The 5 WARNING SIGNS of B12 Deficiency You Shouldn’t Ignore

You eat meat, you take a multivitamin and your last blood count looked normal. So could you still have a B12 problem? Yes, because getting B-12 into your diet and getting enough into the body are different things and nerve symptoms can occur without anemia.

Let's look at the 5 changes that deserve your attention regarding B12 deficiency and how to find out what they mean. I want you to recognize a possible treatable reason you're feeling unlike yourself so you can take the right next step towards better energy and function instead of guessing which supplements to buy.

Hi, I'm Dr. Mark Stengler and my focus is integrative medicine, including how nutrition and digestive health affect the rest of the body Now in this video, we'll cover the 5 signs and symptoms of B12 deficiency, and why a good diet doesn't always prevent a deficiency and which tests can help clarify the picture.

Then we will talk about treatment and what to do first. These signs are reasons to investigate, not a way to diagnose yourself. Number one, fatigue that changes what you can do.

You see, B12 deficiency can interfere with healthy red cell production and contribute to fatigue. A persistent change in ordinary activity is worth describing and looking at, but fatigue alone cannot identify the cause.

So we want to connect how B-12 affects oxygen delivery and the way we do that is looking the fact that bone marrow produces blood cells and B 12 supports DNA production needed for developing cells to divide normally.

Now B12 deficiency can leave too few healthy red blood cells and because these cells carry oxygen, anemia causes weakness, fatigue and breathlessness because you can't get enough oxygen into your cells.

So for some people, you're doing everyday activities you normally do, your normal walk, and it takes more effort than before. You walk upstairs and you are having shortness of breath.

All sorts of different symptoms can occur when you have anema that's related to B 12 deficiency. Now, not every tired person has low B12. And B-12 deficiency does not always cause anemia.

You see, B 12 also supports the nervous system. That leads to signs of a normal blight count on blights tests, but it can still cause neurological problems.

Tingling or numbness in your hands or feet are signs a B twelve deficiency. Because B Twelve deficiency causes abnormal nerve signaling and you get abnormal sensations in you nerves.

Again, even when you're not anemic. And you might have even more serious types of symptoms, even thinking it's something like a stroke going on. Peripheral nerves carry information between the body and the brain, including touch and sensation in the feet.

And the way it works is that B12 supports myelin. This is the protective covering around many nerve fibers that help signals travel properly along the nerves.

A deficiency causes tingling or numbness, and again, it could be something beyond B12 deficiency when you have numbiness and tingle. So just because you're not anemic doesn't mean there's not a problem with B-12 because we know neurological symptoms can occur even when we don't have anemia.

So number three, let's talk about more neurological symptoms. New ongoing or worsening tingling is one of the primary symptoms of B12 deficiency. Usually it's becoming a lot more severe, not just a mild case.

And again, you can have problems with balance or even walking, because walking depends on sensory feedback, as well as the muscles being related to the nerve function.

So any of these types of symptoms neurologically could be related B 12 deficiency, And of course, the nerves tell the brain where your limbs are, your hands and your feet, and helping to coordinate movement.

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They're the same formulas I use with my patients. Click the link below to check them out. Okay, back to the video. Now let's look at a change you might notice in your memory or concentration, because this is sign symptom number 4, a noticeable change in memory, or again, your concentration.

B12 deficiency can be very relevant to a persistent change of thinking, and mood for that matter. That makes it possible to investigate looking at possible causes again, like B12 deficiency.

And so people with B 12 deficiency often note that they have problems with concentration. It's more difficult. They've now slower thinking and unusual forgetfulness.

This is especially common in seniors. Some studies show about 25% of seniors have B-12-deficiency. Now let's look at science symptom number five, and that is a sore, smooth, or unusually red tongue.

And this is known as glossitis. The fancy term just means inflammation of the tongue, And that can be caused by deficient B12. So whenever you have persistent soreness or swelling of tongue obviously you need to have an examination.

That diagnosis should be then examined in terms of B12 deficiency. And people with these symptoms often have irritation, feel like their mouth or their tongue is infected.

So we want to look at B 12 deficiency amongst other causes for this condition. So in summary, B12 deficiency has a variety of different presentations.

I mentioned five of the more common presentations, and so remember you don't have to have all five them. You may just have one of them, so if you have 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, you should investigate to see if B 12 deficiency is a problem.

Now I should note that eating B12 in your diet does not always mean that you're absorbing it. Perhaps you eat meat, fish, eggs, and dairy, which have good sources of B-12.

But that doesn't mean you are absorbing. If you a person who is more vegan or vegetarian and you not getting enough B 12 in you diet because vegetables alone often don't guarantee sufficient levels, you have to consider B twelve deficiency.

Though you need stomach acid, digestive enzymes to help break down goos that release to B12, we have something called intrinsic factor we need to absorb, B-12 as well, and some people have conditions that interfere with absorption.

Let's talk about some of those conditions. You know, certain stomach conditions, they reduce stomach acids or intrinsic factors, that can be autoimmune problems right in the lining of the stomach, for example.

So you're not producing that intrinsic factory needed to observe B 12 in this small chestnut. Long-term acid suppression with the medications like the proton pump and himbers people use for acid reflux and GERD can be an issue.

Metformin is known to cause B12 deficiency over time. That's a common drug used for pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes. So if you're on that medication, you should keep an eye on your B-12 level.

Alcohol depletes you of a lot of the B vitamins, especially B 12. Now let's talk about tests regarding B12 deficiency, and most doctors are obviously aware that you can measure B-12 in your blood levels, but there can be different ranges.

Just low levels of B 12, not deficient, could still cause symptoms. There's also another test called methylmalonic acid and it's produced during metabolism and processing the B twelve.

And so if B12 levels are sufficient, high levels of MMA, or methamalonic acid, can show up in a test. And some people consider it to be a much more sensitive test of B-12 deficiency.

Now, of course, in our diet, we always want to try and get reliable B 12 food sources. But for some, people that's not going to work for a variety of reasons I mentioned earlier.

So we can use injectable B twelve, that can work good. Sublingual B Twelve goes right into the bloodstream. That can be very good as well. And there's many different forms of B12.

I avoid the older form of b12 and have for many decades known as cyanocobalamin. Instead, I mainly use the more natural form known is methylcobaltamin, and that's a good genetic match for most people as it's involved in methylation processes.

And so for most of my products you'll see at DrStengler.com, we use methylcobalamin, but there are other good natural sources as well. So now you know the five main signs and symptoms of B12 deficiency.

If you have any of these, you should consider taking B 12 or at least get your levels tested to see if you had a problem with B-12-deficiency. Well, if like this video, hit the like button.

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