subject: The Importance Of Vitamin B-12 [print this page] People today are not taking healthy dietPeople today are not taking healthy diet. The diet usually contains simple carbohydrates and saturated fats. It also contains elements that can cause many heart problems, obesity and many other serious conditions.
There are mainly three types of vegetarians found. The lacto vegetarians are those that do not consume meat. They eat fruits, vegetables and dairy products. The second category is the lacto-ovo vegetarians. Their diet is similar to that of the lacto vegetarians but, they do consume eggs. The third category is of the vegans who do not eat eggs, meat and even dairy products.
The only negative point of the vegetarian diet is that it does not contain sufficient amount of vitamins. One of the vitamins which is absent in the vegetarian diet is vitamin B12. This vitamin is found only in eggs, meat, dairy products and poultry. This vitamin is of much importance as it helps in the production of the red blood cells and maintains a proper nervous system. Due to the deficiency of vitamin B12, the symptoms found are fatigue, balance problem, dementia, hallucinations and problem in the vision.
Due to the deficiency of vitamin B12, the levels of homocysteine can be increased in the body. It is an antioxidant which when present in high levels, can cause toxic effect in the body. When the heart disease is diagnosed, high level of homocysteine is found in the blood of about 20% of the people. Thus, it is advisable to take about 10 micrograms of vitamin B12. For the people taking vegetarian diet should make proper check-up of their blood in order to check the deficiency of vitamin B12.
