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The Truth About B12 Deficiency
Hi, this is Dr. Justin here. Today's talk is beyond B12 deficiency, B12 is an essential
nutrient we need to actually measure our red blood cells. Red blood cells, they carry around
oxygen, they carry around nutrition, and like how we mature, we start off as a little baby,
really small, we grown and we get bigger and bigger; well, that is actually the exact opposite
of red blood cells. They actually start off really big and then they mature, they get
smaller and smaller and smaller. One of the first thing we see with an anemia of some
sort, a B12 anemia, like a megaloblastic anemia, the reason why that term is megalo is because
the red blood cell extraverts not fully mature, so one of the main symptoms we are going to
see in B12 is an anemia, we'll see on your blood's MCV, MCH and MCHC, almost things will
be elevated and typically well see low red blood cells, low hematocrit and low hemoglobin.
Anemia is a common B12/ anemia is a common one we are going to see in vegetarians for
instance, people with compromise digestion and people with potential infections or auto-immune
conditions. Again, we want to make sure our red blood cells are mature so it can carry
nutrients, oxygen and all the good stuff we need.
Next, fatigue. Fatigue is a logical symptom because if we can't carry oxygen and we can't
carry nutrients, we are not going to help all the building blocks we need to perform.
Again, if we don't have oxygen, our adrenal glands are not going to be able to work properly,
our thyroid glands are not going to work properly, so it makes sense that fatigue is a natural
progression.
Next thing is medications. Medication for glucose sensitivity such as diabetes like
metformin or glucophage that Proton Pump Inhibitor, Acid Blockers, we'll talk about that later
in a second. These are going to cause nutrient deficiency, well-known B12 or Folic deficiency
is very common with these different medications for diabetes, also with birth control pills
too. It's really important that you are on a medication for type 2 diabetes like glucophage
or metformin, you need to be making triggers supplementing B12.
Next step, anti-acids. The same cells in our stomach they call the parietal cells, these
cells actually produce these as well. HDL comes out of these parietal cells and helps
essentially metabolize and breaks down and absorb B12 that it binds to these compounds
called instrinsic factor. Instrinsic factor is also produced by the parietal cells, so
the parietal cells produce hydrochloric acid and they produce intrinsic factors. Intrinsic
factor, they come on and binds to B12 and then it absorb B12 later on in our end of
our small intestine, in our illium. So we need good parietal cell function, so we are
shutting down our parietal cells when they approach on pump inhibitor, that's decreasing
HDL, so for affecting those parietal cells, it may affect the binding of the intrinsic
factor on B12 and also, it's going to decrease out ability to digest and breakdown a lot
of these products, so we know B12 is common in many animal products, it's actually virtually
impossible to get absorbable B12 in plant products. There are various analogues of B12
that none are truly absorbable and measurable fats on low levels. So antacid is very important,
when we can't already to that low protein. So we're eating a vegetarian or a vegan type
of diet right significant predispose of risk could be B12 deficient. I think it says something
about your diet is you're missing certain essential nutrients you only can get from
animals, so it's really important if you're a vegan or vegetarian, you're missing certain
type of nutrients in your diet, so you have to be doing specific tests, and I'm going
to tell you, most people are doing the wrong test and they are actually doing a wrong supplement,
we'll talk about that on the next part of the video here.
So recapping, anemia, low oxygen, low energy, poor blood, ability to carry a fuel fatigue,
medication, anti-acids, low protein; these are main symptoms that are essentially driving
the B12 deficiency. Next we are going to be talking about the
treatment, how you can actually fix that. So we already kind of know that, digestion
is really, really important. You'll be able to break down the animal products that are
having the majority of these that are helpful, making sure we take in something like the
hydrochloric acid; HDL is going to be very helpful. Also taking enzymes can also be very
helpful.
Next, infection, we see a lot can do affect absorption. It creates inflammation. One of
the main infections we see in the stomach is an infection called H pylori and how it
actually neutralizes the stomach acids, but it's going to affect digestion, it's going
to affect stomach acid. They create inflammation, they create mal-absorption. Infections are
going to be a big thing, again, H pylori is really the thing we need to look out for,
that is going to cause a whole bunch of problems in the stomach and it's going to naturalize
stomach acids. Again, taking HDL is not going to be enough when you have an H pylori infection,
they help in a short while but well, it's not treating the root cause. We recommend
getting to the root cause of the health issue. Next, auto-immunity, these things has pernicious
anemia. Pernicious anemia is an anemia from an auto-immune condition that is causing a
chronic B12 issues continues to go where I'm going. One of the biggest things we see when
they have pernicious anemia is we see specific anti-bodies. These anti-bodies can be to the
parietal cells, we already talked about that. The parietal cells actually produce hydrochloric
acid, right? So it could cause HDL problems, which again, parietal cells also produce B12
and it can also happen with intrinsic factor. Intrinsic factor is actually the compound
that the parietal cells produce, Intrinsic factor that binds the B12 and the re-absorb
it in the illium down by the end of the small intestine. Again, if you are having a chronic
B12 issue, you got to look into the auto-immunity, you want to make sure you are addressing that
and you are actually giving someone B12 and a whole bunch of intrinsic factor and it can
actually make the problem worst, so you got to be careful . Again, if you are eating foods
that are stimulating auto-immunity like gluten, that's going to make the problem worst.
Diet, we already talked about diet, my favorite types of diet is some type of a Paleo diet,
eating high-quality vegetables, high-quality proteins and fats, trying to avoid foods that
are immunogenic or hypoallergenic such as gluten, other prime dairy products, legumes,
again, some people who are vegetarians, again, you got to automatically have problem with
that. We are going to talk about that in the next step here. I kind of favor that type
of style with eating higher fat diet, kind of moderate protein and low carbohydrates.
Some people can handle more carbohydrates, some people can handle a little less fat,
it really depends. That is kind of my typical advice.
Next is supplement. My favorite type of supplement for B12 is going to be a sublingual B12. There
is a couple different kinds, you have your methylated B12, you have your cyanocobalamin,
and your adenosylcobalamin. So I am a big fan of the methylcobalamin, the methyl B12.
To better form, our body use this methyl B12 to detoxification as well leaving a good methyl
B12, so sublingual could be very helpful. Again, if you have this pernicious anemia,
you got to be careful because you want to make sure you are not putting any intrinsic
factor in there because that can make your auto-immunity worse. Good methyl B12, but
at least 1000 micrograms per day. I'm also a big fan of putting foliate in there as well
and some people may have an MTHFR, that is going to go into the lab test in here but
your MTHFR at a specific gene, and again, if you have this gene, you needed an MTHFR
foliate so can absorb it and bypass that genetic anomalies.
So, recapping supplements, methyl B12 can be very helpful. 1000 milligrams per day,
and it's really important to do sublingual, you give yourself enough time to allow it
to absorb. Some people, if you have pernicious anemia, you may even need injection of methyl
B12. It's really important when you go over to assess that, maybe an injection of the
B12, if you're an older person and already has an impaired digestion, an injection may
be injection can be very helpful. But to start off, definitely use the methyl B12.
Next, lab tests, what can you do to essentially test and make sure it work when you are getting
your B12? Well, you want to make sure you that you have an MTHFR, that can be helpful.
Just to let you know, it's going to be okay and in taking the right kinds of foliate for
your genes.
The next thing will be a urinary methylmalonic acid test. Essentially, methylmalonic acid
is a compound in our body that elevates when we don't have enough B12. Methylmalonic acid
gets converted to salicylic acid, so MMA to salicylic acid and it needs a B12 and enzymes
so that when B12 is not there, what we are doing is we are assuming that the methylmalonic
acid is going higher because of the fact that we don't have enough B12. It's a great way
to essentially evaluate B12 deficiency and it's much more accurate MMA. Typically, patients
are using serum B12. Serum B12 is just a marker on what's happening in the bloodstream, it's
not a marker on what's actually happening in the cell that's getting absorbed d by the
cell. Typically, let's say you have a low serum B12, it give you some B12, now automatically
you are going to have more than enough B12, it's going to be sky-high, again, we don't
know what's functional there. No one knows what's there in the blood and what's actually
functioning in there are two different things.
The next test is the trans-holocobalamin. It's kind of an experimental test down there,
the main test I'm using is urinary MMA, but the trans-holocobalamin is a blood test and
essentially looking at B12 in another way. The biggest issue is trans- holocobalamin
can actually be effective by this biosis. Again, if you are someone with gut issues,
which is who doesn't have gut issues these days, I mean everyone has got that type of
tummy problem or gut infection, so if you have a cebo or small intestinal bacteria overgrowth,
that can automatically screw that test and make it look more accurate. Because of that,
I see many people with digestive issue and gut problems; I'm a little more biased towards
urinary MMA test to assess B12 levels and functionalities.
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