The brain needs to metabolize neurotransmitters, and to do this it produces S- adenosylmethionine, for which B12 is a very important part of production. It can then be seen how vitamin B12 deficiencies could contribute to a wide array of mental health problems like depression, demyelinating myelopathy and dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Norepinephrine is an essential neurotransmitter for maintaining a positive mood, and those who are deficient in B12 have shown to be more prone to depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms. Diseases such as pernicious anemia and dementia, which are most common in the elderly, have also been linked to B12 deficiencies. A book by Syd Baumel called “A Shot in Time Saves Mind” discusses the possibility that patients suffering depression often have difficulty absorbing B12 without showing signs of pernicious anemia.
S-adenosylmethionine is what most people know to be called Serotonin, and is an important neurotransmitter in the brain. B12 is detrimental to the manufacture of serotonin, so therefore has a very large role in the maintaining of both emotional and mental health.
It is a fairly common fact that those...