methylcobalamin vs hydroxocobalamin

[davemarq71]

Hello I'm just wondering which method is best for overall absorption and effectiveness methlycobalamin or hydroxocobalamin B12?

And which one and for what reason?Only tried methly right now

[fbirder]

For injections absorption is the same for both types. Overall hydroxocobalamin is better. It is cheaper, more stable and easier to source.

Whatever form of B12 you take the first thing that happens when it enters the cell is that the top ligand (methyl, hydroxo, adenosyl or cyano) is removed. After that all form are identical.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/258...

[davemarq71 in reply to fbirder]

thank you and what about for oral tablets and sprays? Methyl or hydroxo better and more effective and why please?

[davemarq71 in reply to fbirder]

I always understood methyl was better absorbed and used by the body? the preferred source? What do you think?

[fbirder in reply to davemarq71]

I can find no evidence that methylcobalamin is significantly better absorbed than any other form when administered orally.

Methylcobalamin is easier to obtain in this form, presumably because of all the hype online that says it is the preferred form making it much more profitable.

[davemarq71 in reply to fbirder]

Ok and what do the experts say about ? Any definite or medical and clinic proof?

[davemarq71 in reply to fbirder]

methly or hydroxo is definitely better than cyano do you know?

[davemarq71]

Ok thanks.I have just always understood and read that methly is better and than cyano is inferior because its bound to a cyanide element hence making it toxic to the body.?

[Gambit62 Administrator]

which form of B12 suits varies from person to person and at the moment nobody is quite clear why. Some people do find methyl suits them others don't. Methyl really doesn't suit some people. Probably a lot of genetics as to what is happening when and where.

The hype around methyl seems to come from the fact that methyl is one of the two forms that are used in cells - methyl and adenosyl. Although it might sound as if that means that methyl would need to go through fewer processes to get to cells (which I think is how/why it gets hyped as being better) the processing of B12 to get it into your cells is actually the same which-ever form of B12 you used.

Generally people can process B12 into whichever of the two forms is needed in the cell but there have been a few recorded cases of people who have problems converting methyl to adenosyl so if their only form of B12 was methyl they have problems with all the processes that use adenosyl.

cyano gets a lot of bad publicity because of the association with cyanide. Reality is that the cyanide molecule is very tightly bound (hydroxocobalamin is used as a treatment for cyanide poisoning because it likes converting itself to cyanocobalamin - and cyanocobalamin doesn't have a lot of the very nasty side effects that other treatments. The body excretes excess cyanocobalamin easily. Amounts of cyanide that would be released when the body processes cyanocobalamin are two low to be a serious risk to health unless you have a particular sensitivity to cyanide - mainly lebers syndrome (more common in males but extremely rare even then).

Some people find that cyanocobalamin suits them better than hydroxo. In general people retain hydroxo twice as long as they retain cyano which is why it is popular as treatment in some countries ... but the huge amount of variation in the way people respond to cobalamins means that there are also significant numbers of people who retain cyano in blood better than hydroxo. Cyano is the treatment of choice in much of the americas as it is very stable.

[davemarq71 in reply to Gambit62]

thanks interesting