Question-------------------------
Can you comment on whether oral B12 is helpful? I've been hearing that to be effective it needs to be injected or through nasal spray. Thanks.
Followup To
Question -
I would appreciate your opinion about supplementing diet with B-12 and Folic Acid. I am 53, my wife is 51. My mother in law (age 89) went to a geriatric physician recently and was advised to take 500 mcg of B-12 and 400 mcg of Folic Acid to help her memory. The doctor said it would good for anyone over 50. We all take Centrum Silver already, which has 25 mcg of B -12 and 400 mcg of folic acid. I don't think we should be taking more folic acid, and am unsure about the B -12, since it is water soluble and would only be passed out in urine anyway. Any guidance would be appreciated!
Answer -
You are probably OK if your goal is the minimum daily requirement. You may want to take a look at the following article which indicates that our current food supply has 7-38% less nutrients in the fruits and vegetables than we had the year you were born. I advise my patients over 30 years of age to split their multivit and take half morning and half with the evening meal to get better absorptions. I also recommend they take a high potency B complex morning and evening, magnesium oxide 250-500mg twice daily and 1000 mg of calcium at a separate time with vit D. But of course, always check with your personal doctor to be sure it is right for you.
Changes in USDA Food Composition Data for 43 Garden Crops, 1950 to 1999
Donald R. Davis, PhD, FACN, Melvin D. Epp, PhD and Hugh D. Riordan, MD
Bio-Communications Research Institute, Wichita, Kansas (D.R.D., M.D.E., H.D.R.)
Biochemical Institute, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas (D.R.D.)
Address reprint requests to: Donald R. Davis, PhD, Biochemical Institute, The University of Texas, 1 University Station A5100, Austin, TX 78712-0163. E-mail: d.r.davis@mail.utexas.edu
Objectives: To evaluate possible changes in USDA nutrient content data for 43 garden crops between 1950 and 1999 and consider their potential causes.
Methods: We compare USDA nutrient content data published in 1950 and 1999 for 13 nutrients and water in 43 garden crops, mostly vegetables. After adjusting for differences in moisture content, we calculate ratios of nutrient contents, R (1999/1950), for each food and nutrient. To evaluate the foods as a group, we calculate median and geometric mean R-values for the 13 nutrients and water. To evaluate R-values for individual foods and nutrients, with hypothetical confidence intervals, we use USDA's standard errors (SEs) of the 1999 values, from which we generate 2 estimates for the SEs of the 1950 values.
Results: As a group, the 43 foods show apparent, statistically reliable declines (R < 1) for 6 nutrients (protein, Ca, P, Fe, riboflavin and ascorbic acid), but no statistically reliable changes for 7 other nutrients. Declines in the medians range from 6% for protein to 38% for riboflavin. When evaluated for individual foods and nutrients, R-values are usually not distinguishable from 1 with current data. Depending on whether we use low or high estimates of the 1950 SEs, respectively 33% or 20% of the apparent R-values differ reliably from 1. Significantly, about 28% of these R-values exceed 1.
AnswerWhat you have been told about B12 is correct only if you have pernicious anemia and lack intrinsic factor in your stomach lining. Fortunately, most of us to not lack intrinsic factor so it is absorbed from the foods we eat, mostly from meats or even supplemental oral B12.
