If you or someone you know has inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), you’ll want to pay attention to this.
A study investigated how different types of vitamin B12 supplements affect IBD symptoms and the gut microbiome. We all know vitamin B12 is crucial, especially for IBD patients who struggle with absorption in the colon. But it turns out, not all B12 supplements are created equal. Here’s what the researchers found:
Researchers used mice with induced IBD and treated them with either cyanocobalamin or methylcobalamin. They looked at disease activity, intestinal inflammation, and changes in the gut microbiome.
- Cyanocobalamin vs Methylcobalamin: High doses of CNCBL (but not MECBL) made IBD symptoms worse. Mice treated with CNCBL had higher disease activity scores and more gut inflammation.
- CNCBL treatment increased harmful bacteria like Enterobacteriaceae and decreased beneficial ones like Lactobacillus and Blautia.
- CNCBL disrupted vitamin B12-dependent enzymes and riboswitches (genetic regulatory elements), particularly in harmful bacteria, which worsened IBD.
This study shows that not all vitamin B12 supplements are beneficial for IBD patients. High doses of CNCBL could potentially aggravate your symptoms by altering your gut microbiome in harmful ways. Importantly this is a rodent study!
Here’s the study: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.8b05730