To B or not to B?

Am I the only one who seems to face a never-ending ‘to-do list’ every time I travel?  As organized as I try to be, the freakin’ list keeps growing right until I board my flight.  While I’m slowly ticking things off, I’m equally adding more tasks as and when I remember, for example: “take a vitamin B shot”.  Yes, I left for the airport at 12 pm and went for the injection at 9 am….good thing the clinic is nearby :)!

So why exactly would I voluntary stick a needle in me on the day I am traveling?  Like anyone else, I want to maximize my holiday, and I really do not want flagging energy levels to come in between the way of that.  The B12 vitamins are great energy boosters, as they enable the red blood cells to carry oxygen more efficiently and optimally.  The only problem is that unless fortified, very few foods are B12 rich:

• Eggs (no issues there for me)
• Liver
• Caviar
• Octopus
• Fish
• Mutton
• Beef
• Cheese

Given the above, I am almost certain that my intake is not up to mark.  Of course oral supplementation is an option but I’ll admit: it tastes like pee (sorry but it’s true 😳) and I forget to take it daily.  Fortunately vitamin B-12 can be consumed in large doses because excess is excreted by the body or stored in the liver for use when supplies are scarce: once I’ve taken the shot, I can forget about it for another month. Laziness aside, vitamin b12 injections directly deliver the vitamin into the bloodstream whereas with he supplement requires many hours for the digestive process and would lose much value along the way.  For comparisons sake, a B12 tablet leaves you with only 1.2% of B12 in the tablet whereas a shot will lose very little, if any.

Fortunately, I didn’t experience any side-effects.  This would obviously vary across individuals so please consult with your doctor first.  Whether it works or not, I’ll tell you in a month but one thing’s for sure, it’s worth a shot 😀 !

Are you a pill-popper?  If so, what do you take?