Abstract
Dietary intake studies of nutrients demonstrated that Japanese elderly people ingested enough amounts of vitamin B_<12> from certain foods. However, there is a high prevalence of low vitamin B_<12> status in this age group worldwide. Gastrointestinal absorption of vitamin B_<12> from foods is decreased in elderly people because of a high prevalence of atrophic gastritis with a low acid-pepsin secretion, which reduced release of free vitamin B12 from food proteins (food protein-bound vitamin B_<12> malabsorption). As the ability to absorb crystalline vitamin B_<12> remains intact in the elderly people with atrophic gastritis, elderly people should try to obtain vitamin B_<12> from crystalline vitamin B_<12>-fortified foods or -supplements.
