Articles
Rethinking & Clarifying the Vitamin B12 Issue
By Dr Vivian V. Vetrano
(http://roylretreat.com)
There is no such thing as a B12 deficiency, even in
100% raw vegan food eaters. They do not have to eat dirt, animal products, or
take pills to secure coenzymes of B12. Bacteria in the intestinal tract make it
for us, and the metabolically usable and necessary forms of coenzyme B12 are
contained in unprocessed, fresh natural plant foods, particularly in nuts and
seeds. The real problem in so-called B12 deficiency is a failure of digestion
and absorption of foods, rather than a deficiency of the vitamin itself.
Vitamin B12 coenzymes are found in nuts and seeds as
well as in many common greens, fruits, and many vegetables. If we ate 100 grams
of green beans, beets, carrots, and peas we would have half of our so-called
daily minimum requirement of Vitamin B12 coenzymes providing our digestion and
absorption are normal. From Rodale's The Complete Book of Vitamins, page 236 we
find the following clarification: “As you know, the B complex of vitamins is
called a ‘complex’ because, instead of being one vitamin, it has turned out to
be a large number of related vitamins, which appear generally in the same
foods.”
A little publicized source of active Vitamin B12
coenzymes is from bacteria in the mouth, around the teeth, in the nasopharynx, around the tonsils and in the tonsilar crypts, in the folds at the base of the tongue,
and in the upper bronchial tree. This source alone will supply sufficient
quantities of Vitamin B12 coenzymes for the very small requirement of total
vegetarians, especially considering that their needs for this vitamin are not
as great as for those on conventional diets.
I have studied the Vitamin B12 issue thoroughly, and
have learned that biochemists, neutraceutical
scientists, and many writers mistakenly use the term Vitamin B12 for cyanocobalamin, THAT IS NOT USABLE BY THE BODY BUT which is
in all vitamin B12 supplements. When speaking of Vitamin B12 they are referring
to the semisynthetic Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin)
that initially as contaminated with poisonous cyanide during its chemical
extraction from animal tissues. Carbon columns are used during the extraction
process and the carbon combines with nitrogen from the medium forming the
poisonous cyanocobalamin, that scientists insist on calling Vitamin B12. The
original method used to extract Vitamin B 12 from its sources included heating
the medium in a weak acid, the addition of cyanide ion, and exposure to light.
In this process the coenzymes were converted to cyanocobalamin,
yet this was over looked. (Review of Physiological Chemistry, Harper, Harold
A., Lange Medical Publications,
THE TWO VITAMIN B12 COENZYMES
KNOWN TO BE METABOLICALLY ACTIVE IN MAMMALIAN TISSUES ARE
5-deoxyadenosylcobalamin and methylcobalamin
(methyl-B12). When extracted in light, these two coenzymes undergo photolysis
and are destroyed. Natural B12 is found solely in plants and animals, and that
is the only form that can be called “coenzyme B12.” If an animal or individual
is given cyanocobalamin the body removes the cyanide
because it is not usable as a coenzyme and it is toxic. Then the cobalt of the
former cyanocobalamin can combine with other
substances that are not toxic and actually form Vitamin B12 coenzymes that are
usable by the body. These normally existing Vitamin B12 coenzymes are labile
and break down easily unless inside living tissue.
Potassium in the body can react with the cyanide found
in cyanocobalamin – the “Vitamin B 12” – and form
toxic potassium cyanide (KCN). Potassium cyanide is a poisonous compound used
as a fumigant. This is one reason why the body jettisons the “Vitamin B 12”
(i.e., cyanocobalamin) injections so rapidly. Within
24 hours most (about 90%) of the cyanocobalamin in
supplements has been eliminated.
The names of cobalamins
formed by the body or in a laboratory are: l. hydroxocobalamin
if it combines with a hydroxyl ion (OH), and 2. aquocobalamin, when it combines with water. Cobalamin also
combines with anions such as nitrite a form of nitrogen, chloride, and sulfur.
These are not usable by the body. The two active coenzymes that can be formed
in the body after stripping off the cyanide are 5’deoxyadenosylcobalamin, or adenosylcobalamin for short, and methylcobalamin.
The problem is that the cyanide is toxic and makes many people sicker than they
were before taking the supplement.
Cyanocobalamin is in every vitamin B12
supplement known because it is stable and less costly to manufacture. But it is
not usable in the body. If the body has sufficient energy it may be able to
offload the cyanide and benefit from the useful component. Mainly, what people
experience after taking cyanocobalamin supplements is
stimulation. The toxic effect of the cyanide triggers
a rush of energy as the body works hard to excrete the poison, and this fools
people into believing that the supplement has “worked” to heal them. Meanwhile,
if their blood tests show an increase in B12, it mainly reflects the amount of
the CYANOCOBALAMIN in the blood stream. The usable forms are carried into the
cells and can’t be discovered by testing the blood as is the current practice.
Blood tests are often inaccurate and, as previously stated, in the case of cyanocobalamin supplementation and B12 injections, about 90
% of it has been eliminated from the body in 24 hours.
Looking at it Hygienically,
no Vitamin B12 therapy can cause a recovery from any so-called eficiency disease. It may only hide the symptoms and cannot
give an individual health. When people report that their apparent B12
deficiency symptoms have been relieved by cyanocobalamin
supplementation, they are mistaken. They are not getting usable Vitamin B12
coenzymes, and their bodies are forced to convert the cyanide form into the
active forms, methylcobalamin, and adenosylcobalamin. This extra function stimulates but
wastes nerve energy, and they are are actually
getting worse, not better. They have not addressed the cause of their troubles.
In summary, vegans and raw fooders
all have sufficient amounts of coenzyme B12 in their diets,
and FROM THAT produced in their bodies. The most common basic cause of a
natural cobalamin deficiency is a failure to digest,
absorb and utilize the various cobalamins from food
and from the intestinal tract as in the case of gastritis or gastroenteritis.
The cause of malabsorption is commonly a
gastrointestinal disorder and this was known by pathologists
way back in the l800s. In this case, one's lifestyle must be assessed and
brought into unison with the needs of the living organism.
Furthermore, absorption of the natural B12 coenzymes
can take place in the mouth, throat, esophagus, bronchial tubes and even in the
upper small intestines, as well as all along the intestinal tract. THIS DOES
NOT INVOLVE THE COMPLEX ENZYME MECHANISM FOR ABSORPTION (INTRINSIC FACTOR) IN
THE SMALL INTESTINE AS REQUIRED BY CYANOCOBALAMIN. THE COENZYMES ARE ABSORBED
BY DIFFUSION FROM MUCOUS MEMBRANES.