Back off on the B?

Q: Isn’t taking too much B12 dangerous? I’m confused, because I’ve read several articles from you recommending large doses of the vitamin.

Dr. Wright: I’ve been working with vitamin B12 therapy since 1973, and I can tell you that the only way you could kill yourself with this nutrient would be to fill your bathtub with it and drown.

Over two decades ago, there was some concern that metabolic breakdown of very large quantities of a certain form of B12 (called cyanocobalamin) might set excess quantities of cyanide (from the “cyano” part of “cyanocobalamin”) loose into the body. This theory has never been proven, but you can avoid even the very remote possibility of such a reaction by using different forms of vitamin B12: hydroxocobalamin or methylcobalamin.

Both are just as effective — if not more so — than cyanocobalamin.