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Too much protein and too low B12 - makes no sense!

1K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  odizzido 
#1 ·
Hi guys,

I have been searching the internet for an answer to my question without luck. Perhaps someone on Veggieboards have experienced the same or have an answer.

I have been tested for too high protein level and too low B12-level. Which makes no sense to me!

I am vegetarian, but I rarely eat eggs or cheese, and I never drink milk. So I don't understand the high protein level, also because I don't really eat beans or nuts as such.

I take my vitamin supplements each day, and I get 400% of RDD of B12, so how can I have a low level of B12? Has anyone in here also experienced this?

It bothers me, because now my mum keeps emailing me about the wonders of meat, and that everybody gets sick from eating vegetarian.
 
#2 ·
I have not experienced what you are talking about myself, and your test results do seem puzzling. (I almost wonder if someone got your blood sample confused with someone else's? It's been known to happen.)

For the B-12 part: I have heard of cases where someone's body just doesn't absorb B-12 very well, so the person has to take large doses of it (or get B-12 shots every week). I also would wonder: just because your blood tests low for B-12, does that mean your health is suffering from it? Or - because of all the B-12 you get in your supplements, is your body getting enough, but flushing out the excess, and thus a blood test shows you have low B-12?

I don't know the answers to this, and the protein thing really seems curious to me as well. If at all possible, you might want to seek the advice of a doctor who specializes in nutrition. They are hard to find, and even rarer is the doctor who is well-educated in vegetarian nutrition. It may take you awhile to find the right one. Even if you have no symptoms, I think it might be a god idea to seek answers anyway if you can. These test results may be the result of some underlying condition that could someday pop up and cause a problem, and it might be good to be aware of it now.
 
#3 ·
What test result showed "Too high protein"? You can have low B-12 levels even when consuming a mutli-vitamin if you have a genetic issue that prevents/reduces the absorption of B-12. People with this issue need to take large doses of B-12 and/or get shots. The B-12 in supplements is absorbed better than the B-12 found in meat so trying to get B-12 from meat would just make the situation worse if you had such a condition.
 
#4 ·
I had the tests done through lumbar puncture (spinal fluid), because I have some neurological symptoms, which are unexplained. I should say though, that although the protein level was too high, they also said that they had never seen such good levels for the kidney, which the doctors said are because I don't eat meat :) I have had blood tests done at the my GP, which have always been fine, but apparently the tests done through lumbar puncture at the hospital are much more accurate.

I could buy some extra strong B12-supplements and perhaps talk to my GP. I have been thinking as well, that my results could have been mixed up. Especially if no one else has experienced this.
 
#5 ·
Low B12 with 400% RDD intake can be because of poor B12 absorption (common), poor B12 metabolism (common), or poor B12 history... When you ingest B12 your body actively 'pumps' the bare minimum of B12 into your blood and any excess is passively absorbed at a rate of only 1 to 4%. Thus, ingesting "400%" B12 throughout a day supplies the body with as little as 104% of the needed B12. Because of that, if you have a history where B12 wasnt always adequately supplied you could have a deficiency that would take a long time to correct if your absorbing 104% of a days supply every day.
This poor absorption issue is why you'll see pills and tabs with seemingly absurdly high doses of B12, those are for correcting existing deficiency (ie. what you need right now).
If you have no absorption or metabolism problems then once you 'catch back up' then your 400% RDD will be enough.
If you have an absorption problem then once you 'catch back up' you'll continue to need well above the 400%
You'll notice theres different forms of B12. If your B12 metabolism is ok then cyanocobalamin will work just fine. If your metabolism has a problem you may need the methylcobalamin supplements.

To 'catch back up' and get rid of the existing deficiency you can also get a B12 shot from a doctor.
 
#8 ·
I have read a number of studies done on B12 absorption and they found that the most B12 you take at one time, the less you get and the dropoff can be very fast.

I'd link you the studies I read but I didn't bookmark them and this was some time ago, so I will do my best to give you an idea...

These numbers are going to be off, but this is what happens and it's just for example. When they gave test subjects 50mcg of B12, they would absorb like 50%, if they gave them 100mcg, they would absorb only 40%, at 200mcg they would absorb like 25%, 1mg would be like 7%

Again the numbers are way off but the point I want to make is that if you take 400% RDD in one go it will be far less effective than if you were to take 100% RDD four times throughout the day. What I do is I have liquid B12 and I simply mix it in the drinks I have in lower doses but I have them throughout the day. I still go over my RDD by quite a bit because toxicity is very low though. Might as well be safe.
 
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