Higher vitamin B12 value predicts greater risk of death - Dutch study

Hi, today in the news is a Dutch research on vitamin B12: https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/1766825599/eerder-dood-met-hogere-waarde-vitamine-b12 (in Dutch).

Official press release of the study by UMCG: https://www.umcg.nl/NL/UMCG/Nieuws/Persberichten/Paginas/Hogere-vitamine-B12-waarde-voorspelt-grotere-kans-op-sterfte.aspx (in Dutch)

Study: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2758742

Seen the more than 10 times the amount of vitamin B12 in your products, what is your response to this Jimmy Joy?

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For now, as the study says, it is only an association. In the discussion section of the study, they made two hypothesis: the B12 have an effect on the stability of the organism or the level of B12 is a symptom ( so not a cause) of an unhealthy liver. Furthermore, they have no data about the dietary habits of the cohort, so it is major defect of the study to clear the risk of confounding factor.

So presently, without further studies, I don’t think Jimmy Joy have to change anything.

The UMCG put up a rectification.

They are pretty much saying that there is no proof that the B12 caused higher mortality rate but that it could be caused by something different, like liver disease. Something that usually happens to older people. The average age of the participants was 53 years old.

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Thanks for letting us know about the rectification!

There is however a chance that a too much B12 is causing harm. As is stated in the article:

Omdat de gezondheidsrisico’s van veel vitamine B12 niet bekend zijn, waarschuwen zij voor het feit dat veel supplementen een veelvoud bevatten van de aanbevolen dagelijkse hoeveelheid van 2,8 microgram per dag.​

Does JJ still stand behind the 1120% of the vitamin B12 and will this stay this way in future versions?

At this point we can not find any strong evidence to change the B12. the UMCG did not keep in mind that the more B12 you consume at once the less it get’s processed by the body.

Cyanocobalamin can’t be absorbed by the body directly. It must first be broken down into the two bioactive coenzymes. There are four metabolic steps necessary for this process. These steps form a metabolic disadvantage, and on top of that, a part of the B12 gets discharged before it’s even converted. So in the end, an uptake of 140 mcg cyanocobalamin provides the body with only 2,76 mcg of cyanocobalamin.

If you are curious about the sources of these claims or if you want a bit more info you can read it here. https://jimmyjoy.com/blogs/jimmy-joy/why-is-there-so-much-vitamin-b12-in-jimmy-joy-plenny

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