A recent study by researchers from St. John’s Medical College in Bengaluru and Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Health and Research in New Delhi has dispelled a decades-long dogma regarding the absorption of Vitamin B12 in humans. Using an innovative method to measure the bioavailability of this important micronutrient, the researchers found that absorption is not just in the small intestine but also occurs in the large intestine.
The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition last month.
Vitamin B12 (whose recommended daily amount is 2.4 micrograms in adults) is only found in animal-based foods like meat, milk, or eggs. Its intake is thought to be low in India. Consequently, it was thought that the prevalence of this micronutrient deficiency should be extraordinarily high in India. However, recent national surveys like the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey, which evaluated children under 19 years of age, have found the prevalence of Vitamin B12 deficiency to be much lower than anticipated, at a maximum of 30% in adolescents, and lower at younger ages.
