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Vitamin B 12 - a scoping review for Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023

Vitamin B (cobalamin) is essential for normal metabolic function, and even moderate deficiency of this vitamin has negative health effects. Vitamin B is found in animal foods, and as vegetarian diets are increasingly popular in Western countries, one might expect a higher prevalence of vitamin B def...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Food & nutrition research 2023, Vol.67
Main Authors: Bjørke-Monsen, Anne-Lise, Lysne, Vegard
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Vitamin B (cobalamin) is essential for normal metabolic function, and even moderate deficiency of this vitamin has negative health effects. Vitamin B is found in animal foods, and as vegetarian diets are increasingly popular in Western countries, one might expect a higher prevalence of vitamin B deficiency in the Nordic population. Setting recommendations for vitamin B intake has proven to be difficult, as uptake of vitamin B varies substantially, the clinical deficiency symptoms are often diffuse, and there is no clear agreement on the decision limits for vitamin B deficiency. Vitamin B deficiency is reported to be particularly common among pregnant women and infants, despite the fact that less than 1% of Norwegian pregnant women have a cobalamin intake below the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2012-recommended level of 2.0 µg/day. In addition, the assumption that breast milk contains sufficient vitamin B for optimal health and neurodevelopment during the first 6 months of life does not comply with the high prevalence of insufficient vitamin B status in this age group. Recommended intakes of vitamin B vary among age groups and must be based on markers of cobalamin status, indicating an optimal intracellular biochemical status, and not merely absence of clinical signs of vitamin B deficiency.
ISSN:1654-661X
1654-661X