By now, we hope you have had the opportunity to check out our most recent webinar in which we examined important information about vitamin B12 and how it relates to so many aspects of health. Here's some additional information on vitamin B12 you may find to be of interest.
There are a few forms of vitamin B12 available in supplemental form, but the two forms we get the most questions about are
methylcobalamin and
hydroxocobalamin.
There are other forms also, including the popular cyanocobalamin and lesser-known adenosylcobalamin. Chances are, you have seen at least one of these forms on your supplement label.
We cover all of these forms very thoroughly in our
Mastering Raw Food Nutrition online course, but for starters here, we’ll take a look at methylcobalamin and hydroxocobalamin.
Methylcobalamin is one of the
human bioactive forms of B12 and is involved in a number of important reactions in our body, including the maturation of red blood cells and keeping our nervous system, brain, and blood vessels healthy. If one takes a methylcobalamin supplement, the body can use it essentially ‘as is’ for the activities in the body that require it.
Hydroxocobalamin is a
naturally-occurring form of vitamin B12 that is made by certain bacteria, including some strains that live in soil. Not all types of bacteria make vitamin B12 and not all soil contains B12 producing bacteria. Yeast, mushrooms, and other types of fungus do not produce vitamin B12; neither do animals nor plants.
Like methylcobalamin, hydroxocobalamin is available as a supplement. Since hydroxocobalamin is not a human bioactive form, it needs to be converted in the human body to one of the bioactive forms. When someone takes a hydroxocobalamin supplement, their body needs to remove the hyroxo- portion of the molecule and replace it with, for example, a methyl group or adenosyl group and then use it from there.
We have also seen good results with other forms of B12 in the various delivery methods in our clinical practice, but some may work better than others depending on the individual situation. We are not attached to any particular form or delivery method, because as educators and clinicians,
results are what is most important to us.
As with any other endeavor, when you are
well-educated, you can much more easily see accurate information versus those trying to sell you ‘the latest and greatest’ supplements, and make better, well-informed decisions about your health that get you real results.
There’s a lot more to share about vitamin B12, since it’s such an important and fascinating nutrient. In our online class,
Mastering Raw Food Nutrition, we have in-depth presentations on vitamin B12, so you can really know the ins and outs of vitamin B12, its supplemental forms, how the forms work together, and what the body does with them.
Beyond that you will learn which other nutrients work with vitamin B12 and what affect all of them working together have upon the various systems of the body, and
how to structure the healthiest diet possible for nutrient synergy and overall well-being.
We cover this topic and so much more in our online Mastering Raw Food Nutrition Course beginning in late August, and can’t wait to share with our students how all of these topics fit together beautifully and synergistically!
If you are excited about spending a few (about 4) hours per week for one year, learning about raw food and whole food plant-based nutrition at an extremely thorough, comprehensive, and detailed level, you'll have the opportunity
to be incredibly confident in your knowledge to be able to implement the maximum benefits of a plant-based diet for a lifetime of supercharged health.
If you are interested in learning more about the Mastering Raw Food Nutrition curriculum, we invite you to schedule a time to speak with us about the course to see if it is a good fit for you:
https://masteringrawfoodnutrition.as.me/schedule.php