Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Jun 19, 2026 1 hour, 18 minutes ago
Medical News: A new clinical study has found that a short three-day course of methylcobalamin, an active form of vitamin B12, may help amateur cyclists generate more power, resist fatigue, and even think faster during cognitive tests. The findings add to growing evidence that vitamin B12 may influence not only general health but also physical and mental performance.
A three-day course of active vitamin B12 helped amateur cyclists generate more power, resist fatigue, and respond
faster in cognitive tests
The research was conducted by scientists from the Research Center for High-Performance Sport at the Catholic University of Murcia in Spain and Hospital General Universitario Santa Lucía in Cartagena, Spain.
Short-Term Supplement Shows Surprising Effects
Vitamin B12 is best known for its role in red blood cell production, nerve function, and energy metabolism. While deficiencies are known to cause fatigue and cognitive issues, little research has examined whether boosting B12 levels can enhance performance in healthy athletes who already have normal vitamin levels.
To investigate this, researchers recruited 18 well-trained male amateur cyclists. In a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial, participants received either 1 mg of methylcobalamin daily or a placebo for three days before undergoing a series of demanding physical and cognitive tests.
More Power and Less Fatigue
The most striking finding was an improvement in anaerobic performance. Cyclists taking methylcobalamin produced significantly greater peak power during repeated all-out cycling sprints.
Maximum power output increased by 4.1 percent, while power relative to body weight improved by 4.4 percent compared with the placebo phase. Although those percentages may appear modest, even small gains can be meaningful in competitive sports where fractions of a second often separate winners from the rest of the field.
Researchers also found that athletes experienced less performance decline across repeated sprints. The fatigue index, a measure of how much power drops during repeated maximal efforts, was significantly lower after methylcobalamin supplementation. This suggests the cyclists were better able to maintain their performance as exhaustion accumulated.
Faster Thinking Before Exercise
The benefits were not limited to physical performance. Before beginning the cycling tests, participants completed a mental agility and reaction-time challenge involving rapid responses to illuminated targets. Cyclists who had taken methylcobalamin completed the task nearly 5 percent faster than when they received placebo.
This
Medical News report highlights that improved reaction speed and mental processing could be particularly valuable in sports requiring quick decision-making, rapid responses, and sustained concentration.
Researchers believe methylcobalamin may influe
nce the nervous system in ways that improve communication between nerves and muscles. Previous studies have shown that the vitamin can support nerve repair, improve nerve conduction, and enhance neuromuscular function.
Vitamin Levels Rose Quickly
Blood testing confirmed that the supplement worked rapidly. After only three days, serum vitamin B12 levels increased by 16.8 percent. Remarkably, most participants already had normal B12 levels before supplementation, indicating that the observed benefits were not simply due to correcting a deficiency.
The study also found that cyclists with higher post-supplementation B12 levels tended to show greater improvements in power output and smaller declines in performance due to fatigue.
Importantly, no adverse effects or health concerns were reported during the study.
What Do the Findings Mean?
The researchers suggest that methylcobalamin may support both muscular and neurological functions during intense exercise. Potential mechanisms include improved nerve signaling, reduced perception of fatigue, enhanced neuromuscular efficiency, and better antioxidant defenses that help limit exercise-related stress.
Conclusion
The study provides intriguing evidence that just three days of methylcobalamin supplementation may enhance explosive cycling performance, reduce fatigue during repeated high-intensity efforts, and improve cognitive reaction speed. Although the trial was relatively small and involved only amateur male cyclists, the results suggest that active vitamin B12 supplementation could have measurable benefits even in healthy individuals with normal vitamin levels. Larger and longer studies will now be needed to determine whether these effects extend to other athletes and exercise settings.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Nutraceuticals.
https://www.mdpi.com/1661-3821/6/2/35
For the latest research on Vitamin B12, keep on logging to
Thailand Medical News.
Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/supplements
Share
Tweet
Share
