🧪 Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin needed to make red blood cells and keep nerves working. Vitamin B12 helps the body make red blood cells and keeps the nervous system working normally. It also helps get energy from food. Without enough of it, a special kind of anaemia can develop, along with tiredness.

Fruit, vegetables and grains have no vitamin B12 naturally. It is found only in foods from animals: meat, fish, eggs, milk and cheese. Milk is a good and familiar source of B12. Pasteurisation removes only about 10% of the vitamin, so pasteurised milk is still an important source. Goat's milk has noticeably less B12 than cow's milk.

The NHS says adults need about 1.5 mcg of vitamin B12 a day. People who eat meat, fish or dairy usually get enough. Vegans, who eat nothing from animals, may get too little. They are advised to have fortified foods, such as plant-based drinks with added B12, or supplements. Plant-based milk without fortification contains no vitamin B12.