Vitamin B12 and Depression: What You Need to Know…

Did you know vitamin B12 is so important to good mental health and optimal brain function, a long-term deficiency “can cause severe mental illness including depression, paranoia and symptoms resembling schizophrenia or bipolar disorder”?

In fact, Dr. Kelly Brogen, M.D. has stated that for those suffering from depression, vitamin B12 “may very well be the last antidepressant you’ll ever need.”

If you’re feeling pulled down by symptoms of low mood and depression, here’s what you need to know about vitamin B12 and how it could be the all-natural mood-booster you need to lift your spirits!

Hi, Steve Barwick here, for Targeted Nutrients…

According to Dr. Jeffrey J. Stuart, D.O., author of Could it Be B12: An Epidemic of Misdiagnosis, not only can low vitamin B12 levels in the brain make your memory fuzzy, cause cognitive difficulties and even mimic Alzheimer’s disease, but the deficiency can also directly impair the function of the vital nerve cells in your brain that control how you feel, think and behave.

Dr. Kelly Brogen, M.D., a medical doctor as well as a board-certified psychiatrist, is author of the NYT bestseller A Mind of Your Own, co-editor of the landmark textbook, Integrative Therapies for Depression and graduate of Cornell University Medical College.

Dr. Brogen writes,

“B12 supports myelin (which allows nerve impulses to conduct) and when this vitamin is deficient, has been suspected to drive symptoms such as dementia, multiple sclerosis, impaired gait, and sensation.”

She even goes so far as to say that for those suffering from depression, vitamin B12, “may very well be the last antidepressant you’ll ever need.”

Dr. Brogen also notes that in university studies, nearly one-third of depressed patients show clinical markers for B12 deficiency. What’s more, even in depressed patients without markers for B12 deficiency, taking the vitamin produced “notable clinical improvement” for those suffering from fatigue, sleep disorders, depression and dementia.

Agreeing with Dr. Brogen, Dr. Joseph Mercola, D.O., points out that vitamin B12 can have a profound effect on mood and mental health. He writes:

“As your vitamin B12 levels falter, some of the initial signs will often include mood changes, such as lack of motivation or feelings of apathy.

Low B12 levels can also lead to acute mental fogginess, memory troubles, muscle weakness, and fatigue.

Chronic health problems of vitamin B12 deficiency include nerve damage, psychiatric problems (which may also mimic more serious mental illness), and dementia.”

Why We Become More B12 Deficient as We Age

As you age, your digestive tract can preclude your body from properly absorbing vitamin B12. As Dr. Mercola states:

“As you get older, the lining of your stomach gradually loses its ability to produce hydrochloric acid, which releases vitamin B12 from your food in the activated form your body can efficiently absorb and utilize. If you’re over 50, it’s safe to assume you are not absorbing vitamin B12 at an optimal level.”

The result of such poor vitamin B12 levels, according to Dr. Mercola, include:

• Nerve damage

• Psychiatric problems

• Depression

• Dementia and Alzheimer’s

Dr. Brogen agrees, pointing out that vitamin B12 deficiency can cause a wide range of neurological disturbances that actually mimic serious mental illness. She writes:

“B12 deficiencies are easily the most important reversible cause of mental illness and dementia…it’s incredibly common…symptoms can manifest themselves in a broad spectrum of manners including poor balance, confusion, forgetfulness, depression, even psychosis.”

Like Dr. Mercola, Dr. Brogen also notes,

“…when treating B12 deficiency, use of an activated form of the vitamin is recommended and is preferentially effective at improving levels.”

In other words, the common, cheap and almost completely inactive cyanocobalamin form of B12 found in most health food store vitamins is just about worthless for treating a B12 deficiency. Studies show that only the active co-enzyme form of B12 known as methylcobalamin works to reduce depression and other clinical symptoms.

How to Get More B12 – Without Shots!

The researchers have pointed out that a good dietary source of vitamin B12 is animal proteins such as lean meats, poultry and eggs.

But, as mentioned above, they noted that as we age our bodies have a harder time absorbing vitamin B12 from food. This may be why such a large number of people over 40 test clinically low in vitamin B12.

To remedy that problem, the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans were quietly modified in 2010 to recommend that people over 50 years-old incorporate either B12 fortified foods or B12 nutritional supplements into their diets on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, most people over 50 simply don’t realize they need to be taking a good, high-quality vitamin B12 supplement every day if they want to protect their brains from age-related mental decline.

And by “high quality” I mean a form of vitamin B12 such as methylcobalamin, which becomes biologically active in the body immediately upon ingestion and does not need to be gradually converted by the body into the active form.

That’s why Dr. Brogen also highly recommends the naturally active methylcobalamin form of B12 and points out that the far more common form of B12, cyanocobalamin, is synthetic and is bound to a cyanide molecule which can add to the body’s already heavy toxic load.

Cyanocobalamin is included as vitamin B12 in supplements because it’s inexpensive to synthesize and easy to obtain. However, this slow-acting and difficult-to-process form of B12 cannot provide any benefits whatsoever unless your body can first convert it to a biologically active form. And many aging bodies have trouble making that conversion.

But the special methylcobalamin form of B12 can be utilized directly by the human body without the need for metabolic conversion. That’s because it’s already in the biologically active, co-enzyme form and is, therefore, able to go directly to work in the body.

Indeed, taking a single capsule of methylcobalamin is like getting a doctor’s “shot” of B12, but without the painful needle stick. And it’s so cerebrally invigorating, most people notice improved brain function – quicker thinking, greater clarity of mind, more pleasant mood – within the first few days.

So if you suspect you might be deficient in vitamin B12, or that your growing number of “senior moments” might be tied to a B12 deficiency, then holistic health doctors say methylcobalamin is the specific form of B12 you need to be taking now.

Where to Get Active, Therapeutic-Quality Methylcobalamin

But where can you find high-quality methylcobalamin in the therapeutic doses needed to help prevent brain shrinkage and relieve depression and other symptoms of B12 deficiency?

One phenomenal new source for methylcobalamin is AMG – a unique new supplement from Targeted Nutrients. The letters “AMG” stand for the product’s three main nutrients:

• Adenosine triphosphate

• Methylcobalamin

• Glucoronolactone

That’s “AMG” for short.

You’ve already seen that methylcobalamin is the special co-enzyme form of vitamin B12 that’s far more biologically active, cerebrally invigorating and brain-protective than the common cyanocobalmin form found in most vitamin supplements. What you might not realize is that methylcobalamin is also the only form of B12 that can cross the blood-brain barrier with ease and feed brain cells. And that’s why it’s the form used in AMG from Targeted Nutrients.

Plus, with AMG, you’ll get nearly 400 times the RDA (i.e., Recommended Dietary Allowance) of methylcobalamin. That’s right. We don’t skimp, because we know the RDA guidelines for B12 are woefully inadequate in the first place, allowing for only 2.5 micrograms per day when a therapeutic dosage is considered by most experts to be at least 1,000 micrograms per day.

So with AMG from Targeted Nutrients, you get methylcobalamin at a level far more likely to eliminate a deficiency and help protect the brain from atrophy, depression and other symptoms of poor brain function.

According to a study published in the Journal of Pharmacological Therapeutics:

“…methylcobalamin’s methyl group stimulates serotonin creation, a neurotransmitter which is responsible for mood enhancement and protects the brain from damage against excitotoxins.”

That means B12 is not only brain-protective but is cerebrally uplifting, as well. This may well be why Dr. Kelly Brogen, M.D. calls vitamin B12 “the last antidepressant you’ll ever need.” And it may well be why many AMG users liken taking a capsule in the morning to the euphoric effects of getting a doctor’s “shot” of B12, but without the needle stick.

What About Those Other 2 Brain Nutrients?

So AMG from Targeted Nutrients begins with a nice, big healthy daily dose of pure, therapeutic-quality methylcobalamin (which is why the pill is pink, just like the B-vitamin). But it also includes heaping helpings of two more critical brain nutrients – adenosine triphosphate and glucoronolactone – each of which, as you’ll see, act as profound nutritional frosting on your cerebral cake.

Brain Nutrient #2: Adenosine triphosphate

Adenosine triphosphate has been added to AMG because it’s the brain’s primary source of cellular energy. And the human brain – which is the master control organ for the entire body – requires more energy than any other human organ. So its stores of adenosine triphosphate are often sub-optimal in terms of peak brain function and repair.

When researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School conducted a study to determine to what extent adenosine triphosphate levels were linked to improved brain function, they were stunned to find that high adenosine triphosphate levels were critical to both the efficient firing of neurons in the brain, as well as to the brain’s little-understood but critical “housekeeping” activities – i.e., its ability to self-repair damage to brain cells and tissues, and keep brain tissue alive and functioning at peak levels.

In other words, without adequate levels of adenosine triphosphate in the brain, neurons can’t fire, which means efficient thinking can’t take place. What’s more, without adequate levels of adenosine triphosphate, the brain is no longer able to repair itself. Damage to the brain simply accumulates.

According to Dr. Barry Sears, M.D.,

“Without adequate levels of adenosine triphosphate, your brain has an energy drain and its function decreases.”

And according to Wikipedia,

“The regulation of adenosine triphosphate content plays a central role in the brain.”

What’s more, according to Byron J. Richards, a board-certified nutritionist:

“The brain’s glial cells use adenosine triphosphate to communicate. And glial cells are the primary regulators of neurons; they must have adenosine triphosphate to tell neurons what to do. This means that your brain uses energy to communicate.

If you run low on energy your brain does not communicate and your neurotransmitters do not flow in an optimal way.

In short, your overall supply of energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate is the single-most important factor determining the health of your mind and mood…If you don’t have enough adenosine triphosphate on hand you will feel irritable, tired, have a poor mind, and it will seem like the burden of stress is causing wear and tear.”

In short, you’ll not only find plenty of therapeutic-quality methylcobalamin in AMG, but plenty of adenosine triphosphate as well, for increased brain energy, enhanced mental clarity and brain self-repair.

Brain Nutrient #3: Glucoronolactone

And that brings us to the final ingredient in Targeted Nutrients’ AMG: glucoronolactone. Little-known to the general public, glucoronolactone has actually been around since the 1960’s when it was given to U.S. troops in Vietnam as a natural means of boosting mood and morale while relieving mental and emotional stress and depression.

According to Brian D. Evans, author of How to Become Super Smart and Get Limitless Memory,

“Glucuronolactone works to fight fatigue and provide an overall sense of well-being.”

In other words, glucoronolactone is both ergogenic (performance and stamina-enhancing) and euphorigenic (i.e., pleasure-inducing). It boosts brain energy and function and helps induce mild feelings of well-being or even light euphoria by triggering your “happy” brain chemicals.

The cerebral benefits of glucoronolactone are so impressive, ex-Google employee Michael Brandt and Glassmap founder Geoffrey Woo, both Stanford graduates, admit to using it as part of their regular morning “nootropic brain stack.” And glucoronolactone was recently featured on ABC TVs Shark Tank in an episode about a new brain supplement.

According to Health Monthly,

“Glucuronolactone delivers a valuable energy boost for the brain…giving you an extra edge to enhance your focus and concentration.”

And according to Nootriment.com,

“Glucoronolactone reduces sleepiness, increases focus, lightens the mood and quickens reaction times.”

Finally, according to NutriScience,

“Studies suggest that glucuronolactone…promotes mental performance and positive mood as well. When given glucuronolactone in a clinical study, subjects showed significant improvements in reaction time, concentration, and memory.”

As a bonus to the mood-boosting and mind-boosting benefits of glucoronolactone, it’s also known to be one of the human body’s most important metabolites, being intimately involved in the metabolism of brain function, liver function, liver protection, bodily detoxification, vitamin C production, fatty acid synthesis, nucleotide synthesis, and amino acid synthesis. In other words, virtually all of your body’s metabolic building blocks are directly or indirectly aided by glucoronolactone.

What’s more, it’s completely natural. It’s made in the liver, out of glucose. And it can also be found in a variety of plant gums and other natural sources. It’s even in wine, in small amounts. Plus, it’s an important structural component of nearly all of the connective tissues in your body.

What’s more, glucoronolactone is one of the body’s most important natural detoxifiers, being demonstrated in clinical trials to convert toxic substances that tend to accumulate in the human body into harmless water-soluble substances which can be easily excreted through the kidneys rather than building up in the body as we age.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that AMG from Targeted Nutrients contains an exclusive combination of powerful, bio-active brain nutrients scientifically proven to support brain health and boost brain function, while helping the brain and body detoxify itself at the same time. In a nutshell, you get:

• Adenosine triphosphate for maximum brain energy and quick-thinking (increases firing of neurons in the brain; gives the brain the energy it needs for self-repair),

• Methylcobalamin for increased motivation and mood, and enhanced brain and nervous system function and protection, and

• Glucoronolactone for sustained mental pleasure, relaxation and mild euphoria.

When these three powerful all-natural nutrients are combined into a single supplement, you have one of the most cerebrally invigorating and uplifting nutritional formulas on the face of the earth.

AMG is non-addicting. Yet when used regularly it gives you lightning-fast brainpower…keeps your brain functioning at optimal levels…and makes you feel like a million bucks again, to boot.

And now you can learn how to try Targeted Nutrients high-quality AMG at a special get-acquainted discount price, by clicking here…

Yours for a brighter mood and peak brain function, the safe, natural way…

Steve Barwick, President
Targeted Nutrients