Vitamin B12 and plant-based athletes

Performance benefits

To echo a significant point from our last post, as an athlete, without optimal nutrition, you will not perform, recover or adapt to your maximal potential. Furthermore you can also risk suffering from fatigue, increased muscle soreness, injury and illness.

Carefully planned plant-based diets can deliver performance benefits for athletes, including enhanced training and recovery due to their rich content of antioxidants (polyphenols), micronutrients (vitamin C & E), as well as carbohydrates. Further to this, they deliver numerous anti-inflammatory effects due to their nutrient dense variety of foods.

Key nutrients for plant-based athletes

Our previous blog explained the functions, requirements and some practical methods for plant-based athletes to meet their calorie, protein and omega-3 requirements. Here we will discuss the importance of Vitamin B12.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is required for the synthesis of fatty acids in myelin. Myelin is an insulating layer, or sheath that forms around nerves, including those in your brain and spinal cord. It allows electrical impulses to transmit quickly and efficiently along your nerve cells. If your myelin is damaged, these impulses slow down. If this happens, your memory and cognition will severely suffer.

Vitamin B12 is also required for DNA synthesis, as well as Red blood cell formation. Red blood cells carry oxygen around your body, as well deliver carbon dioxide back to your lungs to be exhaled. If Red blood cell production is impaired, you will become fatigue amongst numerous other consequential symptoms.

Long term B12 deficiency results in irreversible neurological damage, with up to 50% of vegans found to B12 deficient and an additional 21% showing very low levels of B12 in their blood.

It is extremely rare to find natural plant foods that contain bioavailable amounts of vitamin B12. It is therefore the only nutrient that vegans cannot obtain naturally from their diet. Suitable food sources of Vitamin B12 for those following plant-based diets include B12 fortified foods (e.g. certain breakfast cereals, veggie burgers and nutritional yeast), as well as supplements.

Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) for Vitamin B12 = 2.4mcg

It is important to note that you have a limited capacity to absorb vitamin B12 from oral supplements. For example, only about 10mcg of Vitamin B12 will likely be absorbed from a supplement that contains 500mcg of vitamin B12.

Therefore, if you're following a plant-based diet, it is recommended that you supplement with Vitamin B12

Reference: Rogerson Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (2017) 14:36