The 7 WARNING Signs of a B12 Deficiency - Dr. Berg

Let's talk about the 7 warning signs of a B12 deficiency .

Now , B12 is it's kind of an important vitamin .

It's involved in making DNA , myelin sheath , which is the coating around the nerves .

Like in this wire , if we were to take off the outside coating , okay , that would potentially short circuit .

Same thing that happens in your nervous system .

We'll cover that .

Also , B12 is involved in making things like red blood cells , which is kind of important .

So B12 is , very , very vital .

And it's important for you to know these symptoms because there's usually like 7 big symptoms that are not necessarily related , but it's important to identify them .

Because one thing about a B12 deficiency is that if you're deficient , you can actually experience irreversible damage to your nervous system .

So we're gonna cover all that .

But I first wanted to mention , one thing about the type of B12 .

There's 2 types .

There's a natural version of B12 and there's a synthetic version .

Of course , I'm gonna recommend always take the natural version .

And the natural version is called methylcobalamin .

That's the one that you wanna take in your supplements .

The other one that's synthetic that I don't recommend is called Cyano cobalamin .

I recommend you avoid that one because it's synthetic .

Now what's kind of interesting about B12 is that , the main reason why people are deficient is not necessarily that they're not eating foods with b 12 .

It has to do with malabsorption or just they're not able to absorb B12 .

The B12 absorption is very complex .

There's a lot of things that are happening , from the stomach to the small intestine and the absorption .

Your body needs , this carrier transportation protein to help you absorb it .

It's called intrinsic factor .

And , if you don't have it or you have an autoimmune disease , you can get something called pernicious anemia , which I don't want to get into that but it's a another problem because you have an autoimmune disease to this thing called intrinsic factor or the cells that make it , which is in the stomach .

But the point is that the reason why people can't absorb it is because they either have some type of atrophy of the stomach , or they're lacking hydrochloric acid , or they have gastritis , or they have an ulcer of the stomach , or they have celiac or Crohn's or irritable bowel syndrome further into the digestive tract .

So any of these conditions can severely block the absorption of B12 .

And so many people have those issues , and then they become deficient in B12 because they don't connect the dots .

They don't understand to absorb B12 , you need a good digestive system .

And B12 is very common in the elderly .

About 20% of everyone over the age of 60 has a B12 deficiency .

Now , personally , I think that the big reason is the lack of hydrochloric acid , either production or they just don't have the the concentration of acid in their stomach .

It's as we get older , we lose the , acidity of our stomach and also the ability to absorb B12 .

And so this is another reason why I recommend everyone over the age of 55 start taking things to acidify the stomach like retained hydrochloride , like apple cider vinegar .

That alone will just start increasing B12 , and the person will start having more and more energy .

Now we don't need much B12 .

We need it in micrograms , not milligrams .

So an average person would need anywhere between 2.4 micrograms to 2.8 micrograms .

Very small amounts , but when you buy a B complex product , which you have to be careful because most of them are synthetic .

When looking at the label , it will say they're like 1000 to 5000% more B12 than your body really needs .

So there is some problems with excessive amounts of B12 .

But typically with B12 , I recommend you get it from the diet .

It's very easy to get from the diet .

So let's talk about the foods that you can get B12 .

Of course , animal liver , okay , like beef liver , you're going to get a lot of B12 or kidney .

Okay ?

Personally , I don't like liver or kidney , but you can get it as a supplement if you're anemic .

Clams and other seafood .

Sardines , beef .

Okay .

Other meats , chicken , fish , some fermented products like kimchi sauerkraut might have B12 Also , fermented dairy as in cheese has some B12 .

Insects , have B12 .

So if you ever get the hankering for , you know , crunching on some insects , you get some B12 .

And also nutritional yeast , but not really .

Because when you buy nutritional yeast , a lot lot of times it just says it's fortified and so they add a synthetic B12 to it and I don't recommend that .

I do have a nutritional yeast product and I do add one thing to it and that is the natural version of B12 , methylcobalamin .

But many nutritional yeast products are fortified , and anytime it's fortified , they always use synthetics and it's from usually petroleum .

And so I don't recommend fortified nutritional yeast .

Now another interesting thing about B12 , especially if someone's a vegan or vegetarian is that , they don't eat animal products .

So usually they're going to be deficient unless they take B12 .

And when I had my , wheatgrass juice powder product evaluated , I had them test B12 just to see if there was an AB12 in it .

And I was actually shocked to find that it was double what our requirements were .

And I thought it was a mistake .

But where that B12 is coming from is the bacteria living in that nutritional yeast product because we don't use high heats and it's done , in temperatures of nothing greater than 106 .

So apparently microorganisms that live around plants can make B12 .

All right , let's go through these symptoms .

There's 7 of them .

Okay .

Number 1 , pale skin .

Now , why would you experience pale skin ?

Well , because you're not able to make red blood cells and you're not getting the oxygen .

And so your body is starving of oxygen and you're looking a rather pale , like you would see in someone that's anemic .

Now , sometimes your skin might be a little yellow or jaundice because the red blood cells are fragile and the byproducts can then create that appearance .

All right .

Number 2 , you're going to feel constant fatigue , weak .

You're always going to be sleepy and drowsy no matter how much you try to get some sleep .

That is because without oxygen , your metabolism can't work .

You're just going to be always tired .

Alright , number 3 , mouth problems .

You may have ulcers in your mouth .

You may have a shiny , swollen red tongue .

Why ?

Because the tongue is not able to get oxygen , and it's swelling up .

All right .

Number 4 , cognitive issues .

So without B12 , you can be very , very depressed , severely depressed .

You can have anxiety .

You can have memory problems .

You can have paranoia .

You can be delusional .

Your thinking really gets thrown off if you don't have enough B12 because both the brain and the nervous system need B12 .

When the brain doesn't get oxygen , it just cannot work .

All right , number 5 .

And this does relate to the cognitive function , but nerves , okay .

If you're deficient in B12 , you're not going to be able to make myelin .

Myelin is the coating around the nerves like they talked about .

And so if you can't make this myelin , you're going to start getting a short circuiting problem in the nervous system .

And that's going to show up as peripheral neuropathy .

Now , what's the definition of peripheral ?

Well , the outer edges of something right , and neuropathy neuro nerve pathy means disorder .

So it's a disorder of the nerve on the outer edges of your body , like your toes or the bottom of your feet , or your fingertips .

In practice , I've usually noticed that it was mainly in the feet , not the hands , but it can occur in the hands .

So we have peripheral neuropathy .

Now , if you're very severely deficient in B12 , you can experience irreversible nerve damage , and you can be in severe pain .

I mean , it's , it's really , really bad because it's irreversible .

So what are you gonna do ?

So this is why I'm doing this video so you can catch it before it creates irreversible nerve damage .

I mean , in practice , I had a guy come in with this problem .

Okay ?

It was so bad .

He really wanted to commit suicide because it got to the point where he just couldn't get rid of the pain .

And so now he basically is forced to live on , medication permanently , which is terrible .

All right .

Number 6 , blurred vision .

Why ?

Because what helps you see is the retina .

The retina is neurological tissue that is in your eye , and it goes directly back into your brain .

And if that's affected , you're not going to be able to see that well .

So one symptom would be noticing that you , you know , your vision is worsening and you need glasses for no reason .

Suspect a potential B12 deficiency .

Alright .

And the last symptom would be a fast pulse rate .

Now why would the heart start increasing its beats ?

Well , that is because you can't make red blood cells .

So that means you're not gonna have oxygen and the body has to compensate for a lack of oxygen by increasing the rate or speed at which your heart pushes , blood through the body .

So anyway , I just really wanted to increase your awareness on B12 .

Now that you understand B12 , I think the next most important vitamin to understand would be vitamin B1 .

And check that out , I put it right here .