Day 50

THOUGHTS- B12. Vitamin B12 is a water soluble vitamin that has a key role in brain funtion and formation of blood. Neither plants nor animals can synthesise B12. Only bacteria can do this. Your body stores only small amounts of B12 and tiny amounts of it are lost over time. B12 is readily found in products that come from animals. So if you are following a vegan diet you need to be careful that you are still getting the correct amount. By consuming fortified foods such as cereals and soy milks. It can take a number of years for a B12 deficiency to become evident due to the very slow loss of this vitamin. But when a deficincy occurs it can be very bad for your health. The symptoms of a B12 deficiancy can include-

1. Itchy or tingling tongue. The tongue suddenly itches from time to time without warning. This occurs on the edge of the tongue, along one side or the other or at the tip. Some individuals experience stinging, pain, or tingling instead of itching.

2. White spots in the skin, resulting from melanin becoming absent in the area. These often occur on the outside of the forearm, but may occur in other places. The longer these spots are there, the whiter they get. As time goes by, the spots become very dry and flaky to the extent that small raw spots of skin may be exposed.

3. Sharp stabbing, tingling pain in the palm of one or both hands. This occurs suddenly and for no apparent reason in a spot directly below the ring finger, approximately where the first palm crease is. If B12 deficiency is not treated, a tingling pain may begin to occur along the outside edge of the hand, starting from the wrist. This pain occurs when the wrist is extended.

4. Sores at the corners of the mouth, sometimes extending along the edge of the lip. These are raw spots, not blisters, and they tend to come and go.

5. Nerve shock in the side of the body. It can be felt coming on a few seconds before it hits, and then it hits almost like a mild but deep electric shock and quickly subsides. It can occur at the side of either hip or on either side of the upper body, along the ribs. It can occur consecutively in at least two or three locations, one right after the other.

6. Shortness of breath, but without chest pain. This can occur when walking just a few yards.

7. Hemifacial (one side of the face) spasm usually manifesting in the eye. Can occur in multiple spots on the face such as the lip, nose, eyelids, and eyebrow.

8. Facial pain, usually on only one side of the face at a time. This pain varies so much that it would be difficult to describe all the possibilities. This can present as a dull pain in the cheek bone right underneath an eye, or a sharp shooting pain across the forehead, sometimes coming downward from the scalp to the edge of the nose by the eye.

9. Tingling along the back of one or both thighs, starting at the hips and shooting downward.

10. Memory loss and/or disorientation.

11. Migraine headaches. These may be preceded by a temporary blind spot in the center of the field of vision, usually lasting about ten minutes, and sometimes followed by facial pain under the eyes. After the blind spot vanishes, there may be zigzag streaks through the vision that may last up to hours. Even in the same person, there may be extreme variations in the headaches themselves. They may be quite severe with nausea or they may be virtually nonexistent.

Migraines of most individuals have causes other than B12 deficiency, but migraines of certain individuals diminish or stop completely after they are treated for B12 deficiency.

12. Irritability and/or depression and/or personality changes

(Symptoms from wikipedia.)

You also need to be aware of quick fix energy boosters such as spirulina as it holds the same properties as B12 and will mask a deficincy as it fights with B12 for absorption.

A dfeficiency in B12 can be serious so make sure you are getting the correct amount even though you only need a small amount that small amount has a key role in brain function and blood formulation.


CHALLENGES- Being sick and not feeling like much food. Then getting really hungry at nite.



TRIUMPHS- Eating pretty healthy today. MAKING IT TO DAY 50!!! WOO!!!!!



WHAT I ATE-



BREAKFAST- Cashews

1L of soy Milk



LUNCH- Tomato, cucumber slices, grated carrots, sliced mushrooms, shallots.

Wintertime tea



SNACK- 1 potato cooked in olive oil. Sea salt.

Wintertime tea



DINNER- 1 avocado

Carrot sticks, snow peas, alfalfa, snow pea and mung bean sprouts.



DESSERT- 1 apple



LATE SNACK- Brown rice with sea salt.