Nutrition & bone health
Key vitamins for bone health — vitamin B12 (cobalamin)
by Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD
Because of their role in the detoxification of homocysteine, vitamins B6,
B12, and folic acid have all been recently added to our list of important bone-protecting nutrients.
Osteoblasts, the body’s bone-building cells, require an adequate supply of
B12, or their ability to function properly will be compromised. Vitamin B12 deficiency
anemia has been associated with osteoporosis,
and having low serum levels of vitamin B12 has also been associated recently with
frailty in older women.
Following careful analysis of the Framingham Offspring Study in 2000, Tufts nutritional
epidemiologist Katherine Tucker concluded that B12 deficiency may be more widespread
than previously thought, with nearly 40% of the US population “flirting”
with marginal B12 status, according to the USDA website.
Vitamin B12 is not found in plants, but is abundant in animal protein. Yet vitamin B12 deficiency in the US may be largely linked not
so much to inadequate meat, poultry and fish intake — the foods that supply
the majority of dietary B12 — but to problems with intestinal absorption. Of interest is that researchers have found intestinal
malabsorption to be a problem among the young and the old alike. The problem may
lie with inadequate stomach acid, which is required to cleave the vitamin from the
animal proteins to which it is tightly bound in food sources. In older folks, the
problems with B12 absorption could be due to a loss of active acid-secreting cells
in the stomach as we age. Tucker speculates that in younger adults, the problem
could result from the overuse of antacid tablets.
B12 is also one of the few vitamins biosynthesized by the “friendly”
flora in our intestines. Though production in the human intestines is not believed
to occur to an extensive degree, there is still a lot for us to learn about both
B12 synthesis and absorption processes, and it is safe to say that maintaining healthy
gut flora is one way to encourage adequate vitamin B12 status as well as promote
good bone health. After all, the B12 we get from animal sources originally derives
from bacterial production (for instance in the rumen of cows).
Even so, vegetarians are strongly suggested to ensure adequate B12 intake — a high-quality
daily supplement formulated to deliver the most highly bioavailable forms of key
bone nutrients, such as those offered in our Better Bones programs, can be very helpful!
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Our Personal Program is a great place to start
At the Center for Better Bones we promote an all-natural approach to bone regeneration
and repair that includes nutrition, diet, exercise, and lifestyle guidance. Our
Personal Program is a convenient, at-home version of this approach.
- To assess your fracture risk and the health of your bones, take our free, on-line
Fracture Risk and Bone Health Profile.
- To learn more about the guided, at-home Program we have developed with America’s
premier women’s health clinic, Women to Women, go to
The Personal Program for Better Bones.
- For more information about the at-home program for Better Bones, please call The
Personal Program toll-free at 1-877-200-1269.
Original Publication Date: 04/11/2000
Last Modified: 04/14/2010
Principal Author: Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD