Vitamin B12 For the Blues

Higher concentrations appear to help depression.

By Colin Allen, published on December 01, 2003

Here is something good for your heart andfor your smile. Vitamin B12 appears to aid the treatment of depression. People with higher concentrations of the essential vitamin in their blood may have more success in overcoming the blues, according to research published this December in the journal BMC Psychiatry.

Jukka Hintikka, a professor of psychiatry at Kuopio University in Finland, and colleagues measured vitamin B12 levels in 115 subjects with major depressive disorder. Measurements were taken at the beginning of treatment and then again six months later. A variety of antidepressants were used in treatment, and most participants also saw a therapist throughout the study.

At the end of the study, participants were grouped according to treatment success. Those who improved the most had higher vitamin B12 levels. This was the case even when other major factors—such as smoking and drinking habits, type of treatment and a family history of depression—were taken into account.

Hintikka notes that further research is needed to explain how B12 makes antidepressants work more effectively and why some depressed people have lower B12 levels. The vitamin is found naturally in foods like fish, milk, eggs and meat, and is also usually included in fortified cereals.