From: judgeparker23x@gmail.com   
      
   OregonLive.com    
      
      
   Low levels of vitamin B12 linked to autism, schizophrenia, old-age dementia    
      
   Baked Pasta.JPG    
   Baked Pasta With Cheesy Sauce is a dish that's made with plenty of nutritional   
   yeast, an ingredient that is often fortified with vitamin B12. (Grant Butler,   
   The Oregonian/OregonLive)    
    Grant Butler | The Oregonian/OregonLive By Grant Butler | The O   
   egonian/OregonLive    
   Email the author | Follow on Twitter    
   on February 12, 2016 at 2:55 PM, updated February 12, 2016 at 5:57 PM    
   comments    
      
      
      
   A new study has pinpointed a connection between low levels of vitamin B12 in   
   the brain and old-age dementia, autism and schizophrenia.    
      
   The study, which was reported last month in the journal PLOS ONE, suggests   
   that various types of neurological diseases could be caused by poor uptake of   
   B12 from the blood into the brain, since the amount of the vitamin that's   
   found in blood doesn't    
   always mirror the amount in the brain.    
      
   It's the latest in a string of studies that have looked for connections   
   between vitamin deficiencies and certain brain disorders. While there has been   
   no definitive study indicating that autism and schizophrenia can be caused by   
   a vitamin B12 deficiency,    
   other studies have found links between extreme deficiencies and an increased   
   risk of heart disease, pregnancy complications, depression and memory loss.    
      
   Vitamin B12 plays a key role in building red blood cells and the functions of   
   the central nervous system. It's found in a type of bacteria that's common in   
   soil, and turns up in animal products because they consume grass or feed that   
   has soil on it. Some    
   plant-based foods, such as nutritional yeast, can be fortified with B12.    
      
   Vitamin B12 - how to make sure you get enough of it in your diet: Going Vegan    
   Vitamin B12 - how to make sure you get enough of it in your diet: Going Vegan    
      
   And there are always B12 supplements, though recommendations for how much you   
   need to take vary from source to source. Dietitian Virginia Messina recommends   
   taking daily supplements providing between 25 and 100 micrograms, or a weekly   
   supplement with 1,   
   000 micrograms. Other nutrition experts suggest taking a daily supplement with   
   as much as 250 micrograms, or a weekly supplement with 2,500 micrograms.    
      
   Here's a tasty way to get your B12, and get dinner on the table: Baked Pasta   
   With Cheesy Sauce, which is a grown-up take on macaroni and cheese, featuring   
   a bright-yellow sauce that has a nice balance of richness from the nutritional   
   yeast, and hints of    
   tang from mustard and turmeric. Making the sauce requires a bit of elbow   
   grease, since there's a fair amount of whisking involved to keep it from   
   scorching. But when you pour the sauce over pasta and bake it with a topping   
   of breadcrumbs and even more    
   nutritional yeast, you get a dish that's the pinnacle of comfort.    
      
   -- Grant Butler    
      
   gbutler@oregonian.com    
      
   503-221-8566; @grantbutler   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)