"IMPORTANT BREAKTHROUGH VITAMIN B12 DEFICIENCY"

Bo Baden, could you briefly summarize the entire vitamin B12 story for us?

I would gladly. It comes down to this: Vitamin B12 is the most important vitamin for both the human body and mind. Vitamin B12 is 'The King of all Vitamins'. Our body CANNOT function without vitamin B12. But it turns out - and the weird thing is that this is hardly known - that vitamin B12, which is found in e.g. meat, fish, milk and eggs, is NOT absorbed PROPERLY in the body of unimaginably many people, young and old.

And if you have a vitamin B12 deficiency (officially called Addison-Biermer's disease), you can become quite sick, allergic and tired, terribly tired, forgetful or depressed. You are pushing yourself more and more, forcing yourself to carry on. While you may think you are suffering from, for example, 'ageing' symptoms. Or maybe tensions from within your relationship or the stress on your work may be the reason for feeling so mediocre. Or: you just do not know what it is, but you feel less and less comfortable. This could go on for years. You will learn to live with it (to survive). But in the meantime, your health starts to slip through your fingers and you don’t know why. You become less and less enthusiastic, always feeling highly sensitive... And so on, and so -sigh- on.

What exactly are you sighing about?

About this: We are in fact describing a major problem: there is a major medical problem (vitamin B12 is NOT properly absorbed by many people), with a huge negative impact on public health. This is a problem that should have already been recognized and acknowledged by now. And therefore should have been tackled and resolved on a large national scale.
The solution is very simple, cheap and very effective, namely: a daily high dose of biologically active (and therefore directly absorbable and effective) vitamin B12 with folic acid in the form of lozenges to melt under the tongue so that the B12 is directly absorbed into the blood via the oral mucosa.

But how is it possible that vitamin B12 is suddenly no longer absorbed properly?

This can be caused by over forty different causes. The most important causes are mentioned below. A vitamin B12 deficiency, and I quote from the pioneering book "Could it be B12?", can be caused by:

Decreased stomach acid (it physiologically decreases after the age of 50, but also decreases when using gastric acid inhibitors).
Atrophic gastritis
Malnutrition
Inadequate diet
Vegetarianism. Veganism. Macrobiotic diet
Eating disorders
MGastric bypass (to lose weight)
Alcoholism
Celiac disease (gluten enteropathy)
Crohn's disease
Radiation therapy for cancer
Inborn errors of the B12 metabolism
Pancreatic problems
Liver disease
Dietary wheat

And a B12 deficiency can also be caused by medication, correct?

Correct. Certain medications can inhibit the absorption of vitamin B12. For example:
Antacids
Colchicine
H2inhibitors (Zantac, Tagamet, Pepcid)
Metformin (Glucophage)
Proton pump inhibitors (omeprazole, Nexium, Prevacid, Protonix)
Nitrous oxide (anaesthetic and party drug)
Mycifradine sulphate (Neomycin)
Phenytoin (Dilantin)
Para-aminosalicylates
Potassium chloride (K-Dur)
Cholestyramine (Questran)
Reference: “Could it be B12 ?”. Sally M. Pacholok en Jeffrey J. Stuart. Published by Ankh Hermes 2011.

N.B.: A complete overview of medication that can impair the absorption of Vitamin B12 can be found here:vitaminb12-medicines.php

What do you want to demonstrate?

That someone (young or old) with health problems could actually, and especially, suffer from an unrecognized deficit of the most important vitamin there is, namely vitamin B12. And again: it may sound very innocent, a vitamin B12 deficiency, but such a deficit really has a damaging effect on your health. Both physically and mentally. Here you can take a look at the extensive list: Symptom list.

So?

Well, if you don’t know that you suffer from a vitamin B12 deficiency and therefore cannot do anything to solve it (which would be: taking daily high doses of active vitamin B12 forms), then you can slowly, but surely, decline to a very low level of mental and physical health and well-being. You can suffer from as many as 1001 complaints, illnesses and conditions.

Which complaints, illnesses or conditions can you get?

Oh, listing all of them would take me quite a while. With a B12 deficiency, you are extremely vulnerable for many health issues. And what specific ailment, complaint or illness you will ultimately encounter is very personal: one gets bowel problems, the other ME symptoms and another one is increasingly mentally out of balance. Or, and that often happens: people suffer from a bit of everything.

But which B12 deficiency health problems really stand out?

In most people a B12 deficiency mainly manifests itself in a low immunity (so you become much more prone to infections etc.), a low vitality (striking pale facial colour); extreme fatigue (out of shape, rapid acidification, bad recovery after exertion), a series of strange complaints (tingling, dizziness, numbness in limbs, muscle cramps, joint pains) and a growing feeling of mental imbalance, of being less alert (awake), of having a less good memory too, and being confused. And so on. The list of symptoms is really very long.

So you claim that a B12 deficiency plays a part in all kinds of diseases?

I like to be careful with what I am going to say now: Indeed, an unrecognized and undiagnosed vitamin B12 deficiency can play a PART in the development and persistence of all kinds of diseases, both physically and mentally.
And fortunately, the current powerful vitamin B12 formula that we offer on our website is an important new positive puzzle piece in the 'health puzzle' for many people with health problems. And for some people, it has even solved their entire health puzzle! That is fantastic to experience. Just look at the experience stories we have been able to record: Here you can read there expierences

How do you know all of this now?

A lot of our vitamin B12 knowledge is derived from a book that has immediately made her appearance as an 'instant classic' for the whole vitamin B12 issue. The book is "Could it be B12? - An epidemic of misdiagnoses" from first-aid nurse Sally M. Pacholok and Doctor Jeffrey J. Stuart. A book, full of new scientific facts, with startling researches; full of stories of daily medical practices on an the emergency department where there is great alertness to ALSO screen incoming patients for a possible B12 deficiency. A book, full of impressive experiences of recovered B12-deficit victims:

 “In this book, we describe stories of people who were once bedridden and can walk again ... People who have been freed from terrible pain in legs and back- People who are freed from their memory loss, their depression, their schizophrenic symptoms ... People who, after B12-therapy, could once again bring children into the world normally... and even autistic children and children with a development disorder have benefited greatly when their too insufficient B12 level was discovered and treated. All these people have experienced a huge improvement in their situation after having undergone one of the simplest and safest treatments: a few injections, or in some cases tablets with a high-dose vitamin B12 ”.
(Quote: Could it be B12? Sally Pacholok and Jeffrey J. Stuart.)

Another quote from the foreword of this book:

“Not recognizing a vitamin B12 deficiency results in worldwide misdiagnosis, mistreatment, untold misery, and tragic deaths.” And: “It is a huge challenge to change entrenched medical ideas. It is an even bigger challenge when pharmaceutical companies make billions of dollars annually by promoting symptom-modifying drugs that merely mask symptoms of B12 deficiency and fight against those who seek a cure.” This is a quote from doctor Joseph Chandy, in the foreword of “Could it be B12?”Chandy is a ‘B12-pioneer’ in England and has been trying to get public and political attention for the B12 issue since 1981.

Is there a Dutch book about B12? ?

Yes, it was published in May 2011 and is called Vitamin B12-tekort. Oorzaak van vele chronische klachten” (English: Vitamin B12 deficiency. The cause of many chronic complaints). Doctor “ Hans Reijnen” from Deurne in Brabant is the author. In this book Hans Reijnen describes his growing astonishment as he notices that the vitamin B12 deficiency is a much more fundamental problem and a solution for a lot more diseases among his patients than he could ever have imagined as a doctor. He also researches treatment with high doses of the two most effective and directly absorbed active forms of Vitamin B12: Methylcobalamin and Adenosylcobalamin. In total there are 6 types of vitamin B12: Methyl, Adenosyl, Hydroxo-, Cyano-, Nitro- and Aquacobalamin. And of those 6 types of vitamin B12, Methyl- and Adenosylcobalamin B12 are the biologically active forms that are absorbed directly by the body and are therefore most effective.

Why exactly lozenges B12?

With those simple lozenges containing an active form of vitamin B12, you immediately bypass the difficult problem of NOT being able to absorb vitamin B12 through the gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream. Most patients (and there are many, about which I will tell more later on) with a vitamin B12 deficiency have that absorption problem. Under the tongue vitamin B12 can be absorbed directly into the bloodstream via the oral mucosa. And then it can finally do His Blessed Royal Work. And that will happen... And HOW ...

N.B.: Important to know: People with a vitamin B12 deficiency often have an absorption problem of B12. The body does not know how to properly transport B12 from the gastrointestinal tract into the blood. Therefore, if you take B12 in capsules, in the regular 'swallowing tablets' or included in multivitamins, you will of course run into the exact same absorption problem as when taking B12 from animal food.

And what about injections with vitamin B12, about which you hear a lot, is that no longer necessary?

It is a choice, in the Netherlands the NHG indicates that treatment can be done with either injections or tablets. By the way, in Scandinavian countries and in Canada B12 lozenges have already been used successfully for decades.
If you have serious complaints, of course you should consult your physician and discuss your treatment options. Active B12 injections also exist, however, strangely enough, these are NOT available in the Netherlands. They are available in Germany, Japan and in Italy for example.

N.B.: In practice, many people get vitamin B12 injections with hydroxo- or cyanocobalamin. These types of vitamin B12 have to be converted by the body into methyl- and adenosylcobalamin before it can be absorbed into the bloodstream. This conversion (methylation) can break down at any point. This problem is bypassed with the two active forms methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin (or Dibencozide).

Besides vitamin B12, we often hear a lot about folic acid, why is that?

Vitamin B12 and folic acid need each other. They use each other to become active in the body. If you supplement folic acid but not vitamin B12 (please note: this often happens during pregnancy), this increases the risk of a vitamin B12 deficiency because vitamin B12 is consumed by the increased intake of folic acid. Therefore it is advised to always supplement vitamin B12 when taking folic acid and vice versa.

Let’s say you suspect that you have a vitamin B12 deficiency. What now?

For safety reasons, I must, or we must first refer you to your physician to get your blood tested. You should request a measurement of your vitamin B12 and folic acid. In the Netherlands, a threshold of 200 ng/L is used by most hospitals. It would be better to use 400 ng/L as the lower limit, which is used in a number of other countries, and to consider values up to 600 ng/L as a grey zone. According to physician Hans Reijnen and vitamin B12 activists in England and America, the current threshold should be at least doubled. There are even people mentioning the limit should be raised to 540 or even 670 ng/L
In any case, always determine the folic acid level, because if it is too high (above 13 ng/L), the measured B12 value of your blood test is invalid. This is because a high level of folic acid masks a vitamin B12 deficiency.

Realise that the blood test can be an important indication, but does not give any information about whether or not a B12 deficiency truly exists. There is no test that can definitely exclude or diagnose a vitamin B12 deficiency. So remember: even though the value of your vitamin B12 blood test is 300 pmol / L, if you recognize many symptoms of the extensive list of symptoms, then a vitamin B12 test treatment, with for example the Standard Package is very advisable. Moreover, there is no known negative side effect of taking vitamin B12. Because vitamin B12 is water-soluble, any possible ‘'excess'’of B12 leaves the body via the urine.

Okay, I suspect, or I know, that I have a deficit of vitamin B12 in my body. What now? Which method should I use?

We offer two packages containing the two active types of vitamin B12 Methylcobalamin and Adenosylcobalamin in the form of a lozenge that can be directly absorbed into the blood through the oral mucosa, the Standard Package and the Power Pack. The right amount of folic acid has been added to both packages.

The Standard Package is intended for the majority of people, young and old, who have to deal with the damaging effects of a vitamin B12 deficiency that until now had not yet been recognized.
Daily dosage:
1 SanaCore Methyl 3000 lozenge (3000mcg Methylcobalamin B12 combined with 400mcg Folic acid), together with
1 SanaCore Adenosyl 3000 lozenge (3000mcg Adenosylcobalamin combined with 200mcg Folic acid)

Let the lozenges melt in the mouth (underneath your tongue). Preferably take before breakfast or before lunch.

The Power Package also contains the two most effective, active forms of vitamin B12. However, in this package the doses are extra high: 10.000 mcg per lozenge. Folic acid is supplied separately in lozenges of 800 mcg a piece. Folic acid is essential for the perfect absorption of the B12 in the body.
The Power Pack is specially designed for highly sensitive (spiritual) people, young and old, who suffer from a vitamin B12 deficiency.

When using the Power Package , the following daily dosage is advised:
1 SanaCore Methyl 10.000 lozenge (Methylcobalamin B12 10.000mcg) combined with
1 SanaCore Adenosyl 10.000 lozenge (Adenosylcobalamin B12 10.000mcg) and
1 SanaCore Folic Acid 800 lozenge (Folic acid 800mcg)
Let the lozenge melt in your mouth (underneath your tongue) before eating.

It is advised to use the Power Package for a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 6 months, after which you can continue with the Standard Package. The body gets a boost of vitamin B12 because of the high dosage. After this period you can stop taking vitamin B12 to see what happens. If unexpectedly the (known) health complaints start to come back, it is advised to start using the Standard Package for vitamin B12 supplementation; so 3000 mcg methylcobalamin B12 and 3000 mcg adenosylcobalamin B12 together with 600mcg folic acid.

When can you expect results?

Some people already notice a positive change within one week. However, most people start to notice many positive changes after 6 to 8 weeks. This depends on one’s physical (and mental) condition. The positive changes that are noticed most quickly are: less tired, less muscle complaints, less ‘lousy feeling’ a clearer head; more decisiveness, better concentration, gum improvements, etc. etc.

And for how long should someone use a Standard Package or a Power Package?

In most cases vitamin B12 has to be supplemented lifelong; unless the cause of the vitamin B12 deficiency is clear and can be solved. As long as the B12 absorption problem is not resolved, you have to help your body and take care of your daily intake of vitamin B12. The Standard Packages is intended for lifelong use. The Power Package gives a B12 boost and is intended for a period of 2 to a maximum of 6 months after which you can continue with the Standard Package.

NB.:Good to know: During the first six months to one year of taking vitamin B12, your health will not improve linearly. Especially if you’re taking higher doses, there can be a temporary exacerbation of existing complaints at the start; or even old complaints coming back. But also later in the B12 recovery process, a relapse (suddenly feeling very tired again for example) or stagnation can occur: you almost feel as your 'old' self (with a impaired health). No worries: This is all normal for a body that is purifying, harmonizing and revitalizing with the help of two sublime forms of B12. Sometimes you will take 3 steps forward, but then suddenly take 2 steps back again: a period of fatigue and a moderately psychological condition (old psychological imbalances can even come to light), of skin complaints, etc.

Do not despair, but trust the recovery process: it is all part of it. Just continue taking B12 with folic acid. Because your body is ALSO detoxifying. The B12 is ALSO cleaning everything that has been stored in your body for quite some time and that may take some (or a lot of) time.

Important advice: Continue to drink an adequate amount of water, 6 to 8 glasses a day! If possible, try to take it easy and take care of yourself, and if necessary ask for more understanding and care from the people around you. In any case, please understand the process that you and your body are in. Then you will most likely get through this in a good way. And ultimately, that is our experience, you will be able to achieve a lot of health gains. I am regularly available on our special B12 information telephone number to consult with people.

What is the appropriate dosage of B12 for children?

Children use less vitamin B12. For children 1000mcg Methylcobalamin once a day combined with 1x1000mcg Adenosylcobalamin and folic acid is often enough. For the littlest ones: only take one kind of vitamin B12 and switch between Methylcobalamin and Adenosylcobalamin every other day.

Has there been extensive research for this advice?

The most extensive research has been done in Sweden, which involved a period of 10 years and more than 1 million patient years, with the cooperation of more than 10,000 GPs. They showed that treatment of a vitamin B12 deficiency with tablets is equal to treatment with injections. This research was subsequently confirmed by scientists and clinicians in America, England and France. In 2014 the NHG in the Netherlands has stated that treatment of a B12 deficiency can be done via injections or tablets.
Doctor Hans Reijnen has put together a research group of 540 of his patients, which he followed for 2 years and of which he documented their improvement accurately. After supplementation of the two most effective types of vitamin B12 (Methyl-Adenosylcobalamin with folic acid) the results were as follows:

19% (108 people) slight improvement,
30% (162 people) moderate to good improvement,
25 % (135 people) strong improvement and
25 % (135 people) spectacular improvement.
(One patient did not show any improvement and one patient didn’t return.)

In other words: In a group of 540 patients being treated for a B12 deficiency, half (50%) experienced strong or spectacular improvements of their health. 30%, 162 patients, experienced a moderate to good improvement and the remaining group (20%, 108 patients) experienced light improvement.

And what do you mean by spectacular improvements? ?

Many of them experienced a huge progress of their physical and psychological health, one of which they thought would never happen! We are talking about people who have had extreme difficulties with walking, who maybe had to use a wheelchair, and who are now able to walk again in a well-coordinated and powerful manner (read about the experiences of Jan and Maria on our website).
People whose brain function had become so bad that they began to think they had dementia; and who now can think clearly again and remember things (!)
People with recurrent infectious diseases who suddenly didn’t have that anymore.
People with a depression which completely cleared up
People with ADHD who became calm again.
People with psychoses, autism, with chronic fatigue, with MS, with anaemia, periodontitis, insomnia, chronic bowel disease, fertility problems; children with reading, memory and concentration problems.

About how many people with a B12 deficiency are we talking?

Real estimates, partly based on research in the US and the UK, say that at least 10% to 25% of all people (!) probably have a chronic untreated B12 deficiency. In the Netherlands that would be between 1.6 and 4 million people. Sally Pacholok, a nurse from Detroit, VS, author of the in 2006 published book “Could it be B12?” says: “We are talking about an epidemic of a cruel disorder that is almost always overlooked, with often disastrous consequences for millions of patients.”
Physician Adrie van Vliet, working in the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Dordrecht (The Netherlands), said “It makes sense that more attention should be paid to the complaints resulting from a B12 deficiency. But many doctors don’t think of it as a possible explanation, or at least not at first, because the symptoms can also be associated with lots of other disorders.”(Translated, resource: Santé, 2011).

“People with a vitamin B12 deficiency mostly are extremely tired and have vague, unspecified complaints, such as a tingling in hands or feet, muscle weakness and joint pains. Many general practitioners do not associate these complaints with a vitamin deficiency, which often results in the patients being sent to a psychologist or psychiatrist or being prescribed antidepressants.” (Translated, Resource: Patiënten blad Doorgang, dec.2011)

I’ve heard that elderly should take extra vitamin B12; can you tell me more about that?

Yes, this is the case: as you get older, your stomach acidity decreases.The stomach acid is required to convert dietary vitamin B12 (from meat, fish, dairy, eggs) into the active forms of vitamin B12 that the body can absorb. Since the decrease in gastric acidity is a gradual process and the body is able to absorb less and less vitamin B12, the vitamin B12 deficiency gradually develops.

This subject, ‘the older fellow human beings and B12’, This subject, 'the older fellow human beings and B12', has, in addition to babies and children, affected me and my entire team, perhaps the most when we were reading into the vitamin B12 issue. Because a lot of our older fellow citizens - certainly tens of percents - suffer from the sad and miserable consequences of a vitamin B12 deficiency. AND THOSE ELDERLY DON’T KNOW THAT. Because many so-called “typical aging complaints”, of which elderly are told to just live with, turn out to be exactly those typical vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms! Examples are: fatigue, forgetfulness, confusion, depression, loss of appetite, personality changes, balance problems (frequents falls, causing fractures), osteoporosis, muscle and joint pains, trembling limbs, cardiac arrhythmias, adult diabetes, Alzheimer's, Dementia, Parkinson's disease ...
THE GOOD NEWS is that also and especially elderly can experience a huge health gain if they are treated with the two most effective types of Vitamin B12: Methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin. There are already very impressive examples of this.

But about how many elderly are we talking exactly?

Estimates are that this B12 deficiency disease affects at least 20% of all people over sixty. And no less than around 60% of all geriatric patients (i.e. elderly in special care homes and nursing homes who need extra care, red.-).

And what about people over fifty?

People over 50 also have higher risk of a B12 deficiency. Vitamin B12 is no longer properly absorbed when too little stomach acid is produced. The American Institute of Medicine has recommended people over 50 to take enough B12, either via enriched food or through supplements.^1,2

¹ Stover PJ. Vitamin B12 and older adults. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care 2010, 13:24-27
² Watanabe F. Vitamin B12 sources and bioavailability. Exp Biol Med. 2007; 232:1266-1274

Can children also have a vitamin B12 deficiency?

Yes, definitely. And that shocked us the most when we were reading into this subject. In 2 to 5% of the children (so that’s many tens of thousands in the Netherlands!) there is a serious suspicion of a vitamin B12 deficiency. This is still not being recognised enough. Because that so innocent sounding “Vitamin B12 deficiency”, leads to adverse health effects in children, and even in babies. For example, it leads to extremely low immunity, all kinds of allergies, loss of muscle strength, poor weight gain, mental development delay. It leads to concentration problems, word-finding difficulties, memory problems; to reduced mental performance(s), to lower IQ, mental retardation, irritability, behavioural problems, restlessness, aggression, and so on. We have included a special chapter for children and babies in our symptom list. THE GOOD NEWS NEWS is that children with a B12 deficiency can recover very quickly, partly or in full, if they are given the right two forms of vitamin B12: methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin, supplemented with folic acid. Here too, the following applies: The sooner (action is taken), the better.

So baby’s can also have vitamin B12 deficiency?

Yes, unfortunately, even babies can have a vitamin B12 deficiency. If a pregnant woman has a B12 absorption problem, she will obviously not be able to provide her foetus with the most important growth and development vitamin in those important 9 months. But babies with a B12 absorption problem can also be treated with B12. And with great results!

So pregnant women should take vitamin B12 in addition to folic acid?

It is extremely important to take vitamin B12 in addition to folic acid. Folic acid and vitamin B12 use each other to become effective in the body. An excess of folic acid can cause a vitamin B12 deficiency, with all of the harmful consequences. Vitamin B12 is important before and during pregnancy. Studies ^1,2,3,4 have shown that a deficiency of vitamin B12 is associated with infertility, miscarriages and neural tube defects.

¹ Cobalamin status during normal pregnancy and postpartum: a longitudinal study comprising 406 Danish women, Milman N, Byg K-E, Bergholt T, Eriksen L, Hvas A-M. Eur J Haematol 2006: 76: 521-525
² Neural-tube defects are associated with low concentrations of cobalamin (Vitamin B12) in amniotic fluid , M. T. Steen, A. M. Boddie, A. J. Fischer, W. Macmahon, D. Saxe, K. M. Sullivan, P. P. Dembure AND L. J. Elsas Prenat. Diagn. 18: 545-555 (1998)
³ Vitamin B12 deficiency in children and adolescents, Sonja A. Rasmussen, Paul M. Fernhoff, and Kelley S. Scanlon J Pediatr 2001;138:10-7. 9/19/112160
⁴ Vitamin B12 deficiency: Is it underestimated in pregnant women?, Robert H. Glew, Denis M. McCarthy & Dorothy J. Vanderjagt, (Received 26 October 2004; accepted 28 December 2004), ISSN 0001-6349 print/ISSN 1600-0412 online # 2006 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/00016340500438074

You mention infertility and miscarriages; does that mean it is important to take extra vitamin B12 even before the pregnancy?

Yes, because infertility and miscarriages can be caused by a substance that is too high when you have a vitamin B12-, B6-, and/or folic acid deficiency. This substance is called homocysteine. If this substance is too high, it has a negative influence on ovulation and can cause problems with the implantation of the fertilized egg into the uterine wall.¹

¹ Vitamin B12, Deficiency, Infertility, and Recurrent Fetal Loss. Bennett M. J. Rep Med Vol 46, No 3., 2001

What about breastfeeding and vitamin B12?

Vitamin B12 and folic acid are passed on in breast milk. Therefore, mothers have an increased need for vitamin B12 and folic acid while breastfeeding. It is important to supplement vitamin B12 and folic acid during this period, so a deficit does not develop.

You often hear about vegetarians and vegans having to supplement their diet with vitamin B12. What is your experience with this?

Vegetarians and vegans have to supplement vitamin B12 because vitamin B12 is found in meat, fish, milk and eggs. Nowadays, a low quantity of vitamin B12 is added to many meat substitutes. The form of vitamin B12 that is added to most meat substitutes, however, is cyanocobalamin B12. This is the most inexpensive form of vitamin B12 and must complete a complex process to become biologically active. Research has shown that you only absorb 2% of the ingested cyanocobalamin B12.

If you’re a vegetarian or vegan and you recognize symptoms of a vitamin B12 deficiency then there’s a good chance you do not absorb cyanocobalamin properly and it is advisable to start a test treatment with active vitamin B12, for example using the Standard Package.

N.B.: Many vegetarians and vegans supplement their diet with spirulina (an algae), tempeh (fermented soy) or nori (seaweed), in the belief that these plant foods contain vitamin B12. However, it only contains an analogue of B12, a non-active form of B12, and the human body is not able to convert this into the active form.^1,2,3

¹ Blz. 146 “Could it be B12?” - Sally M. Pacholok en Jeffrey M. Stuart. ISBN 978-90-202-0490-2
² Psuedovitamin B(12) is the predominant cobamide of an algal health food, spirulina tablets. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 1999, 47(11): 4736-4741. Watanabe, F., Kasura, H., Takenaka, S., Fujita, T., Abe, K., Tamura, Y., Nakatsuka, T. en Nakano Y.,
³ Vegetarian Society UK fact sheet, 'Vitamin b12', https://www.vegsoc.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=807

Finally, what is the most amazing thing about the whole B12 issue?

This: At this moment there are millions of people, and not just in the Netherlands but across the whole globe, who are currently physically and/or mentally suffering from a range of diseases, complaints and conditions that may (partly) be caused by an unrecognized vitamin B12 deficiency. A deficit that is perfectly treatable nowadays. ALL these people, young and old, would be able to considerably improve their physical health and their psychological well-being with a simple solution. That solution is available NOW and it’s feasible, easy to arrange... In short: let’s make sure this breakthrough in public health of this new vitamin B12 method is well known.