American culture loves the worker bee. We admire people who are up before the sun and work into the wee hours of the morning while juggling social and family responsibilities. But it takes more than work ethic to live up to these standards — it takes energy.
Unfortunately, 43% of Americans say they’re too tired to function on a daily basis. Living under a cloud of fatigue can make you turn to artificial energy sources or simply push through the day, which jeopardizes your safety and overall health.
We have a better option.
Dr. Michael Skardasis at Optimal Performance Medicine recognizes the ever-present threat of chronic fatigue, so he offers a natural, fast-acting, long-lasting treatment to help you keep up with your daily routine and feel energized from the inside out. Here’s everything you need to know about vitamin B12 injections.
Vitamin B12 is a sort of jack-of-all-trades when it comes to nutrition. It does everything from making new red blood cells and DNA and supporting brain and nerve health to boosting energy. The only catch is that your body doesn’t make this nutrient naturally — you have to get it from your diet.
You can find vitamin B12 in a variety of animal products, such as beef, clams, poultry, eggs, and fish. Certain dairy products, including yogurt and milk, as well as fortified cereals and plant milk also contain high concentrations of B12.
It’s famous for its ability to energize, but vitamin B12 provides other whole-health benefits, including:
Vitamin B12 has also been shown to prevent or delay the onset of certain diseases, including anemia, neuropathy, memory loss, depression, and vision problems.
Vitamin B12 in and of itself doesn’t give you energy. Instead, it complements your body’s natural energy production.
Your body gets energy from digesting and breaking down the food you eat — a process you might know as metabolism. Carbohydrates are your main source of energy because 100% of carbohydrates get broken down into a type of sugar called glucose.
As glucose travels through your bloodstream, insulin from your pancreas helps your cells absorb and use it as energy, fueling virtually every function in your body.
Vitamin B12 performs a similar task and works with your body’s natural ability to use glucose as an energy source.
After your body has extracted it from the food you eat, vitamin B12 attaches to a protein in your stomach lining and enters your bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, vitamin B12 converts glucose into energy your body can use.
In a healthy body, the cycle of energy production from eating to absorbing nutrients is flawless. But there are a number of factors that interrupt the digestion process or inhibit your ability to process vitamin B12 properly, resulting in a vitamin deficiency.
Getting older is the most common culprit of vitamin B12 deficiencies because your body naturally produces less stomach acid as you age, making it harder for your body to break down and extract nutrients from the food you eat.
Other common causes of vitamin B12 deficiencies include:
Some people who live with Crohn’s disease, celiac disease, and pernicious anemia are also at risk for developing a vitamin B12 deficiency. Without this important nutrient, you can suffer from chronic fatigue, weakness, and other frustrating symptoms.
When you struggle to get vitamin B12 from your diet or your body can’t absorb it as it should, you need a treatment that replenishes your vitamin levels.
Vitamin B12 injections flood your bloodstream with the nutrients necessary to facilitate efficient energy production, helping you feel energized and manage other side effects. You may also notice that you lose some weight after getting vitamin B12 injections because it fuels your metabolism and naturally suppresses your appetite.
We use a special type of vitamin B12 injection called a lipovite injection. It contains a mixture of nutrients that complement the energizing effects of vitamin B12. Some of the other nutrients include choline, which helps detoxify your liver; vitamin B6, which supports fluid processing in your liver; and inositol, which helps your body breakdown fat.
If you’d like more information, don’t hesitate to request an appointment online or over the phone at our Woodstock, Georgia office.
