As nutritional vitamins go, B12 is a vital one. It is important for nerve and blood cells and helps make DNA. It additionally staves off a type of anemia that may trigger weak spot and fatigue.

MORE: 7 Causes You are Drained All The Time

If you don’t get sufficient, you may expertise a medley of issues, from constipation to lack of urge for food to bother concentrating. A latest medical journal article even suggests {that a} vitamin B12 deficiency could have been the reason for Mary Todd Lincoln’s psychiatric and bodily points, which included a sore mouth and delusions. However can a scarcity of B12 actually contribute to despair? In a manner, sure. (Trying to take again management of your well being? Prevention has sensible solutions—get 2 FREE items once you subscribe immediately.)

“Low ranges will worsen the signs of despair” since you want B nutritional vitamins to supply and metabolize the temper chemical serotonin, says Joseph Feuerstein, MD, an affiliate professor of scientific medication at Columbia College and director of integrative medication at Stamford Hospital in Stamford, Connecticut. A severe B12 deficit also can result in psychosis and reminiscence loss. “It is one of many solely reversible causes of dementia,” Feuerstein says. “It is an extremely necessary vitamin.”

When sufferers are available with despair or nervousness, Feuerstein routinely checks their ranges of B12. Even when you’re on the low finish of the “regular” vary—as many individuals are—taking a complement may assist enhance your temper and provides your antidepressant medicine a lift. That stated, vitamin B12 alone just isn’t a treatment for despair, says Feuerstein.

MORE: Are You Bummed Out…Or Depressed?

The typical grownup ought to intention for two.4 micrograms of B12 daily. You will discover it in a wide range of animal merchandise, akin to meat, eggs, milk, and cheese. Though some non-animal gadgets are fortified with this vitamin, it may be laborious to get sufficient when you’re vegan; Feuerstein suggests taking a complement.

Whereas most individuals who want further B12 can merely pop a capsule (Feuerstein recommends on the lookout for the USP seal), that will not work for many who have circumstances that have an effect on absorption, akin to inflammatory bowel illness or pernicious anemia. In that case, your physician can provide you intramuscular injections as soon as a month to make sure that you get what you want.