Vitamin B12 has been discussed quite a lot in the recent years, especially when the vegan snowball started rolling heavily. While the truth is that B12 comes naturally from a bacteria in the soil, and not in animal products whatsoever, there is still a greater risk for vegans to develop one or more of the vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms. The most common way of treating these people are using vitamin B12 shots, which are the most widely accepted treatment for this ailment, among most of the doctors worldwide.

While the benefits of vitamin B12 shots are obviously possible, there are some drawback to consider as well. These injections are quite painful, especially at first, and I would only recommend taking them if you have some difficulties absorbing this vitamin, an ailment that is usually caused by the malfunctioning of the Intrinsic Factor, the part in our body that is meant to decompose this vitamin to the blood stream. You can get the same benefits of vitamin B12 shots from any other source, such as sub lingual tablets, regular b12 rich foods, and intra nasal sprays or jel, which seems to be a popular and growing treatment in the recent months.

As said, the true benefit of vitamin B12 shots lie in the fact that these injections are given directly to the blood stream and thus ‘skip’ the phase of which the Intrinsic Factor should decompose the vitamin to the blood stream. Other than the pain accompanied by these shots, you might feel some nausea and headaches, especially after each treatment session, although pretty rarely. These shots are very safe, you do not have to worry if you do choose to get one of them, just remember that any benefit that you can get by using them, is possible for you to obtain from any other source, unless you have these problems absorbing vitamin B12.