How Vitamin B-12 Shots Promote Wellness

Vitamin B-12 may sound like an obscure, insignificant nutrient that doesn’t matter much, but in reality, missing out on vitamin B-12 in your diet can have tremendous adverse health effects. Vitamin B-12 is essential, but your body can’t produce it internally. This means you must get it from your diet by eating meat, dairy or fortified foods.

When your diet isn’t enough, you must supplement your vitamin B-12 intake with a pill or injection. Consider how essential vitamin B-12 is to your overall health and why vitamin shots are better than taking a pill.

Benefits of Vitamin B-12

The recommended daily intake of vitamin B-12 is just 2.4 micrograms (mcg). Here’s what this tiny amount is capable of doing for your health:

• Prevent anemia: Vitamin B-12 plays a role in red blood cell production to prevent anemia, which can cause weakness and fatigue.
• Support healthy bones: Low levels of vitamin B-12 are linked with osteoporosis, so keeping your intake at the recommended level is important for bone health.
• Reduce the risk of eye disease: Adequate levels of vitamin B-12 decrease homocysteine levels in your blood, which can help prevent macular degeneration.
• Improve mood: Your body needs vitamin B-12 to produce serotonin, a feel-good brain chemical. If your levels are deficient, vitamin shots may help improve your mood.
• Promote brain health: Boosting vitamin B-12 levels may prevent the loss of neurons to help slow mental decline in older adults with early-stage dementia.
• Increase energy levels: All B vitamins play a role in energy production. If you’re low on B-12, an injection can give you an energy boost.

Vitamin Shots vs. Multivitamin Pills

Many people take multivitamins daily to boost their levels of important nutrients. While this certainly doesn’t hurt, it often misses the mark. After all, the ability to absorb different vitamins depends on various factors aligning perfectly.

In the case of vitamin B-12, you must have enough hydrochloric acid in your stomach to separate the vitamin from the protein to which it’s attached in animal-based food products. Then, the stomach must produce a protein that the vitamin adheres to so the body can absorb it. If either of these steps doesn’t occur, you won’t absorb vitamin B-12 from food or pills.

Shots are customized to your needs, which can compensate for an inability to absorb vitamin B-12. Even if you don’t have absorption difficulties, your dosage can be tailored to your age, gender and body mass to maximize the results. The process only takes a few minutes and can counteract everything from fatigue and depression to vision problems and headaches.

If you’re interested in vitamin B-12 shots, the staff at Effective Integrative Healthcare is ready to answer your questions. We base your treatment on your specific needs to effectively correct any vitamin deficiencies for a healthier you. To learn more about our services, or to schedule an appointment, please contact us today. We have locations in Crofton, Millersville and Lanham, MD.