Vitamin B12 is necessary for every organism but it’s most needed in the growing stages of the life. We all know it benefits and how to prevent a deficiency but what happens when you have in your organism too much vitamin B12?

Vitamin B12, also known as Cynacobalamin, is a substance soluble in water. Together with the folic acid, vitamin B12 helps in producing red blood cells, maintains the equilibrium of the nervous system, helps in the digestive process and creates energy by using fats, carbohydrates and proteins. It’s also responsible for copying and transmitting the genetic information to every cell and for creating the serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps in improving the mood, the sleep and the appetite.

So, we can all see why is so important for our body and why we should try to avoid a deficiency.

The next issue is what if you try so hard to prevent a deficiency that you take too much vitamin B12 and get to an overdose? You shouldn’t get too worried because there aren’t any known symptoms or toxicity in the organism mainly due to the fact that the vitamin is soluble in water. Therefore, any overdose is eliminated through urine and you’ll be fine.

A while there were some assumptions that an overdose of vitamin B12 can lead to an increased amount of energy but this theory has been proven wrong.

If you’re having a diet based on meats that are known to have a higher level of B12, then you shouldn’t take any supplements unless recommended to do so. If you do them both and you start feeling your hands and feet going numb or tingling then you should drop the supplements because these are clear symptoms of an overdose.

If you keep overdosing yourself just to avoid a vitamin B12 deficiency, then you should read the following facts that have been related to a prolonged overdose of vitamin B12:

- there have been reported some cases of leukemia from persons who took high amounts of B12 to treat pernicious anemia

- it can increase the risk of later developing prostate cancer

- there have also been brought to attention some connections with stomach and esophagus cancer

Of course, those cases are very rare and shouldn’t alarm you as long as you keep either a healthy diet or you just take supplements. You also shouldn’t get concerned if you take an overdose now and then because these have been proven to be harmless. Those cases presented above have been reported after overdosing for a long period of time.