Vitamin B12, for Hearing and Heart Health
Have you checked your Vitamin B12 levels lately? When vitamin B12 goes down, homocysteine levels go up, increasing your risk for heart attack, stroke, and hearing loss problems such as tinnitus.
Countless scientific studies have shown a high correlation between vitamin B12 deficiency and tinnitus ear ringing.
But what many patients of vitamin B12 deficiency don’t realize- because their doctors haven’t warned them- is that in addition to hearing problems, their risk for heart disease, and stroke are also higher, due to a common denominator of vitamin B12 deficiency- elevated homocysteine.
What is homocysteine?
Homocysteine is an amino acid that we produce when we digest methionine, an amino acid that occurs naturally in meat and dairy products.
An overabundance can have toxic effects on your system, resulting in homocysteine toxicity, which has been found to increase your risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke, and tinnitus hearing disorder caused by peripheral neuropathy.
In many studies, scientists noted high correlations between high homocysteine levels and increased risk for hypertension, heart palpitations, heart attack, and stroke.
Similarly, elderly individuals with hearing loss and tinnitus are more likely to have elevated homocysteine than their peers with normal hearing.
Vitamin B12 benefits
To date, the only known way to prevent symptoms of homocysteine toxicity is by controlling your vitamin B12 levels.
Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient for your nervous system. Found in protein foods such as beef, chicken, and fish, vitamin B12 performs many important biochemical functions:
- Vitamin B12 maintains red blood cell production, for adequate hemoglobin and oxygen.
- Vitamin B12 sustains good metabolism, for increased energy.
- Vitamin B12 enhances peripheral nerve cell communication, for healthy hearing, eyesight, cognitive balance, and muscle control.
- Vitamin B12, along with folic acid and vitamin B6, helps your body digest homocysteine, keeping amino acids to a safe, normal level, and preventing symptoms that impair your hearing, heart health, and memory.
How much vitamin B12?
Only supplementation of essential B vitamins, particularly vitamin B12 can effectively reduce excess homocysteine and put you back on the right track for hearing and heart health.
Recommended dosage is at least 1,000mg of vitamin B12, 400mcg of folic acid, and 100mg of vitamin B6 as needed.
Do you have any questions or suggestions? Please leave your comments below.
Share with your friends!
If you found this article helpful, then please share with your friends, family, and coworkers by email, twitter, or Facebook.
Like this? Read more:
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/freedigitalphotos.net
Tags: B vitamins, Benefits of B12, Healthy vitamins, hearing loss and tinnitus, hearing loss vitamins, heart attack risks, heart health, homocysteine, Homocysteine toxicity, Vitamin B12, vitamin B12 deficiency, vitamins for heart