Vitamin B12 is used for treating and preventing vitamin B12 deficiency, a condition in which vitamin B12 levels in the blood are too low. It is also used to treat pernicious anemia, a serious type of anemia that is due to vitamin B12 deficiency and is found mostly in older people. For this purpose, people use either a supplement that is taken by mouth or a gel that is applied inside the nose.
Vitamin B12 is also used for memory loss; Alzheimer’s disease; boosting mood, energy, concentration and the immune system; and slowing aging. It is also used for heart disease, lowering high homocysteine levels (which may contribute to heart disease), male infertility, diabetes, sleep disorders, depression, mental disorders, weak bones (osteoporosis), swollen tendons, AIDS, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, allergies, a skin disease called vitiligo, preventing cervical and other cancers, and skin infections.
During your vegan pregnancy, if you take a prenatal vitamin, you will be increasing your intake of folic acid. An abundance of folic acid masks a vitamin B12 deficiency, so if you were ever to develop a problem, you would not see the symptoms. Also, it’s crucial to your growing fetus and your newborn baby that you are getting plenty of the vitamin to help them build their stockpile of B12.
Vegan sources of vitamin B12
Look for plant milks, yoghurts, breakfast cereals, spreads, yeast extracts and nutritional yeast products that are fortified with vitamin B12. For example, taking 300 ml of a fortified plant milk plus 30 g of a fortified breakfast cereal is a good meal to supply vitamin B12 (1.5 micrograms). Or try fortified yeast extract with fortified spread on whole-wheat toast, or macaroni with fortified nutritional yeast 'cheezy sauce'.
Vegan Vitamin B12 Sources
Tempeh
Miso
Bean sprouts
Alfalfa
Turnip greens
Lettuce
Peanuts
Peas
Fortified cereals, non-dairy milks
Vitamin supplements
Your own intestines produce vitamin B12 bacteria
B-12 fortified non-dairy milks and cereals. Vegan B-12 supplements:
VegLife (certified vegan) B-12 supplement,
Twin Labs ‘Vegetarian Formula’ B-12 Sublingual Dots
VEG1
B12 de Solgar
B12 Delagrange
B12 Gerda
Sources : vegan-momma gentleworld onegreenplanet petakids vegansociety webmd peta