Vitamin D, Folic Acid & B12 connection !

Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium in the kidneys, which your bones need to grow. Support your nerves, muscles, and immune system.

You can get Vitamin D in three ways: through your skin, from your diet, and from supplements. Your body forms Vitamin D naturally after exposure to sunlight

The normal range is 30.0 to 74.0 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL).

Sources:

1. Your skin makes Vitamin Dfrom the ultra-violet light (UVB rays) in sunlight. Your body is able to store the vitamin and use it later. The amount of Vitamin D your skin makes depends on time of day, season, latitude, skin pigmentation and other factors. Depending on where you live, vitamin D production may decrease or be completely absent during the winter.
2. Foods: Fatty fish is a good source of Vitamin D. Fish like wild-caught mackerel, salmon and tuna. Vitamin D is also added to milk and to some brands of other dairy products, orange juice, soymilk and cereals (check labels)

B12 and Folate are B Complex Vitamins

B12 and Folate are B Complex Vitamins that are essential for the production of normal red blood cell formation, tissue and cellular repair, DNA synthesis and healthy strong immune system. The body needs B12 in order for to activate Folate.

One of the most important roles of Folate is to synthesize the nucleotide “building blocks” of the DNA.  Deficiencies in Vitamin B12 will leads to lower Folate which will create imbalances in the supply of DNA building blocks, forcing the body to make changes in DNA structure that can make the DNA more vulnerable to breakage.

Broken DNA can lead to mutations, that can lead to cancer or any gene expression. Also, deficiencies in Vitamin B12 & Folate can defects the biological process called methylation (= prevent potentially harmful genes from being expressed), which can also lead to cancer or autoimmune disease based on your genetic precondition.

B12

Normal values are 200 – 900 pg/mL (picograms per milliliter)

Values of less than 200 pg/mL are a sign of a Vitamin B12 deficiency

Folic Acid

The normal range is 2.7 – 17.0 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL)

In General:

• Vitamin B12 is found in animal products such as red meat, fish, poultry, organ meats (liver and kidney), dairy milk, and eggs.
• Folate (also called folic acid) is found in leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits, dry beans, yeast, and fortified cereals.
• The human body stores several years’ worth of Vitamin B12 in the liver.
• The body absorbs animal sources of Vitamin B12 much better than plant sources.
• Non-animal sources of Vitamin B12 vary in their amount of B12. They are not thought to be reliable sources of the Vitamin B12.

Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin. Water-soluble vitamins dissolve in water. After the body uses these vitamins, leftover amounts leave the body through the urine. Vitamin B12, like the other B vitamins, is important for metabolism. It helps in the formation of red blood cells and in the maintenance of the central nervous system as well as boost immune function, maintains nerves, regenerate cells and more.

Food Sources Of Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 deficiency Can Lead To Anemia

Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia is a low red blood cell count due to a lack of Vitamin B12.

Anemia is a condition in which the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells. Red blood cells provide oxygen to body tissues You may not have symptoms, as they may be mild.

Your body needs Vitamin B12 to make red blood cells. In order to provide vitamin B12 to your cells:

• You need to eat plenty of foods that contain Vitamin B12, such as meat, poultry, shellfish, eggs, and dairy products.
• Your body must absorb enough Vitamin B12. A special protein, called Intrinsic Factor, helps your body do this. This protein is released by cells in the stomach.

Intrinsic factor is a protein produced by cells in the stomach lining. It is needed for the intestines to absorb Vitamin B12 efficiently. Failure to its production or utilization brings about a condition that is referred to as pernicious anemia.

B12 Plays A Key Roll In Our Immune System

Methylcobalamin enhances the activity of Natural Killer cells and T-cells. These immune cells are important for killing cancer and viruses. Japanese researchers have discovered that ratio of T-helper cells to T-suppressor cells is abnormal in people with anemia. Methylcobalamin corrects this defect. Vegans with Vitamin B12 deficiency have lowered numbers of immune cells. People infected with HIV are more likely to get AIDS if their B12 levels are low, irrespective of whether they take antiviral drugs. Methylcobalamin is required for both the synthesis and function of immune cells. In a study on people with low tissue levels of B12, methionine synthetase activity was very low, indicating that very few immune cells were being synthesized. Treatment with methylcobalamin restored immunity almost immediately

Methylcobalamin is the most potent form of Vitamin B12 found in nature. We need methylcobalamin for the healthy development and sustenance of our circulatory, immune and nervous systems.

Methylcobalamin is the only active form of Vitamin B-12 in the brain outside the mitochondrion. The liver must convert cyanocobalamin to methylcobalamin in order for Vitamin B-12 to do its biochemical work in the brain. When the complex conversion of cyanocobalamin is not completed, the brain is robbed of the benefits of methylcobalamin. Cyanocobalamin is a by-product of Vitamin B-12 charcoal extraction. Scientific methods led people to believe that cyanocobalamin, not methylcobalamin was the naturally occurring form of Vitamin B-12. Cyanide in the charcoal replaces the methyl group in much the same way as it does in the body of a cigarette smoker. Vitamin B-12 requires the assistance of Intrinsic Factor to enter the body from the small intestine. Without Intrinsic Factor, dietary Vitamin B-12 or B-12-containing supplements go unabsorbed.

Autoimmune reactions and diseases sometimes destroy the stomach’s parietal cells that produce Intrinsic Factor. Pernicious anemia results from this destructive process. More rarely, pernicious anemia develops when the body makes antibodies against the binding site of Intrinsic Factor. The antibodies rob Vitamin B-12 of the binding spot on Intrinsic Factor as it tries to make its way into the small intestine. Monthly injections of Vitamin B-12 can correct the anemia, immune and neurological problems that sneak up on people with pernicious anemia.

B12 Help You Sleep Better

Methylcobalamin plays a key role in sleep. It helps the brain fill up its neurotransmitter “gas tank” when neurotransmitters are produced from amino acids. Similarly, depression also improves more quickly and completely when patients take methylcobalamin. Depression also can worsen even while using antidepressants if a restrictive diet is started to lose weight. A diet can run the neurotransmitter “gas tank” dry.

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