Guest guest Posted January 17, 2002 Report Share Posted January 17, 2002 I doubt eating right would take care of it. B12 is one of the most (if not THE most) difficult to absorb vitamins under any condition. Some people have a defect (I don't know whether its congenital or environmental) that causes them to absorb it abnormally poorly or not at all. The fact that she needs to do the shots so often suggest that she can't absorb it at all. People secrete a part of their B12 store into their digestive system as part of the digestive process. Healthy individuals are able to re-absorb a portion (some more, some less) of this secreted B12 which is why vegans can sometimes go many years before becoming deficient in it. People who lack that ability would probably become deficient very quickly however. I am, however, not a doctor. Hopefully, someone who is a doctor will comment as well. > I have a friend who has to give herself B12 shots every other week. > Has anyone every heard of this? Is there a way to avoid this (by > eating right)? > > TIA, > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 17, 2002 Report Share Posted January 17, 2002 At 09:24 PM 1/17/02 +0000, wrote: > > > I have a friend who has to give herself B12 shots every other >week. > > Has anyone every heard of this? Is there a way to avoid this (by > > eating right)? Foods that contain B12 are eggs, meat, poultry, shellfish, and milk and milk products. Beef contains, by far, the highest amounts of B12. Vegetable sources of B12 are generally not recommended according to The Vegetarian Society: " However, the present consensus is that any B12 present in plant foods is likely to be unavailable to humans and so these foods should not be relied upon as safe sources. " Their web page has some additional information: http://www.vegsoc.org/info/b12.html Regards, -=mark=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2002 Report Share Posted January 18, 2002 Does your friend have pernicious anemia? Anyway, the best food for B12 is liver. Liver was the standard treatment for pernicious anemia in days gone by. I suppose if you did not want to eat liver, you could take several liver tablets each day. Also, having enough stomach acid is essential to absorbing nutrients and low or no stomach acid is a common affliction. You can increase stomach acidity by taking HCL caps before each meal. Other, but weaker, methods are taking 1 tbsp of cider vinegar in a little water before eating and eating fermented vegetables before eating one's main course. SCB >From: Theta Sigma <thetasig@...> >Reply- > >Subject: Re: Re: B12 shots >Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 14:04:59 -0800 > >At 09:24 PM 1/17/02 +0000, wrote: > > > > > I have a friend who has to give herself B12 shots every other > >week. > > > Has anyone every heard of this? Is there a way to avoid this (by > > > eating right)? > > >Foods that contain B12 are eggs, meat, poultry, shellfish, and milk and >milk products. Beef contains, by far, the highest amounts of >B12. Vegetable sources of B12 are generally not recommended according to >The Vegetarian Society: " However, the present consensus is that any B12 >present in plant foods is likely to be unavailable to humans and so these >foods should not be relied upon as safe sources. " > >Their web page has some additional information: > >http://www.vegsoc.org/info/b12.html > >Regards, > >-=mark=- > > All the best, Byrnes, PhD, RNCP http://www.PowerHealth.net _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2002 Report Share Posted January 18, 2002 > I have a friend who has to give herself B12 shots every other week. > Has anyone every heard of this? Is there a way to avoid this (by > eating right)? Hi , Some people have medical conditions that make it impossible for them to absorb B12 via the intestinal tract. This makes it necessary to bypass the intestinal tract and inject the B12. Some of the conditions (if I remember correctly from my nutrition class!) can be gastric surgery, gastric cancer, and pernicious anemia. I think iron deficiency and hypothyroidism also affect B12 absorption. From what I've read...(and I don't always believe what I've read!), B12 deficiency related to inadequate intake is rare. So, unless your friend has some kind of medical problem, she shouldn't need B12 injections. I can look this up in my nutrition book from nursing school if you need more info. Gianine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2002 Report Share Posted January 18, 2002 Thank you all for your responses on B12. My friend did not have this problem until after she had her first and only child 10 years ago. She said that after that, she had a tingling, aching feeling in her arm and maybe leg that led her to a nuerologist who did all kinds of tests on her (for MS, etc). He found no disease in her, but told her it was probably a B12 defiency and told her to take B12 pills. She did, and the pills didn't work, so she went to another nuerologist, who also tested her for all kinds of diseases and concluded it was a B12 defiency. Since the pills didn't work, this doctor has given her B12 shots ever since. I read about pernicious anemia online, and it says it usually does not occur until the age of 30, and she was 30 when she first felt this, so that does make sense. I will give her your suggestions. She will be happy to have a name for this condition so that she can read more about it. Thanks, > > >--- In @y..., " klyoung2424 " <klyoung2424@y...> wrote: > > > > I have a friend who has to give herself B12 shots every other > > >week. > > > > Has anyone every heard of this? Is there a way to avoid this (by > > > > eating right)? > > > > > >Foods that contain B12 are eggs, meat, poultry, shellfish, and milk and > >milk products. Beef contains, by far, the highest amounts of > >B12. Vegetable sources of B12 are generally not recommended according to > >The Vegetarian Society: " However, the present consensus is that any B12 > >present in plant foods is likely to be unavailable to humans and so these > >foods should not be relied upon as safe sources. " > > > >Their web page has some additional information: > > > >http://www.vegsoc.org/info/b12.html > > > >Regards, > > > >-=mark=- > > > > > > > > > All the best, > > Byrnes, PhD, RNCP > http://www.PowerHealth.net > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2002 Report Share Posted January 18, 2002 You can increase stomach acidity by not drinking liquids for 30 minutes before and an hour after a meal, I believe. Max > > >--- In @y..., " klyoung2424 " <klyoung2424@y...> wrote: > > > > I have a friend who has to give herself B12 shots every other > > >week. > > > > Has anyone every heard of this? Is there a way to avoid this (by > > > > eating right)? > > > > > >Foods that contain B12 are eggs, meat, poultry, shellfish, and milk and > >milk products. Beef contains, by far, the highest amounts of > >B12. Vegetable sources of B12 are generally not recommended according to > >The Vegetarian Society: " However, the present consensus is that any B12 > >present in plant foods is likely to be unavailable to humans and so these > >foods should not be relied upon as safe sources. " > > > >Their web page has some additional information: > > > >http://www.vegsoc.org/info/b12.html > > > >Regards, > > > >-=mark=- > > > > > > > > > All the best, > > Byrnes, PhD, RNCP > http://www.PowerHealth.net > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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