Are you giving your brain enough of this essential vitamin?

It’s the vitamin deficiency that can be behind exhaustion, depression and even dementia.

Running low on B vitamins is often the real reason behind a lot of ailments. But now, for the first time, researchers have used neuroimaging to prove exactly how those B’s can improve our brain function.

And while getting enough B in your diet is easy to do, there are two big reasons why you may be coming up short on this important nutrient.

Brain drain

The B vitamin family is a big one. Some are so important that many foods are supplemented with them, like folic acid, added to cereals and flour to prevent birth defects.

And lots of studies have been done showing just how vital it is to keep your B levels up, especially for brain health. But for the first time researchers have used imaging to confirm the positive effects B vitamins have on the brain.

Studies done at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia found just how B vitamins can help us through the use of a special kind of MRI that can detect blood-flow changes in the brain.

Researchers there found that B vitamins stimulated “increased activation” in the areas of the brain that are associated with several memory functions — including the ability to pay attention.

Professor Andrew Scholey said that his team’s work supports available evidence and confirms that multi-vitamin supplementation can enhance “mental performance and mood.”

As I said, there are plenty of foods that will help you keep your B levels high — things such as milk, cheese, eggs, fish and meat.

But here’s the first problem.

As we age, our ability to make use of these natural sources of B vitamins goes downhill fast.

And that’s due to declining amounts of enzymes, acids and a gastric protein needed to process those vitamins out of food during digestion.

And that brings us to the second problem.

For a long time now I’ve been warning you about the many risks that come along with using those proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), such as Nexium, the “Purple Pill,” or Prilosec. Well, here’s another one to add to that list: a vitamin B-12 deficiency.

Several years ago researchers at Kaiser Permanente’s research division found that taking these PPI drugs for only two years can up your risk of a severe B-12 deficiency by a whopping 65 percent! And we all know that these drugs are taken for long periods of time, even indefinitely.

Why, even trying to get off of them requires a careful withdrawal period so you don’t get even worse acid problems.

The Kaiser study also found that another type of acid drug called an H2 blocker, such as Tagament, Pepcid and Zantac, can up your risk of a B-12 shortage by 25 percent.

And if you think that’s not such a big deal, a serious B-12 deficiency can cause problems with your balance, memory, thinking and nerves, even triggering depression.

And then there’s Mary Todd Lincoln, a classic example of what can happen when you’re chronically low in B-12.

President Lincoln’s widow was well known to have a violent temper and extreme mood swings, something that ultimately landed her in a mental hospital. Now, experts believe the reason was a disease that causes a lack of stomach acid that leads to — you guessed it — a B-12 deficiency!

If you’re having any signs of a B-vitamin deficiency (which can include fatigue, tingling and numbness in your hands and feet), ask your doctor about checking your blood levels. Especially if you are, or have been, taking a PPI drug.

And a B-complex supplement is just about the easiest to find — and least expensive — vitamin you can buy.

Sources:
“Vitamin B12 as protection for the aging brain” Jane E. Brody, September 6, 2016, The New York Times, nytimes.com