Jonny Bowden, PhD, C.N.S. is a nationally known expert on weight loss and nutrition and natural healing. A popular and dynamic speaker who combines wit and humor with science, he’s appeared as a health and nutrition expert on MSNBC, CNN, FOX News, ABC, CBS and NBC and he has contributed material to over 50 national magazines and newspapers. Dr. Bowden is on the Editorial Advisory Board of Men’s Health, is an associate editor of Total Health Magazine and is a columnist for both Better Nutrition and Remedy Magazines. His advice on nutrition, weight loss, diet and supplements has been read by millions on iVillage.com and on America Online..

He is the author of The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth: What Treatments Work and Why, the Amazon best-seller The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, and his latest, The Healthiest Meals on Earth, books that have been endorsed and acclaimed by such luminaries as Mehmet Oz, MD, Christiane Northrup, MD and Mark Victor Hansen and a virtual who’s who in the field of integrative medicine and nutrition. Coming in January, 2009, 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy. For more information about products, services and coaching as well as a free newsletter and audiocourses, please visit him at www.jonnybowden.com

Jonny Bowden--

B12: The New Star in the Vitamin Universe

Recently we've been hearing (and I've been writing) a whole lot of amazing things about vitamin D, which is turning out to be one of the most "underrated" vitamins on the planet. Now get ready to hear a lot about another vitamin that's about to be "discovered" by the media: Vitamin B12.

Look, these vitamins have been around since vitamins have been discovered. They're not new. But what happens is that the research mounts, people begin to pay attention, and slowly but surely a critical mass of intelligent folks in the health business realizes that this stuff is really important and amazing- and we're not getting enough of it.

Which is what's happening now with vitamin B12.

Many epidemiological studies have indicated that low levels of vitamin B12 are commonly associated with several ailments (many of which affect older people) like Alzheimer's, dementia, frailty, depression, osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke and even some cancers. For example, the famous Framingham study of 2,576 adults living in Massachusetts linked low blood levels of vitamin B12 to bone loss (in both men and women). And a study published this year of 107 people over 60 who were followed for five years linked low levels of B12 to shrinkage of the brain.

Here's the thing- in many studies, symptoms were seen with B12 levels just slightly below normal, or in some cases well above the level that causes anemia, the most famous B12 deficiency disease.

Once again, it's turning out that minimal levels of a vitamin- the levels known to prevent a specific deficiency disease- are very far from the optimal levels.

Vitamin B12 is needed in every cell in the body. It's water soluble, so you can't take "too much." And we absorb it poorly and probably don't get enough of it.

Vitamin B12 is primarily found in animal foods (Sorry, my vegan friends, but it's the truth). To be assimilated it has to first be separated from the protein that contains it (like meat or fish) by stomach acid. It then binds to a compound called "intrinsic factor." The problems are threefold:

1. many people (especially vegetarians) are not eating animal protein;
2. many people do not make enough stomach acid, or they use antacids
3. many people don't make enough (or any) intrinsic factor. This is especially true once we hit forty.

Often, vitamin B12 deficiency doesn't show up for years. And it can influence depression, energy and performance, not to mention a whole host of degenerative diseases. Vegetarians (and vegans) especially must take supplements, and in my opinion, most everyone else would benefit as well.

Because of the limiting factor of stomach acid and intrinsic factor, many people prefer to get B12 in injections or take B12 as a liquid sublingually, so it bypasses the "gut." You can also take B12 in a small capsule. It's inexpensive and great insurance. I recommend you take it with folic acid, because the combination has been shown to lower levels of a nasty toxic inflammatory compound in your body called homocysteine.

Vitamin B12 is also known as cobalamin. But it's been shown that the more "potent" and effective form to use in supplements is a kind of "turbo" vitamin B12 called methylcobalamin. Make sure to always use supplements of methylcobalamin. And remember also that to make any kind of difference you need to take a dose of at least 1000 mcg. (And It's perfectly OK if you skip a day from time to time).

Research Studies: Something To Think About

Pomegranate Juice Reduces Erectile Dysfunction

Update on Nov 3, 2008 by At Basil & Spice

Reuters!

Western Star!