You can’t function normally or maintain good health without enough vitamin B12. This essential nutrient plays an important role in brain function, red cell replication, DNA production, and metabolism, allowing your body to process and convert carbohydrates, protein, and fat from your diet into energy. And without enough red blood cells, which carry oxygen to your brain and body, you’re likely to feel weak and fatigued. These are some of the reasons vitamin B12 injections can be useful for restoring normal energy levels and making weight control less of a challenge.
At Delta Medical Weight Management Center in Southaven, Mississippi, Dr. Ulric Duncan and his team offer vitamin B12 injections to promote healthy nerves and blood cells and boost your energy levels and metabolism for enhanced weight loss.
Vitamin B12 deficiency signs
A vitamin B12 deficiency can have different effects on people, and each symptom can vary in intensity. Possible signs include:
- Decreased appetite
- Diarrhea
- Fast heart rate
- Fatigue or exhaustion
- Irritability
- Lack of energy
- Muscle weakness
- Nausea
- Numbness or tingling in your hands or feet
- Tongue tenderness
- Trouble walking
- Weight loss
These symptoms may appear gradually, becoming more noticeable and intense over time. And while a decreased appetite might sound appealing as you work on shedding excess pounds, it’s important to maintain enough desire for foods and the energy you need through a nutritious, balanced diet. In some cases, unintentional weight loss from low B12 levels happens as a result of diarrhea, which can cause water loss and dehydration, versus the healthy kind of weight loss in which your lean tissue grows while fat stores minimize.
Risk factors for low B12 levels
Anyone can develop low levels of vitamin B12, but certain factors make you more susceptible, including a family history of vitamin B12 deficiency; autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes; Crohn’s disease; older age; and taking certain medications. Eating a strict vegetarian or calorie-restricted diet can also make it difficult to meet your vitamin B12 needs, or 2.4 micrograms per day for most adults. If your diet doesn’t include vitamin B12 food sources like eggs, meat, dairy products, and fortified cereals, you’ll need to supplement in some way.
Vitamin B12 injections and weight loss
While low B12 levels can lead to unhealthy weight loss, other prominent symptoms, such as fatigue and low energy, can make it difficult to exercise or build lean muscle mass. These factors can interfere with weight loss efforts and make you feel less emotionally content in the process. When your vitamin B12 levels improve thanks to injections, you can expect greater energy and motivation to stay on track with your weight control plan. And because the body excretes any vitamin B12 it doesn’t need, you can safely surpass your daily requirement.
Vitamin B12 shots work faster than oral supplements, which your body has to process more gradually, and each treatment takes only minutes. To learn more or schedule an appointment, call Delta Medical Weight Management Center or email us through our website.