Vitamin B12 Deficiency: Your Legs Could Show That You Lack From It

Vitamin B12 is one of the nutrients that the body truly needs. According to health experts, this vitamin is responsible for having a good amount of healthy blood cells. The nerve cells also benefit from having sufficient amounts of the vitamin. When you have healthy cells, your body’s ability to make DNA is also at its optimum. Take away this vitamin, and it could lead to certain health complications.

Vitamin B12 Sources

Vitamin B12 is naturally-occurring, hence, you would be able to find this from certain foods. This would include fish, eggs, milk, meat, and other milk products. Vegans find it a bit harder to source vitamin B12 since this vitamin is mostly found in animal products. Vegans can turn to fortified breakfast cereals in order for them to source their vitamin B12.

Pernicious Anemia

According to health experts, one of the primary causes, why people don’t derive the right amount of vitamin B12, is pernicious anemia. This refers to the autoimmune disease, which prevents the body from making a certain protein that is necessary for absorbing vitamin B12. This protein is called intrinsic factor. Those with pernicious anemia could not make this intrinsic factor, thereby preventing the body from properly absorbing vitamin B12.

Signs of the Deficiency

One of the symptoms that signal the deficiency of the disease is a burning sensation in the feet or legs. This is the data given by the Pernicious Anemia Society.

The burning sensation in the legs is just one of the symptoms of the disease. There are other symptoms that could signal a deficiency of the vitamin. This would include experiencing problems in balance, feeling dizzy and faint, vertigo, tinnitus, as well as numbness.

Sometimes, the underlying cause of the deficiency can be hard to pinpoint. Research states that the body could store this vitamin for up to four years. This makes it a bit complex to ascertain as to when you became deficient.

Another possible cause of vitamin B12 deficiency is suffering from various conditions in the stomach. These conditions could prevent the efficient absorption of the vitamin. As a result, the inability to properly absorb the vitamin could lead to deficiency.