VITAMIN B12 SOURCE

📋 Quick facts

Quick Facts:

• Category: other
• Also Known As: Font de vitamina B12, Kilde til vitamin B12, Source de vitamine B12, Źródło witaminy B12, Fonte di vitamina B12, B12-vitaminforrás, Källa till vitamin B12, Fuente de vitamina B12, Izvor vitamina B12, Fonte de vitamina B12, Bron van Vitamine B12, B12-vitamiinin lähde, Vitamin B12-Quelle, Източник на витамин B12, Источник витамина B12, izvor vitamina B12

Proven Benefits At A Glance:

• Vitamin B12 comes mainly from animal foods like meat, fish, milk, and eggs
• Your body can only absorb so much B12 per meal—absorption drops as intake increases
• Different animal foods have different absorption rates: fish ~42%, chicken ~61-66%, sheep meat ~56-89%, eggs <9%
• Most blue-green algae supplements contain inactive B12 and aren’t reliable sources
• Fortified cereals are a valuable B12 option for vegans and older adults

📊 Comedogenicity

🛡️ Safety rating

Safety tier is a starting heuristic from regulatory status and comedogenic rating, not a dermatological verdict — see our Terms for the full disclaimer. Research confidence reflects how many real cited studies back this ingredient, not the strength of their findings.

🌍 Regulatory Status

💧 Skin Type Compatibility

⚠️ Don’t Combine With

📚 Research & Evidence

🔬 The Science

Vitamin B12 absorption in your body works through a specific transport system involving something called intrinsic factor. This system has a limit—it gets saturated (basically, maxed out) at around 1.5 to 2.0 micrograms per meal under normal conditions (Exp Biol Med). This means #1: the more B12 you consume in one sitting, the lower percentage your body actually absorbs. Healthy adults are generally estimated to absorb about 50% of dietary B12 (Exp Biol Med). The absorption rates vary significantly by food source: fish meat averages 42% bioavailability, chicken ranges from 61-66%, sheep meat ranges from 56-89%, while eggs are notably poor sources at less than 9% absorption (Exp Biol Med).

If you’re considering plant-based sources, dried seaweed called nori (green and purple laver) contains substantial amounts of B12, but most other edible algae contain little to none (Exp Biol Med). Importantly, #2: most blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) sold as supplements contain a form called pseudovitamin B12, which doesn’t work in the human body and shouldn’t be relied upon, especially for vegans (Exp Biol Med). For people avoiding animal products or older adults, #3: fortified breakfast cereals represent a particularly valuable option (Exp Biol Med). Researchers are also working on B12-enriched vegetables, though these aren’t yet widely available.

📄 Related Research

Matched by search — not necessarily verified support for every statement above.

• Watanabe F (2007). Vitamin B12 sources and bioavailability. Exp Biol Med (Maywood).

🧴 Products Containing VITAMIN B12 SOURCE