Participants: Don McKintosh (Host), George Guthrie
Series Code: HFAL
Program Code: HFAL000183
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00:01 The following program presents principles
00:03 designed to promote good health and is not 00:05 intended to take the place of personalized 00:07 professional care. The opinions and ideas 00:10 expressed are those of the speaker. Viewers 00:13 are encouraged to draw their own conclusions 00:15 about the information presented 00:50 Hello and welcome to Health For A Lifetime, 00:51 I'm your host Don Mackintosh. We're glad 00:53 you joined us today. Today, we're going to 00:55 be talking about an important topic 00:57 especially well we're gonna find it's not just 01:00 for vegetarians, but for people who eat, do you 01:03 eat? You maybe interested in today's 01:05 topic. And joining us today to talk about 01:08 vitamin B12 deficiency is Dr. George Guthrie, 01:13 Dr. Guthrie is from the Lifestyle Center of 01:15 America in Southern Oklahoma. He's been a 01:18 physician for over 20 years, 25 years. He has 01:22 done family medicine, he is also taught at the 01:26 Loma Linda School of Health and we're glad 01:28 you are with us today. Glad to be here Don. 01:30 And you are spending sometime there in the 01:34 Lifestyle Center of America. What do they 01:36 do there? At Lifestyle Center of America, we 01:39 have a live-in lifestyle program, where people 01:42 come with their health problems. We focus on 01:45 type 2 diabetes and we help them treat their 01:49 disease with the lifestyle components. 01:51 Minimize their need for medication. 01:53 And there is lots of other programs now 01:55 that are starting to come out of that center, not 01:57 just diabetes, but also sometimes they, all 02:00 different types of programs on lifestyle. 02:02 We work with Dr. Neil Nedley with the 02:06 depression program and we're planning a special 02:09 heart disease program with Dr. Hans Diehl. 02:12 Okay, so you have all kinds of things coming 02:14 out of their and your lifestyle approach many 02:17 times you come across or at least think about 02:20 this problem of Vitamin B12 deficiency. Yes. 02:24 So, tell us what is vitamin B12 and how 02:28 big is this problem? Vitamin B12 is 02:31 obviously as a vitamin necessary for our 02:34 bodies. It's a very complex vitamin, it's 02:39 kind of fun to look at it's structure at least for 02:42 biochemists. It's got a little cobalt sitting in 02:44 the middle and almost a plain of carbons around 02:47 it and then there is a, kind of a little structure 02:51 above and a little structure below and this 02:53 complex structure makes it all vitamin B 12. 02:58 So when you look at it you, you can't believe 03:02 that it just popped into existence 03:04 Oh! No, it doesn't pop into existence. The little 03:06 vitamin B12 complex is actually made by 03:11 bacteria. Bacteria. Bacteria. Plants don't 03:16 make it, animals don't make it, only bacteria 03:19 make vitamin B12. And they can make 03:22 something that complex. Yes, they do as a matter 03:25 of fact. I was fascinated to learn several months 03:28 ago that bacteria make it with two different, 03:32 completely different kind of formulations, 03:37 they have two different ways of making the 03:39 same complex Vitamin B12 molecule. It almost 03:44 seems like the creator was trying to leave his 03:46 tracks, you see, there is this incredibly complex 03:49 vitamin molecule that bacteria have two 03:52 separate ways to make it, kind of flies in the 03:54 face of evolution to me. Oh! Yeah, I guess so 03:57 And do you know, it's like a quarter back has 04:00 like 64 different ways to get to the end zone 04:03 and bacteria have two ways to make vitamin 04:05 B12. Yes, right. So, what does it do. In 04:10 our bodies, see the biochemistry of it gets a 04:14 little confusion to people. We have this 04:17 little thing called the methyl group. Carbon 04:19 with some hydrogens attached, its job is to do 04:22 those type of transfers in the body. It can 04:26 happen in a variety of different places. The 04:28 areas that we think of most are the nerves, the 04:33 blood and then there is another area that's 04:37 called homocysteine. May be we should 04:38 spend a little time talking about those. 04:40 Okay, yeah, what about the blood then. 04:42 In my training, when I was taught about 04:45 vitamin B12 deficiency, I was taught that 04:47 Vitamin B12 deficiency shows up as an anemia, 04:51 which is a blood problem, which is a 04:54 blood problem. There is not enough blood, some 04:56 people call it low blood. The body needs the 05:00 vitamin B12 in order to put together the 05:03 hemoglobin molecules. When there is not 05:04 enough of the Vitamin B12, it has a hard time 05:08 separating the cells they end up being large and 05:12 there will be few of them. Okay, so if you 05:15 don't have enough vitamin B12 your blood is 05:18 affected. You are likely to have thin blood 05:21 that is anemia. And I was taught that was 05:24 where we looked for. We looked for if there 05:26 was anemia. We said, oh! May be that is a 05:28 B12 deficiency. Is there a specific blood 05:30 test for it? Well just the regular, 05:32 what we call as CBC will tell you if you're 05:36 anemic and if the red blood cells are large, 05:39 that would mean that it could be, we call it a 05:43 macrocytic anemia, macro large, cytic cells, 05:46 so large cell anemia and that's a common cause 05:49 of that. But there is no specific test for B12 05:52 Oh! There is a blood test, yes. There is 05:54 Yes you can measure a vitamin B12 level in the 06:00 blood, but that's not done in my opinion 06:03 nearly as often as it should be. 06:06 So, you order those at the Lifestyle Center of 06:09 America. We do them on everybody that's comes 06:11 in as a matter of screening. So you said it 06:14 effects not just the blood, but also it effects 06:16 the nerves. The nerves. Vitamin, most of that B 06:19 Vitamins are important for nerve function 06:22 Vitamin B12 is important for nerve 06:24 function as well and it can present in a lot of 06:28 different and interesting ways. From depression, 06:32 anxiety, irritability to shooting pain in the 06:35 nerves, it's important for nerve function. 06:40 And if it doesn't, if it's not there you get, what 06:44 does it do when it's not there to the nerve. 06:45 Well the nerve doesn't function properly. I 06:48 think it's probably the best thing to say a sick 06:49 nerve is not passing messages like a healthy 06:53 nerve is and the symptoms vary, like 06:59 they're often of all the nerves. I think maybe in 07:02 the second half we got a little talk about that, a 07:06 little more.Okay, so the nerves and supposedly 07:09 depending on where the nerves are, the effects 07:11 would be the symptoms. Umm! Umm! So then 07:12 so you have the blood and you can test that by 07:16 giving your hand by just a typical blood test, 07:19 but there is a specific one and then the nerves 07:21 and then the nerves, there is no real test for 07:23 that it's just more symptoms. Well, if the 07:25 doctor is suspicious then the doctor would 07:28 order a B12, B12 test and then if it was low 07:31 well then it would be suspicious that those, 07:34 there maybe a connection What about homocysteine, 07:38 that's a big word, what does that mean? 07:40 Oh! That's a big word, yeah, it is. This one 07:43 is rather interesting to me. Homocysteine is 07:47 made from an amino acid called Methionine 07:49 Methionine is generally a protein, it's got sulfur 07:54 attached to it, it's generally high in animal 07:56 products. When we eat those, it's in plant 07:59 products too, so it's not like its only in animal 08:02 products. This Methionine is taken into 08:05 the body and as the body changes that and 08:09 uses that Methionine, it turns into 08:11 homocysteine. But homocysteine is toxic to 08:15 the cells. The body knows it doesn't belong 08:19 there and if your level goes up the lining of the 08:21 blood vessels gets irritated, inflamed. And 08:25 it increases the risk of heart attack. Now you 08:29 might ask how does vitamin B12 fit into this. 08:32 Yeah! That's exactly what I was gonna ask. 08:34 Well, vitamin B12 is an important part of the 08:38 breakdown mechanism for the homocysteine. 08:41 Umm! So, homocysteine can be recycled back into 08:45 Methionine for the body to use again as a protein 08:48 using B12. It could also be thrown away using a 08:53 couple of other B items like folate and pyridoxine 08:57 Okay so. Vitamin B12 is really important along 09:02 with these other B vitamins in helping to 09:04 make sure that homocysteine in the blood 09:06 is not too high. Umm! So, it's kind of like the 09:09 trash collector going down the street. 09:11 Well, I don't think of it. More of this would be a 09:14 recycling system, not really the trash 09:17 collector.Yeah! The recycling guy. Yeah! 09:19 This is the recycling guy who is gonna 09:20 pick it up and recycle it again. The homocysteine 09:23 will put you at high risk for heart attack really 09:26 The higher your homocysteine, the 09:28 higher your risk of heart attack. If our B12 level 09:32 is low that can increase the homocysteine and 09:35 increase the risk of a heart attack. So, it's kind 09:38 of, what I mean with the trash man is he 09:39 comes by once a week. He has that recycling 09:42 bin and he has the trash. Okay. Some things he 09:44 throws away, some things he recycles, but 09:46 if he doesn't make it for two weeks. It's bad news 09:49 Yeah! Your wife's going to have a heart attack. 09:52 So, B12 then, it effects the blood and it, what was 09:59 that again it causes them not to get anemic if you 10:02 have it. Yeah, that's right, that is low vitamin 10:04 B12 can end up in anemia. And then secondly the 10:09 nerves and those are different symptoms, but 10:10 they don't work right there if they did not have 10:11 B12. Right. And then the homocysteine, which is 10:14 very toxic to the linings of the vessel and if we 10:17 don't take it out it's going to take us out. Very 10:20 likely too, that's correct. Alright, then well, let's 10:22 move on. Okay. Who is at risk for difficulties with 10:28 vitamin B12 deficiency. Generally, we think of 10:36 vitamin B12 coming into our diet from animal 10:40 products. Umm! Umm! Right, so we would 10:43 expect people who don't eat animal products to be 10:47 at high risk for vitamin B12 deficiency. Does that 10:52 make sense. Well sort of but do we eat bacteria? 10:55 Because I thought you said vitamin B12 is made from 10:58 bacteria. I've never gone and ordered bacteria. 11:02 Bacteria, okay, now that's a real interesting 11:04 question. Vitamin B12 is made by the bacteria in 11:09 your mouth, Don. Okay. Some have said and I think 11:14 a bit jokingly because I don't know if this has 11:15 been proved. If you didn't brush your teeth so 11:18 often maybe you get a little more Vitamin B12 11:21 from the bacteria in your own mouth. Now don't 11:23 tell my dentist I said that, okay. Alright. I won't 11:26 mention that. Okay. And what's more the 11:29 bacteria in our colon also makes the B12, but we 11:34 don't like to have things from our colon get 11:36 anywhere near our mouth we generally throw those 11:39 away for obvious reasons. So the B12 that we get 11:44 generally will come from either bacteria we've 11:49 ingested or an animal that has made the B12 or 11:53 taken the B12 from the bacteria and stored it in 11:56 their tissues. Okay so they, animals need B12 too 12:00 and if we the eat the animals, sure, we will get 12:02 the B12. For example a cow has bacteria in it's 12:06 colon, which are making, one of it's many stomachs 12:09 that are making vitamin B12, which the cow will 12:11 absorb and then if the cow is eaten and then we 12:14 get the B12. So that has been the focus for the 12:19 nutritionist through time and that's why they worry 12:21 about people who are, did I say the word, vegetarian 12:26 getting B12 deficiency, as a matter of fact there are 12:29 number of studies that demonstrate that people 12:32 who eat a plant based diet are more likely to have a 12:37 vitamin B12 deficiency. They're at risk for that 12:41 So, at the Lifestyle Center of America, I think you 12:42 use a plant based vitamin B12, that's correct and so 12:45 you think about the salad and probably lots of 12:47 people ask you brought it everyday. Umm! Umm! 12:48 So do meat eaters then you know if you're eating 12:53 meat, seems like you probably never have a 12:56 deficiency, is that right or wrong. The most of 13:00 the people that come to Lifestyle Center of 13:01 America for help are actually meat eaters. oh! 13:04 Is that right? Aha! Aha! They have a lot of 13:06 problems. And it ends up that they have got quite a 13:08 few problems with the vitamin B12 deficiency. 13:11 So, even though they're eating meat they have a 13:13 deficiency. That's correct. In some studies looking at 13:17 free living people over age 65, we're looking at 13:22 somewhere in realm of 15% of people actually 13:30 deficient in vitamin B12. We're talking with Dr. 13:33 George Guthrie. We are talking about vitamin B12 13:36 deficiency. Interestingly enough, it's not just 13:39 something that effects people that are eating a 13:41 plant based diet, but now we are learning even meat 13:43 eaters, it can cause some problems with your 13:46 blood, with your neurological system, with 13:48 your homocysteine, which is related to heart 13:50 attacks. When we come back, we'll continue 13:52 talking about not only the problems that can cause, 13:54 but what to do to avoid them. Join us when we 13:56 come back. 13:59 Have you found yourself wishing that you could 14:00 shed a few pounds, have you been on a diet 14:03 for most of your life, but not found anything 14:05 that will really keep the weight off. If you have 14:08 answered yes to any of these questions then we 14:10 a solution for you that works, Dr. Hans Diehl and 14:14 Dr. Aileen Ludington have written a marvelous 14:17 book that called Reversing Obesity 14:19 Naturally and we would like to send it to you 14:21 free of charge. Here's a medically sound 14:24 approach, successfully used by thousands, 14:26 who were able to eat more and lose weight 14:29 permanently without feeling guilty or hungry 14:31 through lifestyle medicine. Dr. Diehl and 14:34 Dr. Ludington have been featured on 3ABN and in 14:37 this booklet they present a sensible approach 14:39 to eating nutrition and lifestyle changes that 14:43 can help you prevent heart disease, diabetes and 14:45 even cancer. Call or write today for your free 14:48 copy of Reversing Obesity Natural and you 14:50 could be on your way to a healthier, 14:52 happier you. It's absolutely free of charge, 14:55 so call our line today. 14:59 Welcome back we're talking with Dr. George 15:01 Guthrie. If you just joined us, I'm Don Mackintosh. 15:03 Thanks for watching Health For A Lifetime. 15:05 We're talking about Dr. George Guthrie, he is a 15:08 physician from the Lifestyle Center of 15:10 America. He's been a physician for over 25 15:13 years and seeing patients of all types, probably 15:16 someone a lot like you and we are glad that you 15:19 are with us today doctor. Thank you Don 15:21 You know, I heard you talking during the break 15:22 with somebody and they were telling you some 15:24 different things and you just, it's like you heard it 15:26 before because you've talked to so many 15:28 different people and there at the Lifestyle Center 15:31 you said that they do a lot of lifestyle medicine, 15:35 which I guess is treating things from a perspective 15:39 of what you do day and day out. It 15:42 takes the responsibility from the doctor and puts 15:46 it on the patient. If I can educate the patient what 15:49 to do, doctor now is an educator and the patient 15:53 can do their responsibility they can avoid and even 15:56 reverse many of their disease process. 15:58 I've visited your website their Lifestyle Center of 16:01 America, you just put it in any search engine and it 16:03 comes up number 1, 2 or 3, and you have a lot of 16:06 different programs there and you also have some I 16:09 noticed on the website, you have a lot of helpful 16:12 what would you say a self diagnosis test people can 16:16 take. Whether or not they need your program or not. 16:19 Yes, a little marketing piece that looks like for 16:23 example diabetes, could you use some help in 16:26 managing that, managing that, lowering your 16:28 medication use. I was buying a car the 16:30 other day, which I don't do often for and I was 16:34 there and my salesman was talking with me and 16:36 he told me some of his health problems and I 16:38 said you really said look in going to the Lifestyle 16:40 Center of America. He said what is that, I said, 16:42 well let's pulled up, I pulled it up, I was happy 16:45 to find I was trying to figured out, it was a test 16:48 there, I gave him a little test and everything and 16:50 told me and he says I'm gonna call him up, oh! 16:53 Good, but I don't know if he ever did. But it's very 16:54 accessible you know wherever you are. Today 16:57 in particularly though we are talking about the 16:59 Lifestyle Center of America and it's 17:01 experienced that you've also as a clinician with 17:04 vitamin B12 deficiency. And I am giving myself a 17:08 test and you tell me if I'm right or wrong. Vitamin 17:14 B12 is a vitamin. Yes. The body doesn't make it 17:15 but little tiny, tiny, bacteria make it. 17:16 Yes. If you don't brush your teeth you have more 17:19 Oh! You weren't supposed to quote me on 17:21 that one, Don. So, it's made by the 17:23 bacteria in your mouth or in your colon. Umm! 17:28 Umm! And most of time people think they should 17:30 get it from eating meat products because it's in 17:32 the tissues of the meat. The absorption vitamin 17:35 B12 is really rather complicated. Okay. 17:38 It's almost fun. I would like to think of it in 17:40 football terms. Okay. Vitamin B12 enters the 17:43 mouth, correct. There is an R factor in the saliva 17:47 that grabs on to it. Now, R factor, what's that mean 17:50 like raunchy, it's a protein, okay protein, and 17:53 the scientist simply call it, physiologists call it R 17:56 factor, R factor, it's suppose to grab on to the 17:59 vitamin B12. Because it likes it, needs 18:02 it. Because it needs it. Now in order for that to 18:04 happen the teeth kind of have to break up 18:06 whatever it's in, right and if it's in for example 18:09 meat. A turkey. You got to chew a turkey, you got 18:12 to chew it up hard and then as B12 comes loose 18:15 from the meat, the R factor will grab it, it takes 18:18 through the stomach, now there is lot of acid in the 18:20 stomach. That will protect it from the acid. 18:22 And the vitamin B12 might be damaged by the 18:24 acid, so the R factor is protecting it 18:26 Cradle like a little baby. That's right. Kind of like. 18:29 Once it gets through the stomach, there is a lateral 18:34 that takes place, you see in the stomach there is 18:36 something called intrinsic factor that's made. Okay. 18:39 By the lining of the stomach and the R factor 18:41 hands the B12 over to the intrinsic factor and 18:44 intrinsic factor carries B12 down to the end zone 18:48 that is the end of the small intestine, I see, and 18:51 it is absorbed right there at the end. So you see the 18:55 absorption of vitamin B12 could have problems 18:58 at a lot of different levels, just like a football player 19:01 can get sacked beyond the goal line. Alright. That's 19:03 right. Okay. But it could be that there 19:05 is a problem chewing, it could be that the saliva, 19:08 there is not as much saliva, as may be there 19:11 used to be as we get older there is less saliva, there 19:14 is a lot of medications that people take that 19:16 actually dry up the saliva. What if someone was 19:20 losing some teeth and had a hard time chewing. You 19:23 see the B12 may not be available for binding to 19:26 the R factor, the R factor might not be there. Then 19:29 it runs to the stomach and we have this intrinsic 19:31 factor, which is to be made by the lining cells 19:34 of the stomach, that could go. Well, no we take 19:37 medications to decrease the acids in our stomach, 19:39 yeah, some of us more than others, some more 19:41 than others, but they may very well be a problem 19:44 with intrinsic factor. Umm! Umm! And then of 19:46 course relatively rarely are people who have had 19:49 pieces of their small intestine removed 19:51 especially the distal end for like Crohn's disease 19:54 with those types or may be radiation treatments. 19:57 Oh! Radiation treatment. So, there is poor 19:58 absorption at the end. So, there's a variety of 20:01 things that can get in the way. Hence leaving quite 20:04 a few people at risk especially as we get 20:06 older. Now you were talking to me something 20:08 about Hindus and vitamin B12. Oh! Yeah, that's 20:11 really interesting. You may remember the Hindus by 20:14 their, I guess religious belief we could say, have 20:17 no animal products, they are 100%, they are the 20:20 ones who say holy cow and they mean it. 20:22 I guess they do. I guess they do. Alright. When 20:26 they live in India, there is no vitamin B12 20:30 deficiency at all. No, there is none there. They 20:34 are not having it, okay, but at the same time when 20:36 they move to England they get B12 deficiency. 20:40 They must not be bathing in the Ganges river, there 20:42 is a lot of bacteria there. Well, that seems to be the 20:44 difference. Is that the difference? There is a lot 20:46 of cleanliness, you know, the food that has been 20:49 very carefully processed in the grocery store in 20:52 western world, where as back in native India they 20:55 would grow on their own, there was the bacteria 20:58 from the soil were putting enough B12. If you go 21:02 out to the garden, your garden, yeah, pull your 21:04 carrot, wipe it off and bite it, there's gonna be some 21:07 bacteria on it that will provide B12 for you. 21:10 Okay, so the lesson here is, be dirty. 21:12 Maybe that's another one of those reasons why 21:16 older folks tend to have B12 deficiency and the 21:18 younger folks you know the kids they tend to put 21:21 all kinds of things in their mouths. So, there is a 21:24 little bit from the earth and different things so 21:26 much that we once if you want B12 eat dirt. 21:28 Yeah! I suppose, but that's not something that I 21:31 stomach very well on. And what's your 21:33 experience been you see a lot of patients, you 21:35 practice yourself, you taught at the school of 21:37 health. What's been your experience with the 21:39 vitamin B12 deficiency. Well after I taught at the 21:44 school of public health, and while I was there, 21:46 there was a study going on on vitamin B12 21:49 deficiency. I wasn't part of that study, I wasn't part 21:52 of that team, but I was listening and so I was 21:55 interested in this. I went from there and spent 21:58 almost 7 years in the Mountains of the Sierra in 22:02 a small practice and I was looking for. 22:04 Oh! We feel really bad for you having to be up 22:06 there in the mountains like that. Yeah! It was 22:08 hard.So, you were looking for. But I was looking 22:10 for because I had been sensitized to it, any 22:13 symptoms that might look like vitamin B12 22:16 deficiency. And over, you know, the six and a half, 22:19 seven years, I ended up diagnosing 40 different 22:23 people with vitamin B12 deficiency. In seven 22:25 years, in seven years, quite a bit. Now, this isn't 22:29 no way a scientific study you understand this is 22:31 simply my own experience. I was atoned to look and 22:35 anytime it came to mind, I said well let's get a B12 22:37 level. And so I checked vitamin B12 levels in a 22:41 lot of people, 40 of them diagnosed as deficient, 22:45 only one of those claimed to eat only a 100% plant 22:50 based diet. So, most of them like you said meat 22:54 eaters can have these problems too, right, 22:56 most of them with your experience were. I think 22:58 you have some graphics on this to show. 22:59 Well, let me explain a little bit about those 23:00 before we flip them on. What I did was to try to 23:03 find out something about these patients and learn 23:07 something. I went through and tried to find 23:09 their presenting symptom. Now when a doctor says 23:11 presenting symptom, what you're talking about 23:13 are the symptoms that they're complaining about 23:15 when they come in and others things that I may 23:17 have discovered, complaints that they had 23:19 when they came into the visit that I made the 23:21 diagnosis, they got the blood test, you know, 23:23 obviously this is reflecting my ideas 23:25 because I was atoned to it. Right. But as I went 23:27 back and looked at those that I actually found 23:29 positive. I found a very interesting kind of 23:33 pattern, if we might say, in my training as I 23:37 pointed out, I looked for anemia, large cell anemia, 23:44 that was the most common cause or 23:46 diagnosis tool that I was taught. Well I found a 23:50 different diagnostic pattern. Let's show that 23:53 graphic, what it looks like. You can see that I 23:58 divided the group up into four, we call them 24:00 quartiles. I took all 40 of them and divided up 24:03 according to their level of vitamin B12 deficiency. 24:06 The lowest would be the lowest quartile and the 24:10 highest of course would be the highest and it 24:13 would be just below normal. So, we look at 24:17 those symptoms and you see the top one 90% of 24:20 them had neurological symptom and it correlated 24:25 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quartiles, those first two. 24:29 The ones that had the lowest vitamin B12, 24:31 always has been, seemed to have the highest 24:34 number of amount of low B12. Then I divided the 24:39 neurological up into mental and neuropathy 24:43 type. Now mental is of anxiety, nervousness. I 24:47 think the next slide will show something about 24:48 that and then neuropathy is shooting pains, you 24:52 know, things that you feel, back pain those 24:53 types of things and so 30% of those had that 24:57 those particular symptoms.And then And then 59% 25:00 you said the mental ones. Yes and recognize that 25:03 you put the two together and it makes the 25:04 neurological, all, both of the bottom groups were 25:07 included in the top one. I just broke those apart. 25:10 Okay so, that there is, you saw a real relationship 25:13 between this, yeah. And as I reviewed those, 25:15 just as of interest, it's not a scientific study that's 25:19 publishable, but it was interesting to me and it 25:21 might be interesting to our viewers as well. I 25:25 think the next graphic tells us, shows us some of 25:27 these symptoms with the neurological you had the 25:31 food drop, sciatica that is back pain, hypesthesia, 25:35 which means, it's not quite spelled right there, 25:37 but hypesthesia means that the skin is extra 25:40 sensitive to touch, it hurts to touch it very lightly, 25:43 dizziness, fainting, muscle weakness, poor 25:45 coordination. Okay. And so several different 25:49 symptoms that actually came presenting. I even 25:51 had a neighbor come in, since I was practicing in 25:54 the mountains. One of my patients, one my 25:57 neighbors came in, her family brought her in and 25:59 they said mom is not acting right. You know, I 26:02 wonder if she has got Alzheimer's. So, we did 26:05 these whole workup including vitamin B12 26:07 and the laboratory says we can't measure it. 26:09 Can't measure it. Can't measure it, it's not 26:11 there.Or it was so low they couldn't measure it, 26:14 so we of course replaced that vigorously. 26:17 So, we've got about a minute and a half left what 26:19 should we do to avoid vitamin B12 deficiency. 26:21 Well, I think probably the first thing is to be aware 26:25 that vitamin B12 deficiency happens. 26:27 Okay, number one. Especially you're at risk if 26:31 you are eating a 100% plant based diet. 26:33 Get some dirt there. Okay, grow your own. 26:36 Alright, okay. Don't clean it quite so 26:38 well. Alright. There is even some evidence that a 26:42 group of Seventh-Day Adventist ministers in 26:46 Australia, who had more a lacto-ovo-vegetarian 26:49 diet, and had more vitamin B12 deficiency. 26:52 So, even people on the lacto-ovo can have 26:54 problems. May have problems. But if you 26:57 are a meat eater and you are on lot of 26:58 medications and your health isn't well that 27:00 might be worth while having it checked. A 27:03 screening test, it's not that expensive and having 27:07 that level checked may very well be able to save 27:09 you problems. So, it's spelled out in some 27:13 cereals like total and other things, they 27:15 actually have it spelled out and you can make 27:17 sure there is also some milk substitutes that have 27:19 it in it, so that you can make sure and always get 27:22 enough. Sure and you can observe it as a matter 27:24 of fact that little vitamin spray they spray on 27:26 those cereals, you know, so many 27:28 essentials vitamins added, the B12 in those are 27:31 really very well absorbed. Well thank you Dr. 27:34 Guthrie for being with us today. Thank you for 27:36 dedicating your life to this kind of thing. That 27:39 means a lot to us. And thank you also for joining 27:41 us on Health For A Lifetime. You've heard 27:43 about vitamin B12 deficiency, it can cause 27:46 real problems, so take it seriously if you're having 27:48 some of those symptoms that the doctor mentioned 27:50 get it checked out and you've learned also what 27:53 you can do to avoid it. Thanks for watching 27:55 Health For A Lifetime and may God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17