What about vitamin B12?

[mihai_alexandru73]

I've heard that there are many vegans who supplement B12 weekly or daily. If the raw food diet is the natural diet, then why do we need artificial supplements? :mad: I don't want to take any supplements. Do I have to eat vegetables uncleaned to get B12 or what? I'm a little confused on the subject.

[ShantiLove]

Im all for taking a good B12 supplemet. Methytcobalamin is surpose to be the bedst form.
Here is a good article by Gabriel Cousens on the subject:
http://www.treeoflife.nu/whyb12

[nellie]

I've heard that there are many vegans who supplement B12 weekly or daily. If the raw food diet is the natural diet, then why do we need artificial supplements? :mad: I don't want to take any supplements. Do I have to eat vegetables uncleaned to get B12 or what? I'm a little confused on the subject.

B12 is an organism found in the soil. Herbivores get their B12 by ingesting small amount of soil. Humans though tend to clean their fruits and veggies obsessively so no guarantee that you'll get any B12. I wouldn't really suggest eating unwashed fruits/veggies but a vitamin supplement isn't a bad idea. I supplement rarely but still do it.

[Amberly]

I take Jarrow Formula B-12. I was thinking I was deficient a few weeks ago, and I may have been correct because I feel 1000% better since I started taking them. I take 1000mg every other day, but I think I can cut back to 1 or 2 per week.

[rockstar135]

I cannot stress enough how important taking B-12 is for vegans. I know someone at a vegetarian board I frequent who had two vegan friends who got desperately ill from B-12 deficiency because they were taking stuff like spirulina for B-12 instead of a supplement. A supplement won't hurt you. Even having sub-clinically (not low enough to drive you into a coma or anything drastic like that) low B-12 can cause brain shrinkage, and it does in many long-term veggies. Taking B-12 keeps me feeling well and vibrant.

[Colorawdo girl]

B-12 is a must for non meat eaters.

[jurence]

I've heard that there are many vegans who supplement B12 weekly or daily. If the raw food diet is the natural diet, then why do we need artificial supplements? :mad: I don't want to take any supplements. Do I have to eat vegetables uncleaned to get B12 or what? I'm a little confused on the subject.

Because cavemen ate meat. Eat raw fresh meat or take b12 supplement.

[mihai_alexandru73]

What? Aren't humans supossed to be herbivores? If we are herbivores, then it means we will not get ill on a herbivore diet, but if we get ill, it means that we're not herbivores! :mad:

Saying that humans are natural herbivores and then getting supplements is stupid for me, I need some explanations.

[freshlight]

I don't think we need any supplements at all: the raw vegan diet has everything we need. I know two meat eaters who were deficient on v.B12.one of them almost died....that deficiency got nothing to do with the vegan diet imo.
Enjoy :)

[mihai_alexandru73]

Well, all the meat, dairy and eggs was good for something... at least I now have big stores of B12 so I have enough time to investigate the problem.

[klomasius]

Sigh,

the reason a large portion of the population is B12 deficient is NOT because of people abstaining from meat and dairy (in fact the general population, including meat eaters, suffer from B12 deficiency).

It's mainly because of our unnatural practices with regard to hygeine and obsessive washing and irradiating of of fruits and vegetables.

It's also because of modern farming practices that basically strip the soil of good B12 producing bacteria.

Organic fruits and veg will have far more B12 producing bacteria on their surfaces. And I for one do advocate not being obsessive with washing organic fruit/veg. I eat a lot of it unwashed actually.

However, I definitely advocate taking a B12 supplement, and take one semi regularly. Also, get a blood or urine test yearly to check levels.

[freshlight]

Well, all the meat, dairy and eggs was good for something... at least I now have big stores of B12 so I have enough time to investigate the problem.


there is no problem at all. Just enjoy the RAW BEAUTY :D

[mihai_alexandru73]

Sigh,

the reason a large portion of the population is B12 deficient is NOT because of people abstaining from meat and dairy (in fact the general population, including meat eaters, suffer from B12 deficiency).

It's mainly because of our unnatural practices with regard to hygeine and obsessive washing and irradiating of of fruits and vegetables.

It's also because of modern farming practices that basically strip the soil of good B12 producing bacteria.

Organic fruits and veg will have far more B12 producing bacteria on their surfaces. And I for one do advocate not being obsessive with washing organic fruit/veg. I eat a lot of it unwashed actually.

However, I definitely advocate taking a B12 supplement, and take one semi regularly. Also, get a blood or urine test yearly to check levels.

What are the ill effects of eating vegetables and fruits unwashed?

[klomasius]

What are the ill effects of eating vegetables and fruits unwashed?

From organic fruits and veg? None that I know of.

We eat a lot of unwashed produce in our family and seem to have very good immune systems with no allergies.

I've not looked at studies on eating unwashed produce, however studies done on children raised in 'clean' and 'unclean' environments indicate a significant rise in the levels of asthma, allergies and general sickness in children raised in an environment where exposure to dirt and germs were kept to a minimum.

Children exposed to dirt, soil etc who played in and consumed this seemed to fair significantly better with regard to the above ailments.

Anecdotally this seems to pan out in the children I know. I allowed my son to get down and dirty on the ground (much to my ranting, objecting rational mind) as did many others I know. These children have grown up extremely healthy with very few ailments.

It makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Modern germ theory has only been around the last 100-150 years. Before this, in the entire evolutionary history of humans and our predecessors, people weren't much chop at washing foods.

We've evolved alongside soil bacteria to the point it even seems to do us good.

[mihai_alexandru73]

Well, I'm gonna look into this more thoroughly in the near future. If I start eating unwashed food now, the rants and rational mind (superstition) responses of my family would reach climax. It's 'bad' enough that I eat raw potatoes. Does anyone here eat raw potateos, BTW?

So if you eat unwashed food, you're able to get vitamin B12? This makes a little sense because no animal washes its food and they remain very healthy.

[klomasius]

Mihai, I urge you to also take a B12 supplement.

These will simply ensure that you get adequate B12. You don't want to mess with B12 deficiency, it can permanently affect your neural system.

Get tested regularly too, especially if you decide not to supplement.

[mihai_alexandru73]

So you get B12 out of unwashed food, OK?

I heard that B12 stores in ex meat eaters, dairy, egg eaters etc are very high and they will last for even 30 years. That's why I'm not worried about it right now.

I only turned up raw recently BTW, about 1 week ago. Before that I was ovo-lacto vegetarian and I was only for a few months... before that I was a meat eater...

[klomasius]

Yes, you can get B12 from the bacteria on unwashed organic produce, but the levels can vary dramatically and I wouldn't be relying on that as a sole source of B12.

And yes, B12 levels can last for several decades, but this depends on what your stores of B12 were like before, and how well you absorb B12. It can last as little as 6 months in some people with low stores and absorption problems.

[girl81]

Regarding blood testing: I've read that high folate intake can mask b12 deficiency.
I for one have tons of folate in my diet.