Can Vitamin B12 Help Weight Loss?

As with most people, weight loss and “getting healthy” was one of my goals for the New Year. While I was thinking of a gym membership and salads, a friend of mine was thinking about vitamin B12 and began telling me about how it is some sort of miracle weight loss “drug”.

How Vitamin B12 Can Help

“Vitamin B12 boosts your metabolism, so you burn way more calories a lot faster!” she exclaimed while downing a glass of milk. “See? This milk’s got B12 in it. Now I’m just waiting to see the pounds come off.”

I don’t know about you, but consuming some particular vitamin seems a bit too easy when it comes to losing weight. After doing a bit of research, I found that she was right – to some extent. Vitamin B12 does boost our energy some and increase our metabolism for a little while. It also helps us cope with stress and depression, two things that are often associated with weight gain. But as for actual weight loss…?

Vitamin B12 Foods

If significant weight loss is your goal – and by significant, I mean more than a pound or two – you will have to devise a new plan that includes varied exercise and healthy eating (including the four food groups and portion control). If you find yourself fatigued from all of the exercising, then try eating more vitamin B12-rich foods to give you that energy boost. Vitamin B12 foods include:

• Meat
• Poultry
• Dairy products
• Fish
• Eggs

If you are a vegetarian or vegan looking for some vitamin B12, check out soy products (such as soya milk), juices and vegan substitutes. Most are vitamin B12 enriched.

NOTE: If you suspect you are vitamin B12 deficient or if you plan on taking vitamin B12 supplements, speak to your health practitioner first. Either too little and too much of vitamin B12 can have damaging and irreversible effects on your body, so it is important to do your research before either under or overdosing on this vitamin.

photo by Sanja Gjenero