Jakarta, IO – Vitamin B12 deficiency is an expanding global problem that is diagnosed for people of all ages. The body cannot produce vitamin B12 by itself. Therefore, it depends on the foods it ingests to produce it. Foods that contain the vitamin come from animal products (meat, milk, cheese, eggs). The restriction of animal food sources, as in a vegetable, let alone a vegan lifestyle, will also impede the body’s intake of the vitamin. Furthermore, patients with digestion problems will also be vulnerable to vitamin B12 deficiency.
“Vitamin B12 is an important enzyme co-factor for homocysteine metabolism of all our cells. Deficiency of this vitamin increases homocysteine level in the body, and this will end up destroying our cells. If it occurs in liver cells, it disrupts the organ’s metabolism function,” said dr. Irena Ujianti, M.Biomed, during her Doctorate Thesis Defense, held by the University of Indonesia’s Faculty of Medicine, Tuesday (12/07/2022).
The formation of fat in the liver and liver inflammation are two ends of the liver disease spectrum that frequently occur, without many people knowing they’ve got it. Therefore, we need a means to prevent liver damage because of rising homocysteine levels, in turn caused by deficiency of vitamin B12.