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Top 5 Common Food Sources of Vitamin B12
Looking to get more mcg of vitamin B12 in your diet? Look no further! My team and I have crunched the numbers and did all the math to determine the top 5 common food sources of vitamin B12, per serving. Getting vitamin B12 from our diet through healthy eating is important since a large collection of studies show that getting nutrients from dietary supplements doesn’t improve health outcomes compared to getting nutrients from foods!
| Rank | Food | Nutrivore Score | Serving Size (Raw) | Vitamin B12 (µg/serving) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liver, Average1 | 4192 | 3.5 oz / 100 g | 52.3 | 2179 |
| 2 | Kidney, Average2 | 2558 | 3.5 oz / 100 g | 29.5 | 1228 |
| 3 | Octopus, Common | 1618 | 4 oz / 115 g | 23.0 | 958 |
| 4 | Oysters, Average3 | 2759 | 4 oz / 115 g | 15.7 | 654 |
| 5 | Blue Mussels | 1564 | 4 oz / 115 g | 13.8 | 575 |
2Kidney, average includes beef, lamb, and pork kidney.
3Oysters, average includes Eastern (farmed and wild) and Pacific oysters.
Want to know more about this important vitamin including what vitamin B12 does in the body, how much vitamin B12 we need, what happens if we have low vitamin B12 levels or if we get too much, and even more awesome rich food sources of vitamin B12? Keep reading to learn all there is to know!
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What Is Vitamin B12 and What Does It Do?
Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin produced exclusively by microorganisms. Although it comes in multiple forms, only two are used by the human body: methylcobalamin, and 5-deoxyadenosylcobalamin. Vitamin B12 serves as a cofactor for important enzymes involved in methionine metabolism, hemoglobin synthesis, red blood cell production, folate metabolism, neurotransmitter synthesis, and DNA synthesis, giving vitamin B12 a particularly important place in nervous system health.
As a B vitamin, vitamin B12 is also involved in energy metabolism—specifically, in synthesizing an important intermediate called succinyl CoA, which allows some branched-chain amino acids and fatty acids to enter the cycle. It’s also capable of lowering homocysteine levels (a risk factor for cardiovascular disease), although studies haven’t supported a benefit of vitamin B12 supplements on actual cardiovascular outcomes.
Research suggests vitamin B12 could be protective against dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and depression, possibly via its effects on homocysteine levels and neurotransmitter production. However, trials in humans have generally used a mixture of B vitamins rather than vitamin B12 in isolation when studying these conditions, making the individual health effects of vitamin B12 unclear. It’s also shown interesting links with cancer, with low vitamin B12 rates potentially impairing folate metabolism and leading to a reduced ability for the body to repair DNA damage (a cancer risk factor).
Learn more about vitamin B12 here.
Vitamin B12 Deficiency
A 2011 study evaluated American’s usual nutrient intake including nutrients that are naturally-occurring in foods, from fortified and enriched foods, and from supplements. The results indicated that 7.2% of American adults usual diet falls short of the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) for vitamin B12 intake.
Groups At Risk
Those at higher risk of vitamin B12 deficiency include:
- those following vegetarian and vegan diets,
- older adults,
- individuals with malabsorption conditions such as pernicious anemia and food-bound vitamin B12 malabsorption caused by chronic stomach inflammation or reduced gastric acid,
- individuals with health conditions affecting nutrient absorption such as celiac disease, crohn’s disease, tropical sprue, or pancreatic insufficiency,
- those with a history of stomach or small intestine surgery, such as gastric bypass or resectioning,
- alcoholics,
- individuals with long term use of drugs that reduce stomach acid,
- individuals taking certain medications such as proton-pump inhibitors (e.g., omeprazole, lansoprazole), H2 receptor antagonists (e.g., cimetidine, famotidine, ranitidine), and metformin, (commonly used for diabetes),
- people with H. pylori infections, and
- those with rare inherited conditions, such as Imerslund-Gräsbeck syndrome or hereditary intrinsic factor deficiency.
Learn more here.
Symptoms of Deficiency
Vitamin B12 deficiency can initially appear as elevated homocysteine or methylmalonic acid levels in tests and, if untreated, can lead to severe health effects. Neurologic symptoms include numbness, tingling, memory loss, nerve damage, and dementia, while gastrointestinal symptoms include appetite loss, weight loss, diarrhea, constipation, and bladder control issues. In children, symptoms include developmental delays, low muscle tone, irritability, and regression. Vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies can both cause megaloblastic anemia, resulting in fatigue, weakness, pale mucus membranes and palms, and shortness of breath. Proper diagnosis is critical, as treating B12 deficiency-induced anemia with folate alone can worsen neurological damage.
Learn more here.
Problems From Too Much Vitamin B12?
Vitamin B12 has very low toxicity, but high-dose supplements, especially intramuscular injections, may cause side effects like headache, nausea, mild diarrhea, rash, or tingling in the hands and feet. Oral supplements, including multivitamins, rarely cause noticeable side effects due to the water-soluble nature of vitamin B12 and limited absorption.
How Much Vitamin B12 Do We Need?
The following table summarizes the current recommended amounts of vitamin B12, based on age, gender, or situation. Individuals following strict vegetarian diets, or who otherwise consume diets low in animal products, should regularly consume fortified food sources of vitamin B12 or consult with their healthcare provider about supplementation (although no official recommendations exist, 25 to 100 micrograms daily of sublingual vitamin B12, or 1000 to 2500 micrograms several times per week, is common).
| FEMALE RDA (µg/day) | MALE RDA (µg/day) | MALE AI (µg/day) | UPPER LIMIT (µg/day) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 – 6 months | |||||
| 6 months to < 12 months | |||||
| 1 yr – 3 yrs | |||||
| 4 yrs – 8 yrs | |||||
| 9 yrs – 13 yrs | |||||
| 14 yrs – 18 yrs | |||||
| 19 yrs – 50 yrs | |||||
| 51+ yrs | |||||
| Pregnant (14 – 18 yrs) | |||||
| Pregnant (19 – 30 yrs) | |||||
| Pregnant (31 – 50 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (14 – 18 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (19 – 30 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (31 – 50 yrs) |
Nutrient Daily Values
Nutrition requirements and recommended nutrient intake for infants, children, adolescents, adults, mature adults, and pregnant and lactating individuals.
More Food Sources of Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is produced exclusively by microorganisms, making animal-based foods the richest sources due to their ability to concentrate bacterially produced B12. These include fish (such as sardines, salmon, tuna, and cod), shellfish like shrimp and scallops, organ meats, red meat such as beef and game meat, eggs, poultry, and dairy products. Some fermented soy products, such as tempeh, also provide vitamin B12. While non-fermented plant foods lack vitamin B12, fortified options like nutritional yeast, fortified breakfast cereals, and plant-based meat or dairy alternatives (such as plant milks) can serve as additional sources.
Best Food Sources of Vitamin B12
The following foods have high concentrations of vitamin B12, containing at least 50% of the recommended dietary allowance per serving, making them our best food sources of this valuable B-vitamin!
Good Food Sources of Vitamin B12
The following foods are also excellent or good sources of vitamin B12, containing at least 10% (and up to 50%) of the daily value per serving.
Top 5 Common Food Sources
If you’re looking for top 5 common food sources of other important nutrients check out these posts!
cITATIONS
Expand to see all scientific references for this article.
Fulgoni VL 3rd, Keast DR, Bailey RL, Dwyer J. Foods, fortificants, and supplements: Where do Americans get their nutrients? J Nutr. 2011 Oct;141(10):1847-54. doi: 10.3945/jn.111.142257. Epub 2011 Aug 24. PMID: 21865568; PMCID: PMC3174857.
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