While there are sufficient nutrients in foods we intake daily; our bodies vary in their demands. Some bodies get enough nutrients from food and vitamins, while others do not. They often rely on supplements and other minerals to keep them throughout the day. However, despite all of these, deficiency is still a common problem for the majority, and vitamin B12 is the essential nutrient to combat this issue. That is why several patients opt for vitamin B12 injections. It is highly beneficial not only for deficiency but for overall health. However, weight and inflammatory gain arise when these injections occur. Are these claims valid?
What are vitamin B12 injections?
Before knowing what vitamin B12 injections are, you must first be knowledgeable about vitamin B12. Cobalamin, or vitamin B12, is a water-soluble vitamin essential in different bodily processes. And since it plays a vital role in various physical processes, when vitamin B12 is insufficient in your body, it can create a domino effect that affects your overall health. Vitamin B12 is a powerhouse vitamin from eggs, dairy, meat, and shellfish. The vitamin also aids in producing nerve cells, DNA, and red blood cells and is critical for a healthy immune system and brain.
Vitamin B12 is essential in several bodily functions such as nerve regeneration, youthful skin, enzyme production, increased energy, DNA synthesis, mood improvement, hormonal balance, skin pigment balance, and enhanced metabolic functions.
If your body cannot absorb vitamin B12 or cannot intake an adequate amount of it, this is where vitamin B12 injections occur. Overall, the injection is made to address and prevent deficiency and anemia.
What are the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency?
According to studies, deficiency is usual for people who follow a vegan or vegetarian diet. Approximately ninety percent of people following the mentioned diets are deficient. It is also common in older people because aging affects a person’s capacity to absorb vitamin B12. People with weight loss and intestinal surgery are also at risk of deficiency.
In general, anyone can acquire a deficiency. So here are the symptoms you must look out for:
- Fatigue
- Lack of energy
- Confusion
- Headaches
- Palpitations
- Weight loss
- Appetite loss
- Tinnitus (hearing sounds from inside the body rather than the outside)
- Faint feeling
- Irritability
- Depression
- Glossitis
- Disturbed vision
- Dementia
- Mouth ulcers
What are the potential benefits of vitamin B12 injections?
Aside from improving overall health, having sufficient vitamin B12 through B12 injections or supplements also has countless benefits, precisely the following:
- Brain function: Low vitamin B12 has been connected with poor brain function. Recent studies claim that low blood levels may be associated with dementia development.
- Osteoporosis: Low blood levels are also linked to reducing bone mass, and loss of bone mass results in osteoporosis and an additional risk of bone fractures. However, studies with mixed results prove that vitamin B12 decreases the risk of osteoporosis.
- Depression: Although a study found that vitamin B12 did not reduce the severity of depression symptoms, it is recommended that taking vitamin B12 help avoid depression relapse.
- Age-related Macular Degeneration: As mentioned earlier, vitamin B12 deficiency is typical for older adults because of their reduced ability to absorb the vitamins. For people aged 50 and over, enough vitamin B12 is essential to prevent age-related macular degeneration or gradually losing central vision. A study found a 35% lower risk of the disease among those who take vitamin B12 supplements and try B12 shots.
What are the side effects of vitamin B12 injections?
Generally, vitamin b12 injections are safe and have no severe side effects. However, there are cases where patients experience side effects due to sensitivity and allergic reactions. Other sources also cite that it is normal to feel dizziness, headaches, and weakness after the shot.
If you experience worse symptoms than these, notify your doctor immediately.
Are vitamin B12 injections the answer for deficiency?
Suppose you let a vitamin B12 deficiency pass; it can lead to further problems such as pernicious anemia or neurological issues. Both occur when your body lacks B12 to produce the number of red blood cells needed.
Doctors recommend vitamin B12 shots as the most common way to address the deficiency. It is administered intramuscularly and given as cyanocobalamin and hydroxocobalamin, which are efficient in preventing, and reversing vitamin B12 deficiency; also raising blood levels.
Does vitamin B12 affect weight gain?
Sources affirm that there is little evidence that claims vitamin B12 injections influence weight gain. However, it may affect the metabolism, but it does not mean it will lead to weight gain. It was vitamin B12 deficiency that was found to lead to weight gain and obesity. There are still ongoing studies that examine whether B12 injections and supplements affect weight loss or gain.
Moreover, vitamin B12 also contains anti-inflammatory properties, which means it will not increase inflammation inside the body. Instead, it will improve the body’s response to NSAIDs or non-steroidal inflammatory medications and decrease neurological pain.
Tips to get enough vitamin B12
It is easy to acquire precious vitamin B12. As mentioned earlier, it comes from our food intake, and as humans who need food for everyday survival, it should not be crucial to maintain vitamin B12 inside our bodies. If you are fond of eating animal foods, you are securing these vitamins inside your body. Furthermore, it would help if you eat these food groups to prevent deficiency:
- Dairy: Milk, cheese, and yogurt
- Meat and chicken: Red meat like beef and organ meat
- Fortified foods: Nutritional yeast, plant and mock meats, and breakfast cereal
- Seafood and fish: Sardines, clams, salmon, trout, and tuna
- Eggs: Egg yolk
As mentioned, people on vegetarian and vegan diets will find it hard to meet sufficient vitamin B12 needs. For that reason, they need to intake supplements such as oral supplements or vitamin B12 shots.
You can get B12 injections at any medical spa, but not all of them provide a quality service. In Vital Aesthetics, you can never go wrong with a vitamin B12 injection because their aesthetic injectors bring advanced medical and aesthetic injection quality!
If you want to combat vitamin B12 deficiency and maintain a healthy lifestyle, take vitamin B12 shots now and contact the best medical spa in Issaquah, Washington, U.S.A.!
