Drinking RO Water Regularly Causes Vitamin B12 Deficiency
As per recent research and studies people who drink RO (Reverse Osmosis) water regularly may suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency.
Drinking RO water is very common among households, especially people living in urban areas or metropolitan cities, where fresh groundwater is not available or is not allowed for individuals to extract directly through water pumps or motors.
What Study Says?
A study conducted recently by SSG Hospital has discovered that drinking RO-purified water is very risky.
During the Reverse Osmosis process along with impurities in the water, cobalt is also removed from water which is an essential compound of vitamin B12.
And the reduction in cobalt leads to low absorption of vitamin B12 available in the diet due to low mineralized water leading to chronic atrophic gastritis.
RO also removes microorganisms responsible for the “endogenous production of Vitamin B12 directly or indirectly.
The study was conducted on 160 patients having B12 deficiency and 160 with normal B12 limit and later it was concluded that those who drink RO water regularly experienced 3.61 higher odds of vitamin B12 deficiency compared to non-RO water drinkers.
Also Read: What Happens if You Drink Too Much Water: Side Effects
As per the doctors, RO can clean around 97% of bacteria, viruses, and other unwanted elements from the water that can cause serious health problems.
RO purifiers have micro particles that are smaller than 10 microns and remove impurities in water.
Doctors also said “The consistent RO water consumption, means the possibility of developing vitamin B12 deficiency, the study revealed. It is also revealed that B12 deficiency can cause unnatural skin darkening and even hyperpigmentation.
Deficiency of Vitamin B12 Can Cause
As per John Hopkins Medicine, Vitamin B12 deficiency causes anaemia, a condition in which your body does not have enough healthy red blood cells.
B12 makes the red blood cells carry oxygen to all parts of your body and without these, your tissues and organs do not get enough oxygen. Folic acid, also known as folate, is another B vitamin.
Symptoms Vitamin B12 Deficiency
Lack of Vitamin B12 in your body can cause various health problems. Though the symptoms may vary from person to person but few common are.
- Weight Loss
- Weak Muscles
- Trouble in Walking
- Nausea or Diarrhea
- Increased Irritability
- Fast Heart Rate
- Loss of Appetite
- Smooth and Tender Tongue
- Lack of Energy and Feeling Fatigued
- Numb or Tingling Feeling in Hands and Feet
However, if your lifestyle and living conditions are like that you are bound to drink the RO water to avoid water-borne diseases, and then you can keep adding Vitamin B12 to your regular diet. So that you do not face any health problems due to lack of that.
Though, mostly non-veg food contains a high amount of Vitamin B12, and vegetarian food also has. Here we brought the list of food that are rich in Vitamin 12, you can consume them regularly to meet your Vitamin B 12 daily requirements.
Vitamin B 12 in Vegetarian Food:
- Milk
- Cheese
- Yoghurt
- Beet Root
- Mushrooms
- Butter Squash
- Potatoes
- Nutritional yeast
- Fortified cereals
- Fortified non-dairy milk, such as soy or oat
Vitamin B 12 in Non-Veg Food:
- Eggs
- Beef
- Pork
- Ham
- Poultry
- Lamb
- Animal Liver and Kidneys
- A few nutritious yeast items
- Fish, like Trout, haddock Salmon & tuna
Source: NIH
