Cyanocobalamin B12 Drops

Each drop of this liquid provides 98 mcg of cyanocobalamin, which is 3920% of the nutrient reference value. Take 1 drop per day in water with food, as the label directs. One drop is one serving, and a 100ml bottle holds 1351 servings. The only ingredients are purified water and cyanocobalamin, so the drops are vegan.

Sources: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements; product label.

Cyanocobalamin is the most common form of vitamin B12 in supplements and fortified foods, and the one behind most of the research. Vitamin B12 is a family of compounds built around an atom of cobalt, which is why they are called cobalamins; the forms differ only in the small group attached to that cobalt. In cyanocobalamin that group is a cyanide group, present in a trace amount that the body removes. It is a manufactured form chosen because it keeps well, and the body converts it into methylcobalamin or adenosylcobalamin, the two forms that enzymes use.

Sources: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.

Cyanocobalamin has no reported side effects at the amounts found in food or supplements. The trace of cyanide in its name is removed by the body and is far below any level of concern. Excess vitamin B12 is not stored: what is not used passes out, which is why no safety ceiling has been needed, and UK advice puts the level unlikely to cause harm at 2 mg a day from supplements. Observational studies have linked unusually high blood levels to poorer health outcomes, but trials giving supplements for two to seven years found little or no effect on serious illness or death rates. Anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, or taking prescribed tablets, should speak to a GP or pharmacist first.

Sources: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements; Food Standards Scotland.

Cyanocobalamin drops suit anyone who wants the standard, most-studied form of B12 for everyday use. Methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin are the two active forms and need no conversion; hydroxocobalamin is the stored form, retained in the body for longer. NIH finds no evidence that absorption differs between the forms in supplements, and no trial has shown one form to outperform another for people whose conversion is normal. Cyanocobalamin is the form NIH cites as effective by mouth at 1000 mcg a day in people who cannot absorb the vitamin normally. For an active form, see the methylcobalamin liquid; for the stored form, see the hydroxocobalamin liquid; for all three of those in one bottle, see Tri-B12. All five liquids, with the dose per drop of each, are listed together on the vitamin B12 drops page.

Sources: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements; NHS.

Cyanocobalamin drops are for people who want the standard form of B12, the same form found in most tablets, as a liquid. That includes vegetarians and vegans, who get little of the vitamin from diet, and anyone who wants to adjust the amount drop by drop. Food Standards Scotland names older adults, people who have had stomach or bowel surgery, and vegans and vegetarians as the groups most likely to run short. People who have been told they convert B12 poorly usually choose an active form or Tri-B12. Anyone who thinks they may be low in B12 should ask a GP for a blood test rather than self-treating.

Sources: Food Standards Scotland; NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.

Cyanocobalamin is most often taken with folate, iron or the other B vitamins, and no interaction with iron is listed by NIH. Folate and vitamin B12 work together on homocysteine. NIH flags one combination to avoid: a high intake of folic acid alongside low vitamin B12 has been associated with poorer mental function in older adults. Mayo Clinic advises leaving two hours or more between a vitamin C supplement and vitamin B12. Prescription drugs are the interactions that matter. Proton pump inhibitors and other acid reducers cut absorption of the vitamin from food, and metformin lowers blood levels, so anyone on regular prescriptions should ask a pharmacist first.

Sources: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements; Mayo Clinic.

Building B12 stores with cyanocobalamin is gradual. The body holds 1 to 5 mg of the vitamin, a thousand times or more the daily requirement, and a shortage takes years to develop. Absorption falls as the dose rises: about half of a dose within 1 to 2 mcg is absorbed, but only about 2% of a 500 mcg dose. In people who are short of the vitamin, a 2018 review of three trials found high doses by mouth restored blood levels. Taking the drop every day matters more than the time of day, and anyone being monitored should keep to the retest date a GP has set.

Sources: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements; NHS.

A liquid B12 lets the amount be adjusted one drop at a time, and it suits anyone who cannot swallow tablets. Tablets need binders and a coating to hold their shape; this liquid contains only cyanocobalamin and purified water. NIH finds the same result whether the vitamin is swallowed or dissolved under the tongue, so the drop can go in water or straight on the tongue.

Sources: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements; product label.