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Natural Ways to Acquire B12

According to the Mayo Clinic, vitamin B12 is a vital water-soluble vitamin that helps maintain healthy nerve and red blood cells and increases a person's energy level. Vitamin B12 occurs naturally in many foods such as buffalo, chicken and eggs. Strict vegetarians may have difficulty getting enough B12 because they don't eat meat or eggs. However, there are foods for vegetarians that are loaded with ample amounts of vitamin B12.

  1. Chinook Salmon

    • Place a slab of chinook salmon on top of your salad.

      According to the World's Healthiest Food website, chinook salmon is an excellent source of vitamin B12. Eat this type of salmon three or more times per week to get a decent dose of this essential B-vitamin. Steaming your salmon helps lock the nutrients in, but you can also retain most of the vitamins and minerals with other cooking methods, including baking. Try to avoid frying the salmon because this only adds more fat and reduces the amount of nutrition that you will receive.

    Spirulina

    • Vegans can get their daily dose of vitamin B12 by supplementing their diet with spirulina, which is a whole food sea vegetable (algae) that is very high in amino acids, minerals, vitamin B12 and other vitamins. You can buy spirulina in powder form at health food stores. Put one tablespoon of spirulina in a smoothie or other healthy beverage.

    Calf's Liver

    • Calf's liver is another food high in vitamin B12, but most people don't find this food appetizing. Fry or bake some calf liver and see if you like it. This type of meat is also very high in iron, minerals and other vitamins.

    Chicken

    • Chicken is another food that is high in vitamin B12, protein and other nutrients. Include organic chicken in your diet three or more times per week if you eat meat. Chicken is an excellent dish that you can combine easily with other vegetables and side dishes.

    Eggs

    • Eating eggs is another way to get plenty of vitamin B12 in your diet. Eggs are so versatile because you can cook them a number of ways. Cook hard boiled eggs if you want less fat. If you don't mind the fat, scramble your eggs and add butter and cheese to enhance the flavor. Continually eating eggs can help prevent a B12 deficiency.

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