Lack of B-12 Shrinks the Brain

Eating vegetables is healthy, but some vegetarian diets are not. Since many vegetarians don’t eat meat, they need to take a B-12 supplement or their brain will shrink. B-12 is critical for nerves to both develop, and remain healthy. The brain is a giant ball of nerves, so a lack of B-12 will cause brain damage. There is an ad on the sidebar of this page here at HG that advertises the highest quality B-12 supplement on the market today, plus using our member number in the ad when you call to order will save you 10%. B-12 will also give you as much energy as a latte from Starbucks. We here at HG take one to two Trivita sublingual B-12 each day, which is why we recommend it. Here’s more:

Scientists have discovered that going veggie could be bad for your brain-with those on a meat-free diet six times more likely to suffer brain shrinkage.

Vegans and vegetarians are the most likely to be deficient because the best sources of the vitamin are meat, particularly liver, milk and fish. Vitamin B12 deficiency can also cause anaemia and inflammation of the nervous system. Yeast extracts are one of the few vegetarian foods which provide good levels of the vitamin.

The link was discovered by Oxford University scientists who used memory tests, physical checks and brain scans to examine 107 people between the ages of 61 and 87.

When the volunteers were retested five years later the medics found those with the lowest levels of vitamin B12 were also the most likely to have brain shrinkage. It confirms earlier research showing a link between brain atrophy and low levels of B12.

Brain scans of more than 1,800 people found that people who downed 14 drinks or more a week had 1.6% more brain shrinkage than teetotallers. Women in their seventies were the most at risk.

Beer does less damage than wine according to a study in Alcohol and Alcoholism.

Researchers found that the hippocampus-the part of the brain that stores memories – was 10% smaller in beer drinkers than those who stuck to wine.

And being overweight or obese is linked to brain loss, Swedish researchers discovered. Scans of around 300 women found that those with brain shrinkage had an average body mass index of 27, and for every one point increase in their BMI the loss rose by 13 to 16%.

Eating a vegetarian diet can help those people with high cholesterol avoid taking medication, but they also need to be aware that some vegetarian diets eliminate some necessary vitamins like B-12.