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He’s not alone in sensing this, and other readers tell me they have switched to supermarket brands which are easier to coax into an even layer over the butter. They are also a bit milder in flavour, which you may prefer, but that may translate to a tendency to use more. Sadly for thrifty shoppers, this means the cost saving is likely to be minimal. B12 is in red meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products; and in fortified foods: veggie burger mixes, yeast extracts, margarines, breakfast cereals and soya milks; or supplements. Sanders T.A. 1999. The nutritional adequacy of plant-based diets. The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 58 (2) 265-9. A well-planned and varied vegetarian or vegan diet including B12-fortified plant-based foods not only meets our requirements but provides a healthier and safer source of vitamin B12. B12 deficiency tends to increase with age; up to 40 per cent of the UK’s meat-eating elderly population suffers from low B12 due to a reduction in their ability to absorb this vitamin.
Grainy top, thinner than others, and medium dark. It has a slightly powdery texture and the salty flavour hits you before the savoury. Still enjoyable on toast.
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Vitamin B12 deficiency may be diagnosed by measuring the levels of serum B12 or by measuring the levels of homocysteine which can accumulate to high levels in the absence of B12. However, high homocysteine levels can also be caused by folate or vitamin B6 deficiencies. Conventionally vitamin B12 deficiency is treated with a course of intramuscular injections. A B12-like compound called hydroxocobalamin is injected into the muscle every two to four days. Around six injections are given to build up stores of vitamin B12 in the liver. Blood tests are given periodically to monitor the success of the treatment (15).
Vitamin B12 is a complex molecule; its common name, cobalamin reflects the presence of the mineral cobalt in the centre of its structure. As with the other B vitamins, B12 helps build the material that makes up our genetic blueprint; our DNA. It is also particularly important in the production of red blood cells and in maintaining a healthy nervous system. B12 also helps release energy from our food. A further important role of B12 is to act in conjunction with folic acid (another B vitamin) in the synthesis of the amino acid methionine; this limits the build up of a potentially damaging molecule known as homocysteine (more on this later). Davey G.K., Spencer E.A., Appleby P.N., Allen N.E., Knox K.H. and Key T.J. 2003. EPIC-Oxford: lifestyle characteristics and nutrient intakes in a cohort of 33 883 meat-eaters and 31 546 non meat-eaters in the UK. Public Health Nutrition. 6 (3): 259-69.FSA, 2004. Hoare J., Henderson L., Bates C.J., Prentice A., Birch M., Swan G. and Farron M. 2004. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: adults aged 19 to 64 years. London: TSO. Volume 5. The association of vitamin B12 with animal foods such as fish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk and dairy products has helped create the myth that this vitamin can only be obtained from these foods and that a vegetarian or vegan diet provides a substandard amount. Consequently B12 has become a contentious issue. Concerns that vegetarians, and especially vegans, are at risk of B12 deficiency prevail even though the evidence suggests the meat-eating elderly are by far the group most likely to be deficient in B12. Furthermore, research suggests that the B12 present in meat, poultry and fish is not as easily absorbed as the B12 present in fortified vegetarian foods.
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