Transcript Of Today's Episode
Announcer: You're listening to The Doctor Is In Podcast, brought to you by Martinclinic.com. During the episode, the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be, it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr.Martin: Well, good morning, everyone. And once again, welcome to another Live. Hope you're having a great day. Good start to your day. We're going to talk about B12 [00:00:30] this morning. New study out on vitamin B12. Now, here's the headline. Here's the headline before I give you the other headline. Here's the headline. There's not enough B12 in the plant kingdom to feed a mouse. So remember that. One of the most important vitamins, B12, I don't care about all the other Bs, [00:01:00] but B12 is the most important of your B vitamins. You can't live without B12. You'll never do well without B12. And it's not in the plant kingdom.
Now, if that's true, think about that for a minute. That's true, and it's only really found in red meat, if that's true, and it is, by deduction, why would anybody [00:01:30] tell you not to eat steak? Think about that. If B12 is found in the animal kingdom and more particular, in steak, or red meat, then why on God's earth would people, because I read another article yesterday. Don't have red meat because it'll give you cancer. Don't have red meat because it'll give you heart disease.
My word, [00:02:00] think about what is being said there. So you're never going to hear it over here. You'll never hear it over here. It doesn't make any sense that God would put B12 in red meat and then tell you not to eat it. It doesn't make any sense. You need B12. Here's the other headline. So one headline is B12 not found in the plant kingdom. There's not enough B12 in the plant kingdom [00:02:30] for a mouse. If anybody that you know is a vegetarian or is a vegan, they must take a B12 supplement. And we'll talk about that in a minute. They have no choice.
If you are on almost any medication, from diabetic medication to a statin drug, to high blood pressure medication, to whatever, almost all of them, [00:03:00] especially if you're on an antacid of any kind, like for acid reflux or whatever, anything that would affect the stomach. But almost every medication, you know what it does? It wipes out the B12 in your body. B12, first of all, if you look at the structure of it, the molecular structure of B12, it is a huge vitamin. I call it a finicky vitamin. [00:03:30] It's finicky because, even on the best days, it's not easy to absorb. And that's why I've always said that 75, 80% of the population is low in B12.
Now, again, let me just put a little thing out there. When you get blood work done, almost all blood tests will do a B12. A routine blood test. The problem with serum B12, [00:04:00] first of all, it's very unreliable and your body does well when you're not normal in B12. Remember, this is a hundred years old that test. Not quite a hundred, but just about. You need to optimize B12. Optimize B12 for everything in your body.
We'll go over some symptoms, possible symptoms if you're of low B12. Symptoms, [00:04:30] where you're actually having some effect. The problem with B12 is that people don't realize that when you're low in B12, that certain things happen in your body. Let me go over a couple of them. And this is the other headline, by the way. The study that came out on B12, low levels of B12 decrease your immune function. Low levels of B12 decrease [00:05:00] your immune function. How is that? Well, according to the study, if you're low in B12, you produce less, less white blood cells and more particular, natural killer cells. Well, that affects your immune system.
There's two, more than that, but two main things when you look at your immune system in terms of white blood cell. One of them are called natural [00:05:30] killer cells. They go after cancer cells, more than anything else. And then you have T cells. Those are your Navy SEALS. They come out of your lymphatic system. They're white blood cells that are kamikaze pilots. They're Navy SEALS. They're scared of nothing. They go after bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Those are called T cells. Natural killer cells. They like more going after cancer cells and [00:06:00] destroying them. If you're low in B12, your immune system's not going to be firing on all cylinders.
Now, we already know what vitamin D does, but B12 is an important vitamin. B12 is an important vitamin. And one that we rarely ever talk about in terms of B12 deficiency is the immune system. Now, we're well aware, of course, of other factors of B12. Anemia. [00:06:30] See, a lot of people think anemia is a lack of iron. I'm more, to me, when you have less red blood cells, yeah, iron is a factor, but it's a cofactor. The biggest thing in production of red blood cells is B12. It's B12. And so it's important to understand that.
The [00:07:00] best source of B12 is vitamin S. I want you to eat your B12. But many, many, many people have to supplement their B12, because they don't eat red meat, or they're on medications, or they have trouble digesting. That's a big issue. B12 is a large structure vitamin. It's a finicky vitamin. [00:07:30] And again, lots of people are deficient. If you're not, and this is where I like blood work, if you're not between 800 and 1200, you're deficient. Now, that's not going to show up on your blood work that it's not going to be flying. Because I think it's 200 to 500 in there, or five something, there in that range. It's extremely low B12, extremely low. And you're not going to drop dead immediately [00:08:00] from a lack of B12, but you're not going to be at the top of your game.
And now this study shows that your immune system won't be at the top of its game. You see why I always come back to eating vitamin S. It's essential. And not only the fact that it has heme, iron, H-E-M-E, it has B12. Nevermind all the amino acids in it. B12 [00:08:30] is essential. It's essential for your brain, to bring oxygen to the brain. B12. Neurologically, it's a neurological vitamin. This is why diabetics have so much trouble with neuropathy. One of the reasons is that they're extremely... See, if you're a diabetic and you take Metformin, for example, which is one of the most popular medications. I saw online [00:09:00] the other day, this doctor, I have a lot of respect for, but he is in big, big, big time into Metformin. Loves Metformin. Metformin is a diabetic drug. And yeah, it's probably saved a lot of people's lives. And I understand why he likes it. He's a physician. That's what he knows. And he likes Metformin to [00:09:30] control blood sugar.
But I always tell people, look, if you're a diabetic, there's only one thing you need to do. And that is cut out glucose. Because you and carbs don't get along. You got a bad relationship. Break it off. It's food. It's food. So when they give you Metformin, I understand why they do it. They want to control your blood [00:10:00] sugar. And it does. Metformin, probably better than any other medication on the planet, controls your blood sugar. I know. But it doesn't fix the problem. You can fix it. You can fix diabetes, because it's a problem with food. So, I can understand physicians. They're in love with Metformin. The problem with Metformin, 100% for sure, and they would all agree with [00:10:30] this, except they don't tell you about it. How could you ever leave a doctor's office with a prescription for Metformin and not giving you advice to take B12? If you're taking an antacid, the Purple Pill, Rolaids, TUMS, even over the counter, anything for antacid, you're low in B12. You don't need a blood test. You're just low in B12.
So again, [00:11:00] why don't they put on the label, "Oh, by the way, when you take this medication to lower your acidity, we highly recommend that you take B12." I remember, our family doctor, Dr. [Bootay 00:00:11:16], he had B12 in his doctor's bay. I mean, everybody and their dog used to get a B12 shot. That was the favorite medicine of physicians [00:11:30] in the 1950s. My wife is a nurse. She gave out more B12 shots than you can shake a stick at. I remember my grandma and my mamia getting a B12 shot all the time. And they gotten away from it now. I'm not saying it, it's rare. What have I said to you folks? If I could get into every senior home, what two vitamins would I take [00:12:00] with me? Vitamin D and B12. You want to see people get better? Give them vitamin D and give them B12. Especially as we get older. B12 is a water-soluble vitamin.
"Oh, Dr. Martin, I got too much B12." So? What does it mean? I remember a physician, she was actually one of my patients, but [00:12:30] she called me one afternoon and she said, "Doc, so-and-so, your patient and my patient, has very high B12." I said, "Good. That's what I'm aiming for." "What?" That's what she said to me. "What?" I said, "Well, I aim for a high B12." "What?" I said, "Doc, I'm going to give you B12 101." "Okay." She was very open. Very, very nice. Very [00:13:00] open to some teaching. I said, "B12 is a water-soluble vitamin. You don't have to worry about overdosing on B12." There's nobody sitting in the waiting room at the emergency department, "Why am I here? Oh, I got high B12." It don't happen. Why? Because your body only takes what it needs. It's water-soluble.
And by the way, I'm just [00:13:30] going to say a by the way, vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. But so what? What's that mean? They've scared the daylights out of people with fat-soluble vitamins, like vitamin D. Vitamin D, by the way, is a hormone. It really isn't a vitamin. We classify it as a vitamin, but it's a hormone. You can't live without vitamin D. And again, the waiting rooms [00:14:00] are not full of people with vitamin D, even though it is a fat-soluble vitamin, as classified. But I'm not too big on that, because it's a hormone. You're a human solar panel. But your cells, all of your cells in your body, they're looking for vitamin D, but they're also looking for B12. So don't forget that. Don't forget that. This is really important.
And again, it's only found [00:14:30] in red meat. Any other source of B12 is for mice, not for humans. You need B12. And optimize your B12, especially as you get older. There's a lot of people, they have what they call the intrinsic factor, they don't even produce a factor that is needed to break down B12. A lot of people are like that. So you're not going [00:15:00] to go wrong taking B12. You're not going to overdose on it. You can't. You can't. You're not going to overdose on B12. It's a water-soluble vitamin. You'll pee out what you don't need. Your body's smart. It's very intelligent.
Now, I just want to read a few symptoms that you could possibly get. And this is taken from page 64 [00:15:30] of my book, The Reset. I'm just reading it. I'm actually advertising the book. It's called subtle advertising. Thank you, again, for making The Metabolic Reset the number one selling book in Canada. It is number one on the hit parade. Thank you. That's you guys doing that. We appreciate it. Now, let me read to you from page 64 [00:16:00] some of the possible symptoms.
How could you know, perhaps, that you're low in B12 without a blood test? And again, I'm not big on the B12 blood test. They ought to get a new one. I was more looking into nitric oxide, but we'll talk about that. Did you see the email we put out on nitric oxide this morning? Such an important substance that your body makes. [00:16:30] You need B12 for good nitric oxide. Nitric oxide relaxes your blood vessels so that you get more blood volume. Lowers your blood pressure if your nitric oxide levels are good. B12, let me read, just reading it to you. B12 makes your nerves work properly. And therefore, people that get numbness and tingling are often [00:17:00] low in B12. A lot of people who are diagnosed with carpal tunnel have low levels of B12, and they usually have elevated levels of insulin. Watch out for numbness and tingling.
Like I said, diabetics often suffer from neuralgia, tremors. People ask that question a lot of times. I see it several times a year. "Doc, I've developed [00:17:30] a tremor." And of course, you're always thinking of Parkinson's or whatever, but oftentimes, it's low levels of B12. Numbness and tingling around the mouth, symptoms around the mouth, a funny feeling, a perverted type of feeling within the mouth, is often signs that you're low in B12. Brain fog, confusion. That's what I was talking about. B12 brings oxygen to your brain. Have a vitamin S. [00:18:00] Have a steak, and you're going to increase your oxygen to your brain.
Depression. And I've said this to you in the past. Whenever we looked at depression, whenever I had a patient with depression, there were some very common denominators in terms of their workup when we used to do their lab test. They were low in vitamin D. They were low in B12. [00:18:30] They were often low in magnesium. They almost invariably had high levels of cortisol. They almost invariably, well, without very little exception, where they had low levels of omega-3, they had very high insulin. Those were depressed patient with B12. Common denominator. Your eyes, visual disturbances. Your body needs B12.
Now, there can be other things, but [00:19:00] B12 is common with that. Your eyes, you need B12. See why I love vitamin S? Heart palpitations. You feel that. Oftentimes, that's a sign of low B12. And I've talked to you about atrial fibrillation in the past where people are not eating enough. Ladies, ladies, I'm talking to you. Oftentimes, you'll get heart palpitations because you're eating too much chicken [00:19:30] and not enough steak. Chicken's good, but it ain't steak. Chicken's good, but it don't have B12. Your heart needs B12. Your heart needs CoQ10 too. You know how you get CoQ10? Vitamin S. Your body makes CoQ10 when you eat steak. Seriously.
Shortness of breath. [00:20:00] Thousands over the years. They just tell me they're short of breath. They just feel like they're sucking for air. I remember a guy in the office, that's what he said to me. Didn't say, "Hey Doc, I got shortness of breath." He said, "You know what, Doc? I'm sucking for air all the time. Just can't seem to get a deep breath." B12. Here's another classic sign. [00:20:30] You're yawning all the time. That's a reflex. In the middle of the day. Yawning. Your body is sucking for air. Headquarters is saying, "Give me some more of that oxygen." Because your blood hasn't got that pure oxygen that it needs. It has some. Your brain wants as much oxygen as you can give it up there. So your brain's reflexes you to start [00:21:00] yawning. You're tired before bed. That's normal. But not if it's in the middle of the day and you see people yawning all the time. It's a classic sign that their B12 is low.
Now let's talk about supplementing with B12. This is very important, very important. For you to get B12, [00:21:30] you need to take a sublingual supplement, first of all. Sublingual. Look at our Blood Boost, for example. Well, you don't take Blood Boost for B12. I love Blood Boost. If you can find a better liquid multi, or a vitamin, mineral, herbs, and everything that I love to build up your blood, if you can find something stronger than that, let me know. I don't think so. [00:22:00] But if people are low in blood, I tell them, "Look, you need to take a separate B12 supplement. And it needs to be in a sublingual form."
Look, here's what they've proven, okay, guys. Because I've given lots of B12 shots over my career. But supplementing with B12, because at one time, it was the only way [00:22:30] to get B12, was you had to take an injection of B12. And you can give yourself a B12 injection, but I'm going to tell you what the science is showing. That actually, and I'm a big proponent of this, take B12 every day. If you need B12, take it every day and take it in a sublingual form. Very important. It's even better than giving yourself a shot. Now, you can give yourself a shot, and some doctors still [00:23:00] give B12 shots. God bless them. At least they're thinking. But the sublingual form, where you let it melt in your mouth and preferably under your tongue, it goes into your bloodstream. That's why they give you a B12 shot. They want it to go directly to your bloodstream and not past your stomach. Because like I was saying to you, B12 is a very finicky, very different molecular structure vitamin.
[00:23:30] So if you're taking a B-complex, and do you ever hear me talking about that? No. I want you to eat your B vitamins. But B12, I separate all the time because it's one you need to do in a sublingual form. Either take a B12 shot or a sublingual B12, which is better than the B12 shot. Why? Because you take it every day. You take it every day. And I believe you need to top up your B12 every [00:24:00] day. If you need B12, top it up every day. This is what we know about it. And make sure that it is a methylcobalamin. A methyl. Look at your label. And it's methyl, in a sublingual form. That's your best. And you know we put out one with 6,000 micrograms. Very high. But it's a water-soluble vitamin. You're better to be high than to be low.
[00:24:30] So just to recap. Even your immune system needs B12, nevermind just making oxygen. Your nerves need B12. Your brain needs B12. Your emotions need B12. That's why people that are depressed are very low in B12. Oftentimes, with cortisol, high stress, it knocks B12 out of your body, because it's a stress vitamin. So that's our little teaching [00:25:00] for today.
Now, any questions that you have, if you want, you can add them to our Friday list, Question and Answer Friday. You guys are so smart. A lot of times I am going to go in and answer, or even Nick and Jeanette or Brandy, whatever, they're going in to answer in our Martin Clinic Facebook group, and you guys have already answered. I like that. I'm going to let our club give the [00:25:30] answer to that because they already know it. It's amazing how many times you guys write, "Well, I know what Dr. Martin would say."
So we appreciate that, our little club, the Martin Clinic Facebook group. Thousands of you are on that. And if you're not part of that, you can join today, and sign up your friends and sign up your family. We appreciate that. And you can hook people onto the podcast. And a lot of people [00:26:00] can't watch us live. They can certainly come back on Facebook and watch it live at a later point, but another way is to download the podcast. You can get it automatically on your smartphone. I'm not that smart, but my phone is pretty smart. That's what it called, the smartphone. Ooh, I don't know half the things on it. I get nervous whenever I have to. That's why I don't touch the screen because I'm going to knock the show [00:26:30] off. You guys are great. We love you dearly. Thank you for the birthday wishes. I'm not telling you how old I am. Okay, talk to you soon.
Announcer: You've reached the end of another Doctor Is In Podcast, with your hosts, Dr. Martin, Junior and Senior. Be sure to catch our next episode. And thanks for listening.