Vitamin B12: 4 Health Benefits, 4 Symptoms Of Deficiency, And 4 Foods To Eat

Health

3. A swollen, Inflamed Tongue

About half of people with a severe B12 deficiency lose the papillae—those little bumps—on their tongues, especially around the edges. Patients also complain of burning and soreness, particularly on the back of the tongue. And since most of those papillae contain taste buds, if you lose a lot of them even your favorite foods are going to taste blah. Women with a B12 deficiency may actually lose weight because food doesn’t taste as good to them anymore.

4. Fatigue

Fatigue is one of the first signs of B12 deficiency. Your body relies on the vitamin to make red blood cells, which carry oxygen to your organs. And without enough oxygen in your cells, you’ll feel tired no matter how long you sleep. Fatigue can mean a number of things, though, so you can’t assume you’re B12 deficient if feeling sleepy is your only complaint—doctors usually are tipped off if you’ve got fatigue plus other symptoms.

Foods

The majority of food sources for vitamin B12 are available from animal sources only. Keep in mind that the majority of these B12 foods, despite their high levels of the nutrient, contain their own concerns. This is particularly true if the animal is raised in a conventional feedlot environment. Here are the highest non-vegan sources of vitamin B12:

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