemia
- Depression
So why are so many people deficient?
While it’s true that most sources of B -12 come from meat and animal products, even if you do eat meat you can still be deficient.
That’s because many people are unable to assimilate this vitamin, regardless of intake from diet. Everyone should check their B-12 levels with a basic blood test, and then consider a high-quality, organic supplement if they notice low B-12.
Great Plant-Based Sources of B 12
Two of the best plant-based sources are edible seaweed and certain types of mushrooms.
Consider adding dried nori (seaweed) to your salads for an extra boost, or shiitake mushrooms, which have the most B-12 compared to other mushrooms.
The best form of B -12 to take is methylcobalamin. This is the only real usable form. The other form is Cyanocobalamin which is not naturally occurring in nature and is a synthetic form of B-12 that is cheap to manufacture.
