B12 plays a vital role in our overall health and well-being and is essential for brain function, DNA replication, and red blood cell production. However, due to factors such as diet, age, or other medical conditions, some individuals may struggle to get enough B12 from their diet alone. This deficiency can cause health issues such as anemia, fatigue, and a lack of focus.

Luckily, both B12 injections and oral supplements are able to help regulate this deficiency.

Read on to learn if B12 injections or oral supplements are more effective when it comes to combating your B12 deficiency and which option is right for you.

 

Dosage & Absorption Rates

An easy comparison of the two methods would be between their dosage amounts. Injection dosages are usually around 1,000 mcg while oral supplement dosages can range from 50 to 5,000 mcg.

With this in mind, many think that the larger oral dosage would be more effective and absorb more quickly. However, this is not the case because the body absorbs B12 oral supplements and injections differently.

For example, when you take an oral supplement, your body absorbs the B12 through the lining of your stomach. Because of this, using a pill form of the supplement creates an additional step for transferring the B12 into the bloodstream and can cause your body to absorb less of the vitamin. In fact, a 2008 study found that after taking a 1,000 mcg oral supplement, only approximately 1.3% (or 13 mcg) of B12 was absorbed into the bloodstream.

However, when you use B12 injections, the treatment goes directly into your bloodstream. Without any barriers or extra steps to deter it, your body is able to absorb between 15-97% of the B12 vitamins from the injection. As such, you are able to receive more B12 through an injection than you would through oral supplements—even if you were to take a higher oral dosage.

 

Frequency

Due to the different ways in which the body absorbs B12, each form of supplement has a different frequency with which you need the treatments. Because oral supplements are absorbed less effectively, you need to take them far more frequently than you would need an injection.

While it varies from case to case, it’s usually recommended that you take oral supplements every day. Meanwhile, depending on your personal needs, you would likely only need an injection once or twice a week for the first two weeks and then once a month after that.

 

Results

Getting the proper amount of B12 in your system can have you seeing a number of benefits, like less fatigue, better sleep, improved nerve function, optimized memory function, and so much more. But, how quickly you see these results can depend heavily on which kind of B12 supplement you take.

The lowered absorption rate and increased frequency attributed to oral supplements can cause the overall treatment process to be slower than that of B12 injections. As you are technically absorbing lower amounts of B12 over time, you may have to wait for your symptoms to reduce.

Conversely, the more effective absorption rate of B12 injections means you likely will not have to wait long to see the positive effects of the treatment.

 

When it comes to B12 supplements, the method you choose can make a big difference in the amount of vitamin B12 your body actually receives. If you’re struggling with a B12 deficiency, contact your local health and wellness facility to discover if B12 injections are right for you.

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