All kinds of cells in your body need vitamin B12. That includes red blood cells and glial cells – the kind that protect your nerves. But your body doesn't make this nutrient on its own. You have to get it from outside sources. It occurs naturally in certain foods like meat, dairy, and eggs. It’s also added to some foods, so they become fortified with the vitamin.
On average, most people 14 and older need about 2.4 micrograms of vitamin B12 a day. If you don’t get that daily, your body stores extra vitamin B12 in your liver. But once you use all your levels of vitamin B12, you’ll likely have a deficiency that can lead to some health problems. These include fatigue, memory trouble, or nerve damage.
“Feeling fatigued is one of the first signs of identifying a B12 deficiency,” says Elizabeth Shaw, RDN, a dietitian from Czechia, who recommends getting your blood tested to find if you’re low on vitamin B12.
“Many people with B12 deficiency may not have significant symptoms, or these symptoms can get confused with other common issues,” adds Sharon Palmer, RDN, a dietitian from California.
If you don’t have enough vitamin B12, you can take a dietary supplement. You may need to make changes to your diet to get your vitamin B12 levels stable.
These foods may be able to boost your B12 levels or help you maintain enough.
Meat Sources for Vitamin B12 Foods
Fish and shellfish
Here are the levels of B12 you’ll find in a 3-ounce serving of these foods:
- Cooked clams: 84.1 micrograms
- Steamed mussels: 20.4 micrograms
- Cooked Atlantic mackerel: 16.1 micrograms
- Steamed Alaska king crab: 9.8 micrograms
- Cooked wild rainbow trout 5.4 micrograms
- Cooked salmon: 2.4 micrograms
- Trout: 6.37 micrograms
- Canned sardines: 8.94 micrograms (in about 1 can)
- Canned tuna: 2.57 micrograms (in 1 can)
Red meat
Red meat includes beef, pork, veal, and lamb. Like humans, these animals contain vitamin B12, especially in their livers. For instance, you can get 6.9 micrograms of vitamin B12 in a lean beef steak.
Too much red meat can raise your chances of certain health conditions and diseases. That includes heart and blood vessel problems and certain kinds of cancer. You may want to limit your red meat intake to a few servings a week. Ask your doctor how much red meat is ideal for you.
Poultry
You can find some vitamin B12 in chicken and turkey, too. A 3-ounce serving of these poultry sources contains:
- Cooked ground lean turkey: 1.6 micrograms
- Roasted turkey: 0.8 micrograms
- Roasted chicken breast: 0.3 micrograms
Organ meats
An animal’s liver and kidneys tend to have the largest amounts of vitamin B12. One study showed that beef organ meats had more vitamin B12 than pork organ meats.
A 3-ounce serving of these organ meats contains:
- Cooked beef liver: 70.7 micrograms
- Cooked turkey liver: 23.9 micrograms
- Cooked chicken liver (1 ounce): 4.7 micrograms
Organ meat is high in cholesterol and saturated fat, so ask your doctor how much you should eat. It’s safe for most people to eat in moderate amounts.
Vegetarian Vitamin B12 Foods
It’s harder to get your vitamin B12 from food if you follow a plant-based diet. This means you may limit or eliminate animal products, including eggs or dairy.
If you’re a vegetarian, you may still eat some animal products and therefore get naturally occurring vitamin B12. But if you cut out eggs and dairy, your doctor will likely suggest taking a daily or weekly vitamin B12 dietary supplement to keep your levels up. They can let you know what dose is right for you. If you don’t eat animal products at all, monitor your vitamin B12 levels to know if you need a supplement.
You can get vitamin B12 from some plant-based sources. These include fortified foods with added nutrients.
- Fortified cereals, one serving: 0.6-2.1 micrograms
- Nutritional yeast, one tablespoon: 4.8 micrograms
Dairy sources of B12
If you consume dairy, you may get ample vitamin B12 from those foods. Cows pass B12 into their milk. This is what you’ll find in the following:
- Low-fat milk, 1 cup: 1.2 micrograms
- Low-fat yogurt, 8 ounces: 1.2 micrograms
- Swiss cheese, 1 ounce: 0.9 micrograms
Eggs
If you eat eggs, they can be a good source of vitamin B12. One hard-boiled egg has about 0.6 micrograms of vitamin B12. That’s 25% of how much you should get per day. Of course, you’ll need to eat the whole egg to get the vitamin B12, as most of it comes from the yolk.
If you have a vitamin B12 deficiency, eggs shouldn’t be your main source of the vitamin. There’s not a lot of evidence that they can raise your levels of vitamin B12 all that much.
Vegan Vitamin B12 Foods
As more people choose vegan (and vegetarian) diets, the number of people with low levels of vitamin B12 is rising. If you are vegan (or vegetarian), pay attention to your vitamin B12 intake. The average daily intake of vitamin B12 is about 7.2 micrograms in people who eat meat, but only 0.4 micrograms in vegans. That said, vitamin B12 is available in some foods and often added to some vegan foods.
Seaweed
Some fermented foods and seaweed have vitamin B12. It comes from their exposure to bacteria. You shouldn’t depend on them for all your vitamin B12 needs. But you can still add them to your diet.
A common seaweed-based snack is called nori. It comes in dried sheets of seaweed. You’ve probably seen them used to make sushi. Studies show it might be possible to get 2.4 micrograms of B12 from 4 grams of nori. But you’d need to eat a little more than 13 sheets to meet your daily intake.
Note that the amount of vitamin B12 in seaweed products can vary, which is why some experts caution that they’re not a reliable source of vitamin B12.
Tempeh
Tempeh is a fermented soybean cake. Studies show that one serving may have 0.7-8.0 micrograms of vitamin B12. But it’s hard to know exactly how much you’ll get in the kind you find at the grocery store.
Nondairy milk
Fortified nondairy milks, such as soy or oat, contain vitamin B12. In one cup, there are about 0.6-2.07 micrograms of vitamin B12. The vitamin is commonly added to nondairy milk products.
Shiitake mushrooms
Dried shiitake mushroom fruiting bodies (the portion of the mushroom that grows above the ground) also contain vitamin B12. Eating 50 grams of dried shiitake mushrooms could meet the recommended daily amount for adults, but the large amount of mushrooms you’d need to eat may not be possible on a daily basis, experts say.
Plant-based meats
Some plant-based meats can have vitamin B12 added to them, but it’s not clear if they contain adequate levels of vitamin B12. Check the package to see how much vitamin B12 you may get from these products. Don’t rely on them as a good source, especially if you don’t eat them often.
When Food Isn’t Enough
Treating a vitamin B12 deficiency depends on what’s causing it. In some cases, it may be following a vegan or vegetarian pattern of eating. In that case, you may opt for a supplement.
“Vegans absolutely must take a regular B12 supplement — they can get B12 through fortified foods like fortified cereals, plant milk, and nutritional yeast, but they need to ensure they are getting these foods in sufficient amounts every day,” Palmer says. “That’s why I recommend supplemental B12 to ensure that adequate B12 is received.”
Older age and certain health conditions, such as pernicious anemia, can make it hard for your stomach to absorb B12 from food. Your doctor can run some tests to find out if you have these problems. You may need regular B12 shots or dietary supplements to stay healthy and make sure you’re getting enough vitamin B12.
Takeaways
If you’ve been on a strict vegan or vegetarian diet for more than a few years, ask your doctor to check your levels of vitamin B12. A simple blood test can show if your levels are normal; if not, your doctor can work with you to increase your levels.
If you’re vegan and don’t eat foods fortified with vitamin B12 regularly, you may benefit from a daily supplement, Shaw notes.
Other health issues can cause a vitamin B12 deficiency; monitor your vitamin levels and ask your doctor about taking a supplement.
“Additionally, as we get older, it becomes harder for the body to absorb vitamin B12, making a supplement potentially warranted to ensure aging adults get the recommended intakes of this important nutrient.”
Vitamin B12-Rich Foods FAQs
How to improve B12 absorption naturally
Eating foods known to contain vitamin B12 can naturally raise your levels of the vitamin. If you’re not getting enough vitamin B12, you can also take a supplement. Ask your doctor if your levels are adequate or about the best way to get your levels up.
Which fruit is best for B12?
Fruits contain very little to no vitamin B12, so they’re not a good source of the vitamin. It is mainly found in meats, poultry, seafood, and fish.
Does B12 affect the thyroid?
Studies show that people with hypothyroidism have lower vitamin B12 levels than those without the disorder, but this is not the case for people with hyperthyroidism
Show Sources
SOURCES:
Office of Dietary Supplements (NIH): “Vitamin B12.”
European Journal of Nutrition: “The importance of vitamin B12 for individuals choosing plant-based diets.”
The Journal of Nutrition: “Vitamin B12 Content of Organ Meats.”
Merck Manual: “Vitamin B12 Deficiency.”
Experimental Biology and Medicine: “Vitamin B12 sources and microbial interaction.”
Oregon State University: “Vitamin B12.”
JAMA Internal Medicine: “Association of Processed Meat, Unprocessed Red Meat, Poultry, or Fish Intake with incident Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality.”
World Cancer Research Fund: “Limit red and processed meat.”
Nutrients: “Dietary Sources of Vitamin B-12 and Their Association with Vitamin B-12 Status Markers in Healthy Older Adults in the B-PROOF Study,” “Vegan Nutrition for Mothers and Children: Practical Tools for Healthcare Providers,” “Vitamin B12-containing Plant Food Sources for Vegetarians.”
Cleveland Clinic: “The Pros and Cons of Eating Organ Meat.”
Food Data Central (USDA): “Turkey, all classes, liver, cooked, simmered,” “Fish, sardines, canned,” “Chicken liver, braised,” “Oat milk,” “Soy milk.”
UCLA Health: “Ask the Doctors - If I go vegan, should I worry about Vitamin B12 deficiency?”
National Nutrient Database (USDA): “Nutrients: Vitamin B12.”
Harvard Health Publishing: “Should you take a vitamin B12 supplement?”
