Vitamin B-12 is essential for good health. If you are on a plant based diet you should seriously consider taking a vitamin B-12 supplement. You may not be getting enough of this important vitamin through diet alone.
Vitamin B-12 can be taken orally as a pill that you swallow, or sublingually as a pill that you allow to dissolve under the tongue or a liquid that you put under the tongue. It is also available as an injection.
There are differing opinions as to the most effective way of delivering Vitamin B-12. Some believe that sublingual is better than just swallowing a pill, but there does not seem to be any solid research that supports this conclusion. The dosage you should take depends on your particular situation.
A blood test is available to test your vitamin B-12 level.
At vitamin B-12 levels only slightly lower than normal, symptoms such as fatigue, depression and poor memory may occur.
Another consideration: it has also been observed that as people age they may be unable to absorb naturally occurring vitamin B-12 in foods. Sometimes an injection appears to be an effective way of delivering the vitamin in such cases.
