Adults: Take 1ml (17 drops) under the tongue daily.

Are you getting enough?

Are you getting enough vitamin B12, the energy vitamin? Many people don’t, and that deficiency can cause some serious problems. Recent studies show that approximately 12% of us are deficient, with an additional 20% of us having less than optimal levels.

There are a number of causes of vitamin B12 deficiency, including poor eating habits, vegetarianism, veganism, gastrointestinal disorders (celiac, IBS, diverticulosis, Chron’s, colitis, etc), malabsorptive disorders and prolonged use of metformin and proton pump inhibitors.

Vitamin B12 is an essential vitamin that your body needs every day but cannot make, so you need to get it from supplements or animal-based foods.  Vitamin B12 helps keep your body’s nerve and blood cells healthy and makes DNA, the genetic material in all your cells. Vitamin B12 functions as a co-factor for numerous intercellular reactions and is essential for the metabolism of fats and proteins.

Vitamin B12 supplements can treat and prevent vitamin B12 deficiency, whose symptoms include numbness, tingling, burning sensations, muscle cramps, nerve pain, lethargy, tiredness, poor memory, slow thinking and slowness of reflexes.

Vitamin B12 is used for endurance, energy and stamina. It is also used for memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease, boosting mood, concentration and the immune system, and slowing the effects of aging. It is also used for the prevention and treatment of heart disease, infertility, diabetes, sleep disorders, depression, mental disorders, osteoporosis, swollen tendons, AIDS, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, allergies, preventing cancers, and skin infections.

Oral administration of high-dose vitamin B12 (1000 to 2000 mcg daily) has been found to be as effective as injections in correcting B12 deficiency, regardless of cause. Research shows vegetarians, vegans and patients older than 50 years should consume vitamin B12 supplements in addition to getting it strictly from food sources.

There are two main forms of vitamin B12; Cyanocobalamin and Methylcobalamin. Cyanocobalamin is not found in nature and is synthesized in labs. Methylcobalamin is naturally synthesized by the algae and bacteria that animals eat and is found throughout the food chain. Foods that have B12 added almost exclusively use the cyanocobalamin form as it is significantly less expensive.

Cyanocobalamin (also referred to as passive B12) is the most commonly supplemented form, despite not actually occurring in plants or animal tissues. In other words, outside of the laboratory-synthesized cyanocobalamin that you encounter in most vitamin supplements, you will not find this compound in nature. As the name implies, cyanocobalamin contains cyanide, a poisonous substance. Although the amount of cyanide in a normal B12 supplement is small, your body will still need to remove and eliminate this compound. This removal is accomplished through your detoxification systems with substances like glutathione being used up in the elimination of the cyanide.

Methylcobalamin (also referred to as active B12) is better absorbed and retained in higher amounts than cyanocobalamin. In simple terms, methylcobalamin is used much more effectively. Methylcobalamin is used primarily in your liver, brain and nervous system.

Cyanocobalamin cannot be used directly by your body. It first needs to go through a multi-stage conversion process to become active. Unfortunately through each stage of conversion some of the potency is reduced. Conversely, methylcobalamin can be used directly by your body without going through any conversion, or any loss of potency.

Methylcobalamin is the specific form of B12 needed for nervous system health. Because of this it should be the first form of this vitamin thought of to optimize nervous system health.
Because of the importance of active B12 in nervous system health, it is also an important nutrient for vision. In fact, continued visual work (like work on a computer) often leads to a reduction in something called ‘visual accommodation’, active B12 can significantly improve visual accommodation, while passive B12 is ineffective.

Elevated levels of homocysteine are an indication of decreased levels of active B12. Homocysteine has received a tremendous amount of emphasis in the scientific literature because of its associations with heart disease and a variety of other health conditions. Active B12 supplementation can help lower homocysteine levels.

The most well studied use of active B12 has to do with sleep. Although the exact mechanism of action is not yet clear, it is possible that active B12 is needed for the synthesis of melatonin. Available information indicates that active B12 can modulate melatonin secretion, enhance light-sensitivity and normalize circadian rhythm. Because of this, individuals supplementing this form of B12 often have improved quality of sleep, will often require less sleep, and will commonly report feeling a bit more refreshed when waking.

Active B12 is particularly effective when your 24-hour clock is not running smoothly. This may be indicated by a need for excessive sleep, changing sleep-wake cycles, or a tendency to have altered sleep-wake patterns. For example, you might require 10-12 hours of sleep or you might not feel tired until 2-3 am then wake at noon, or you might find that you wake a bit later every day and go to be a bit later every night. Under all of these circumstances the combination of active B12 (about 3000 mcg daily) and exposure to bright light in the morning can help re-establish your 24-hour clock.

Because of active B12‘s impact on 24-hour clock and the cycles that feed this, it is also an important vitamin to regulate your release of the stress hormone cortisol. This seems to be particularly important for blood types A and AB. Active B12 also seems to result in better maintenance of body temperature. Typically individuals supplementing with active B12 have higher temperatures in the later hours of the daytime. This usually corresponds with improved alertness at that same time of the day. While this can be of importance to all blood types, low body temperatures seems to be an area of greater challenge for blood types A’s and B’s.

Pure-lē Natural combines high-potency amounts of the active form of vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin) with natural berry flavour in convenient sublingual drops to support nervous system function and help maintain the normal metabolism of homocysteine, a potentially toxic amino acid metabolite that damages arteries.

Active B12 Sublingual Drops by Pure-lē Natural provides 1,000 mcg of Active vitamin B12 so that individuals without adequate intrinsic factor can enhance their intake of this essential B vitamin through supplementation.