The Study
Bioavailability of vitamin B12 in cows' milk
This study watched how well pigs absorbed vitamin B12 from milk compared to a vitamin pill form. It found the milk version was absorbed better in pigs, which gives us a clue it might work similarly in people — but we can't be sure unless we test it in humans.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
This study tested if vitamin B12 from milk is easier for the body to use than the kind in supplements.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 518 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Since pigs digest like humans, this suggests people may absorb B12 from milk better than from synthetic supplements, especially in plant-based meals.
- 2Pigs absorbed 5.5–6.8 micrograms of B12 from milk over 24 hours (8–10% of what they ate).
- 3They absorbed zero from synthetic B12 in a meal.
- 4Heating or filtering milk didn’t change absorption.
- 5Enriching milk with more B12 didn’t help either.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
British Journal of Nutrition
Year
2011
Authors
J. Matte, F. Guay, C. Girard
Related Content
Claims (5)
Pigs absorb way more vitamin B12 from cow's milk than from a lab-made version, and they don’t absorb the lab version at all — their bodies only seem to take in the natural kind.
In pigs, heating or filtering cow's milk doesn't change how well vitamin B12 gets absorbed in the gut — it's the same whether the milk is raw, pasteurized, or microfiltered.
When pigs eat a plant-based meal with synthetic B12 (cyanocobalamin), their bodies don't seem to absorb it — there's no measurable amount showing up in their gut system compared to a meal without it.
Your body needs certain important nutrients like B12, taurine, and omega-3s, and these are mostly or only found in animal foods like meat and fish — you can't really get them from plants.
Giving B12 shots to milk-making cows doesn’t make the milk any better at delivering B12 to pigs’ guts — the pigs absorb about the same amount either way.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.