VITAMIN B12 BENEFITSThe vitamin B12 benefits played a key role in my early natural cancer treatment protocol at the Bio Integrative Health Center in Reno, Nevada. It was administered once or twice a week into my daily intravenous drips (along with the necessary homeopathic serums), because my whole digestive system was not working properly, and could not effectively absorb nutrients. I learned to look forward to the fantastic energy boost it gave me for that day.
Because I was in an anemic imbalance caused by months of vaginal bleeding, this played a big role. So let's get a little background understanding on just what it is, and how vitamin B12 benefits our bodies. 
*****DEFINITION B12 may be the most chemically complex of the vitamins. The best term to use for it's chemical makeup is cyanocobalamin. This is the B12 form used for nutritional supplements and in food. Vitamin B12, a soluble vitamin, can't be made by plants or animals. Only bacteria have the enzymes required for its production and synthesis.*****HISTORY The vitamin in liver extracts was not isolated until 1948 by the chemists Karl A. Folkers of the United States and Alexander R. Todd of Great Britain. It was discovered studying the causes of pernicious anemia, an automimmune disease that destroys parietal cells in the stomach whose function is to secrete "intrinsic factor" (see detail below).
The substance they discovered proved to be cobalamin. Found in the liver juice, chemists traced vitamin B12 benefits and causes of deficiency. So let's look at how it functions in the body. *****FUNCTION OF B12 In adults, the total amount of vitamin B12 stored in the body is about 2,000–5,000 µg with 50% stored in the liver. Approximately 0.1% of this is lost per day in the form of bile excretion, however, most of the B12 that is secreted in the bile is recycled. The liver, so very efficient, can store several years’ worth of vitamin B12. With that said, absorbion can be a big problem over time, if the body is imbalanced due to disease. How fast B12 levels change depends on: *****How much B12 is obtained from the diet *****DOSAGE B-12 has extremely low toxicity and studies show that even taking it in enormous doses appears not to be harmful to healthy individuals.
*****ROLE OF FOLIC ACID Vitamin B12 is so important to the metabolism of every cell of the body. It affects the DNA synthesis and regulation, as well as fatty acid synthesis and energy production.
Most effects of the functions of B12 can be replaced by sufficient quantities of folic acid (another B vitamin)! Since B12 is used to regenerate folate in the body, most vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms are actually folate deficiency symptoms. The body needs a proper supply of folic acid for the production of thymine. When sufficient folic acid is available, all known B12 related deficiency syndromes usually normalize.
*****AVOIDING DEFICIENCY Absorption of food vitamin B12 requires: **** an intact and functioning stomach Problems with any one of these organs makes a vitamin B12 deficiency possible. Stores in the liver can run out when the body is out of balance, and absorbtion on a daily basis is malfunctioning. B12 deficiency may arise within a year if initial stores are not adequate and genetic factors unfavourable, or it may not appear for decades. In my case, having a disease like cancer is what tipped the balance. But, 6 months of alternative nutritional treatment and vitamin B12 benefits, corrected the problem. *****NOTE - INTRINSIC FACTOR Intrinsic factor is crucial for the normal absorption of B12 A lack of intrinsic factor, as in pernicious anemia, causes a vitamin B12 deficiency. So what exactly is it? The vitamin B12-intrinsic factor is an enzyme-like unidentified substance secreted by the stomach and absorbed in the small bowel. It is present in the gastric juice as well as in the gastric mucous membrane. (The intrinsic factor may be present even if there is no HCl or Pepsin or vice versa.) Low amounts cause a decreased ability to absorb B12, a factor in the deficency of vitamin B12 benefits.
The optimum pH for its action is a balanced 7. So again we find the importance of the pH.
*****FOOD SOURCES Vitamin B12 benefits are found in foods that come from animals, including fish and shellfish, meat (especially liver), poultry, eggs, milk, and milk products.
Measurable amounts: *****One half chicken breast provides 0.3 µg per serving *****NOTE - Eggs are often mentioned as a good B12 source, but they also contain a factor (avidin) that blocks absorption. While lacto-ovo vegetarians usually get enough B12 through consuming dairy products, vegans will lack B12 unless they consume multivitamin supplements or B12-fortified foods: *****Fortified breakfast cereals NOTE*****It is thought that B12 present in plant foods is likely to be unavailable to humans because it's similar structure and function can compete with B12 and inhibit metabolism. This gives us a fairly simple understanding of what caused my deficiency and how vitamin B12 benefits the building and maintaining of the immune system. BALANCING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM IS A KEY FACTOR IN FIGHTING DISEASE! BACK TO VITAMINS
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