What is Cobalamin (Vitamin B12) and What Does it Do?
Cobalamin is the fancy, scientific name for vitamin B12. Its main ingredient is actually the chemical element, cobalt. Its a hard, silvery white element that is used not only in creating super alloys for parts in gas turbine aircraft engines, but also for coloring glass a deep, rich blue to make the highly prized cobalt blue collectibles. Oddly enough, the word cobalt comes from the German word kobalt or kobold, meaning evil spirit. Apparently miners in the 1800s have thought the name appropriate because cobalt was not only poisonous, but it also had a tendency to pollute and degrade the other elements they were trying to mine, elements like nickel. Miners disgruntlement aside, cobalt, in small amounts, is actually essential to many living organisms, especially humans. And when were talking about cobalt in terms of its biological role, we call it cobalamin or vitamin B-12. This vital nutrient was first isolated from a liver extract in 1948. Up until that point, eating large amounts of
