{"id":28642,"date":"2025-07-22T12:39:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T12:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/28642\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T12:39:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T12:39:09","slug":"does-b12-give-you-energy-heres-what-the-science-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/28642\/","title":{"rendered":"Does B12 Give You Energy? Here\u2019s What the Science Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

B12, a vitamin naturally found in animal products, has become the internet\u2019s favorite solution to low energy, fatigue, and overall sluggishness. It\u2019s long made an appearance in multivitamins and standalone pills\u2014but these days, its footprint seems to be ballooning. Energy drinks and shots are juiced up with the ingredient, as are IV drips promising things like vitality and hangover relief. And of course, a growing market of run-of-the-mill B12 tablets and gummies tout similar claims, suggesting the vitamin can give you an instant energy lift. But as with most supplements<\/a>, marketing can be deceiving, and the truth about B12 isn\u2019t quite so \u201ceasy pick-me-up\u201d as you might (desperately) want to believe.<\/p>\n

B12 is indeed a critical vitamin to consume. It plays a key role in forming red blood cells (which shuttle oxygen to your organs) and helps convert food into energy, so it makes sense why people might associate it with getting a boost, Gary Soffer, MD<\/a>, director of the Integrative Medicine Program at Yale School of Medicine, tells SELF. It also helps create new DNA molecules (which are necessary to repair cells and form new ones) and maintain healthy nerves (hence why B12 deficiency is linked with neuropathy and even cognitive decline<\/a>). Plus, the body can\u2019t make it, so we have to get it from outside sources, like meat, fish, eggs, and dairy items.<\/p>\n

But at the same time, we don\u2019t need much B12 to reap its benefits\u2014the recommended amount for adults is 2.4 micrograms daily, which most people in the US typically hit with food. So are there benefits to taking a supplemental form of it? And how can you tell if you might actually be B12 deficient? Read on for everything you need to know about taking B12 and when, if ever, it may be something your doctor recommends.<\/p>\n

Spoiler alert: There\u2019s no evidence that suggests loading up on B12 will give you energy if you\u2019re not deficient.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that a lack of vitamin B12 in your system\u2014less than around 150 picograms per milliliter of blood\u2014could manifest as fatigue or weakness. (Though it\u2019s worth noting, B12 deficiency doesn\u2019t always trigger symptoms.) Without enough B12, you could wind up with larger-than-usual red blood cells that don\u2019t effectively transport oxygen to your organs, which is a form of anemia. Plus, low B12 levels could interfere with your body\u2019s typical process for churning out energy from food, which may contribute to lethargy. And it can eventually diminish the protective covering on your nerves, leading to neurological symptoms like numbness and tingling in your hands and feet, and mood changes. So if your doctor determines that you have a B12 deficiency, taking a B12 supplement could restore your energy and resolve other related symptoms. However, as few as 6% of people in the US under age 60 have a B12 deficiency.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re like the majority of the population that is not substantially missing out on B12, consuming more than the recommended daily value isn\u2019t going to make any difference\u2014no matter how fatigued you may be<\/a>. After all, there are a bunch of non-B12-related causes for tiredness<\/a>, ranging from stress, dehydration, and poor sleep habits to medical conditions like depression and hypothyroidism<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s the same reason why taking more iron<\/a> when you\u2019re not iron-deficient isn\u2019t going to increase your energy, either,\u201d Elisabeth Fowlie Mock, MD, MPH<\/a>, a family physician in Bangor, Maine, and a member of the board of directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians, tells SELF. Not to mention, your body will just flush out any extra B12 in your pee. \u201cIt works like a gas tank,\u201d Dr. Soffer explains, \u201cso if you take more [than it needs], it\u2019ll just spill over.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"B12, a vitamin naturally found in animal products, has become the internet\u2019s favorite solution to low energy, fatigue,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[24419,97,269,14669,10789,2668],"class_list":{"0":"post-28642","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-energy-drinks","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-nutrition","11":"tag-tired","12":"tag-vitamin-deficiency","13":"tag-vitamins"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}