Vitamin B12

What is vitamin b12, why do we need it?

Vitamin B12 one of eight B vitamins that help the body convert the food you eat into glucose, which gives you energy. Vitamin B12 has a number of additional functions.

• Making red blood cells

• Keeping the nervous system healthy

• Regenerating bone marrow and respiratory tracts

• Maintaining a healthy nervous system

Without B12, many people can get

-Nerve damage

-Heart disease

The most common problem is:

Anaemia, which is a deficiency of haemoglobin in the blood which and results in tiredness and fatigue.

Where to get your Vitamin B12 as a vegan?

Fortified foods are a good source of vitamin B12. They are foods to which extra nutrients have been added. Either because

-They replace some of the nutrients lost during manufacturing process.

-They simply add nutrients or ingredient that were not naturally found in the product.

-Foods are enriched with more of the nutrients that they originally had either to increase the nutrition or because the processing of the food removed it in the first place.

Seaweed is a good source of vitamin B12.

-Nori

-Spirulina

-Chlorella

Other good sources include:

-Barley Grass

-Yeast extracts à this you can buy in most health food shops. Most shops also sell Marmite which is a more commonly know yeast extract

- Nutritional Yeast flakesà these are good to make your own vegan cheesy sauce and are good to sprinkle into, salads, cereal bowls and most warm dishes.