One thing that is sometimes overlooked, is that things like antacids can reduce stomach acid so much that B12 and magnesium can no longer be obtained from food containing them.

Thus, people who use a lot of antacids could stop using so many and begin to absorb nutrients and minerals better.

People with pernicious anemia cannot control the intrinsic factor in a similar way.

I think it is interesting that without sufficient stomach acid the incidence of h.pylori increases, as well as other bacteria (according to the homeless doctor I saw after my home was foreclosed) that damage stomach parietal cells and inhibit the production of stomach acid.

I read recently that taking a Betaine Hydrochloric Acid tablet with meals actually decreases the incidence of h.pylori. But not everone can safely take these tablets or capsules.

Vitamin B12 is SO essential. (Bad English, I know. Something is either essential, or it is not.) It's just that I want to emphasize how much it is needed. So many people that I've told about it over the years don't begin taking it even though they have several symptoms of B12 deficiency. Then suddenly their doctor puts them on B12 shots and they report to me how much better they are feeling, as if this was the first time that was possible.

We give away so much of our power when we refuse to take seriously what we know about ourselves. If something is true about us, about our health, then why don't we act on that truth rather than waiting for someone in authority to decree, as it were, that yes, it's true.

I can see that we as a society want prescription drugs carefully prescribed. I can see that we must rely on our doctors in relation to prescription drugs. But even with reliance on doctors for prescription drugs, so many people die each year from those prescription drugs.

I just wish that people who can see they have symptoms of low B12, would begin using the Methylcobalamin lozenges, or hydroxy, or even the cyanocobalamin if that is all they can get. I wish people would keep track of their symptoms, and if their symptoms decrease after they start replacing B12, then I wish they would recognize that the B12 was and probably will remain something they need.

If I sound crabby, it's because I still haven't had enough rest. And, the stress is unrelenting. Maybe I'm a little better at handling it. a little.