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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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Published in: | Food & nutrition research 2023, Vol.67 |
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Main Authors: | , |
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. |
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ISSN: | 1654-661X 1654-661X |