B12 Stayin Alive

Ever wondered what is the best thing you have EVER cooked? I was informed by one of my sons today that he had picked my best. We calculated that I have made somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 meals for him. (Yes we were feeling very lazy about calculating exactly. It was something like 3x 365x18, minus meals out.)  So, the winner is SUPER NACHOS…what would you expect?  What I like about making them is that they are as easy as layering things on a jelly roll pan, and you can make two or three pans of it without much extra effort. Now that I know these are the plat prefere’ I’ll make them more often!

Making them with the ground beef or turkey is also a great way to get some vital vitamin B12!  Found only in meat and animal by products, B12 is necessary for the building of red blood cells, and red blood cells take oxygen to all parts of your body so that you can live. Anemia is the absence of a sufficient number of red blood cells, meaning less oxygen in the blood, and therefore problems like loss of energy. (1)  Vitamin B12 deficiency is hard to find where people have access to meat, eggs or milk,  and anyone who decides to limit or eliminate these will need to supplement.

WHERE TO FIND B12
The recommended daily intake is 2.4 mcg (micrograms) for adults, and about half of that for young children. (2) 

Beef Liver (1 slice)              48 mcg
Clams (3 oz.)                  34.2 mcg
Top Sirloin (3 oz.)                2.4 mcg
Cheeseburger (double patty)          1.9 mcg
Fortified breakfast cereal 25% of DV     1.5 mcg
Milk (1 cup)                              0.9 mcg
Egg                                   0.6 mcg
Chicken Breast (1/2)                        0.3 mcg

STORES IN LIVER
All sources are obviously not B12 equal, but more good news is that this particular water soluble vitamin can be stored in the liver for a very long time.  Therefore, you could eat one slice of liver and be good to go for awhile. Ok, maybe that won’t happen, but at least you can see from the chart where to to get what you need.

Forgive my corniness, but even though I have fond memories of growing up in the cool seventies, I’ve never wanted to B12 again. Yet if I remember correctly, SUPER NACHOS would probably been one of our fab favorites for Stayin’ Alive! Right John? (See bro in picture above.)

Molly

(1) http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/anemia/DS00321/DSECTION=causes
(2) http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitaminb12/

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