Promoting Healthy Life Choices

Cobalamin, or vitamin B12, is an important vitamin for many bodily function.  B12 is a water soluble vitamin that plays an important role in both the circulatory and nervous systems.   The digestive system plays a key role in the vitamin's absorption into the body at the tail end of the small intestine before further processing by the liver and kidneys.

Vitamin B12 plays a key role in several important enzymatic reactions.  Just as the Krebs cycle in the body is key to powering the mitochondria through oxidative phosphorylation, the methylation cycle drives many important biological processes and reactions with significant downstream consequences.  B12 is required to drive methionine's metabolism.  Methionine is one of nine essential amino acids, meaning it is vital that our body receive it through dietary sources for proper functioning and key processes to take place.  In opposition, nonessential amino acids are able to be synthesized in the body without dietary consumption.  

Methionine is not only just one of the amino acids, however it is the amino acid that comprises the start codon in the sequencing of our genes.  The central dogma of biology: DNA -> RNA -> Protein.  DNA is double stranded (deoxyribonucleic acid).  When it is utilized in the body it gets unzipped, placed in a single stranded sequence of nucleic acids- ribonucleic acid (RNA).  An organelle in cells called the ribosome takes this information RNA and turns it in to a protein in a process called translation.  Proteins are composed of individual amino acids.  When making new proteins in the body, methionine is always the first amino acid used. 

A methyl group is composed of a carbon atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms attached to some other structure. Adding or removing a methyl group can significantly alter the structure of compounds in the body.  Structure dictates function.  B12 acts as a cofactor for two important enzymatic processes in the body- methionine synthase and methylmalonylCoA mutase.    

Many people have a genetic defect in the processing of another key enzyme in the body,  methyltetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR).  A defect in this enzymatic functioning can have significant downstream consequences which range from increased risk of dementia, increased anxiety, increased homocysteine levels which can increase risk of blood clots, and several other negative impacts on health. 

Supplementation with methylated forms of B12 and folate are key to ensuring proper absorption of these key vitamins and in turn proper enzymatic functioning to prevent negative downstream consequences.