Vitamin B12 Dietary Intake
Intake recommendations for vitamin b12 and other nutrients are provided in the dietary reference intakes dris developed by the food and nutrition board fnb at the institute of medicine iom of the national academies formerly national academy of sciences.
Vitamin b12 dietary intake. Vitamin b 12 has several responsibilities in your body. If you eat meat fish or dairy foods you should be able to get enough vitamin b12 from your diet. Most people only absorb a small percentage of vitamin b12 from oral supplements. Adult men and women have the same requirements but women need more during certain life stages.
However people eating a plant based diet can only get vitamin b12. The recommended dietary intake for vitamin b 12. It creates new red blood cells keeps your metabolism going and protects brain cells to name a few. When vitamin b12 is consumed as a supplement its absorption is less than intake from food sources.
How much vitamin b12 do i need. Dri is the general term for a set of reference values used for planning and. Vitamin b12 is a water soluble vitamin so any unused amount will exit the body through the urine. The apparent low toxicity of the vitamin may be because when high doses are orally given only a small per centage of it can be absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract.
Most people can obtain it from a varied diet that includes animal products. Adults aged 19 to 64 need about 1 5 micrograms a day of vitamin b12. Vitamin b12 may be given by an intramuscular injection or intravenously. However not all vitamin b12 deficiency is caused by inadequate dietary intake.
Therefore the panel sets an adequate intake ai for cobalamin at 4 μg day for adults based on data on different biomarkers of cobalamin status and in consideration of observed mean intakes which range between 4 2 and 8 6 μg day in adults in several eu countries. But as vitamin b12 is not found naturally in foods such as fruit vegetables and grains vegans may not get enough of it. Vitamin b12 is a normal component of human milk 1 the recommended daily intake in lactating women is 2 8 mcg and for infants aged 6 months or less is 0 4 mcg 2 lactating mothers may need to supplement their diet to achieve the recommended daily intake or to correct a known deficiency. Vitamin b12 is an essential nutrient for good health.
Most people can. Generally up to 1000 mcg a day of an oral tablet to treat a deficiency is considered safe. Excess intake no adverse effects have been associated with excess vitamin b12 intake from food or supplements in healthy individuals.