How do vegans get their B12?!


Question: How do vegans get their B12?
My professor told us that animal protein is the only naural source of B12 and that a vegan diet is unnatural. He told us we have the 2 canine like teeth for eating meat and that our eyes face forward like a predators.

Answers:

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Just to educate your troll mind: your professor is wrong. Animals get B12 from soil which is where the microorganisms that are B12 grow. Before humans started sterilizing their vegetation, they got B12 from food that grew out of the soil.
Today B12 comes in fortified foods, seaweed, sea vegetables, and supplements.
And we don't have canines. Look at any true omnivorous or carnivorous animal. Those are canines. Your teeth would never be able to rip apart an animal's raw flesh. And forward facing eyes don't indicate we're predators. Most monkey species are mostly herbivores and they have forward facing eyes. Eagles are predators and their eyes are on the sides of their heads. We just evolved with forward facing eyes.



Bacteria that live in their intestines. B12 is a different nutrient from protein. Very few vegans ever develop B12 anemia even if they don't use supplements. The usual cause of B12 deficiency is a metabolic disorder called Pernicious Anemia where an individual lacks Intrinsic Factor (the enzyme that synthesizes B12 from the bacteria). I learned that from my Pathophysiology professor.

Humans are animals too, so why would they be the only animals that don't have B12 in their bodies?

Can your professor kill a deer with his canine teeth?

Many monkeys and apes are herbivores and have both eyes in the front of their faces. You don't have to be a professor to figure that out.

A professor doesn't necessarily know everything. I went to college and some of the professors were total jerks.

Vegetarian since 1984, married to a registered dietitian with double masters degrees in nutrition and biology, I have a bachelors in Health Information Administration and one year of nursing school.



Wow, what an uneducated and prejudice professor you have.
Vegans can get their B12 from fortified rice and soy milks. Yes, the only "natural" source of B12 is in meat. But B12 is actually found in among bacteria and algae in the soil. Vegetables have B12 on their skin when they are harvested. But since we wash off vegetables excessively before consumption, we wash off all the B12. When the animals we eat are feed vegetables, the vegetables aren't washed off, which puts the B12 inside them and thus on our plate.
Many people actually find the vegan diet to be natural. This is basically an opinion, not a fact. Many vegans are aiming for following the diet by Adam and Eve, every "seed-bearing plant" as God said in the Bible was their food.
Lastly, what 2 "canine" teeth is he referring to? Our teeth are actually very dull, flat, and tiny compared for a true omnivore.
We're predators you say? Can you imagine a human in the wild, with no technology or weapons (just themselves), trying to find and kill an animal for food? Can you imagine a human jumping on the back of a cow and trying to kill it with his bare hands? Then eating the cow raw?



Where the HELL did your professor get his degree? I hope you are not paying for that class.

B12 is not "from" animal products, it is the product of some bacteria. Since we have a sanitary environment there is little B12 left over on the skin of plant sources.

I hate the whole canine teeth argument. Anyone who actually believes this needs to re-evaluate this statement. Google search a dogs mouth. Now compare that to your ferocious human "canine" teeth".
Also, sure our eyes face forward, but look at what is actually important: Our jaw line.

Do you have a long, pointy snout so you can bite into an animals flesh? No.
Do we have the innate desire to eat raw flesh? No.
Do you see wolves and lions make their food into patties and sear it over a fire? No.
Do we have massive sharp claws or talons to incapacitate our prey? No.

If you think a vegetarian or vegan diet is "unnatural" then try this. Go into the wild without any modern weaponry(knives, guns) and try to take down a full grown cow. I'll put my money on the cow.



Our "canine" teeth as you called them, are not meant for ripping flesh. I'd like to see you take down a cow with only your fingernails and your so called, "canine" teeth. Wouldn't work out so well.

Those incisors are meant for opening the skins and rinds of fruits and veggies. Our back teeth are evolved to light grinding work for such things as fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Look at a carnivore's mouth, their teeth are not flat....anywhere. Their teeth are pointed and sharp, meant for tearing and ripping flesh that is usually torn into smaller pieces and then swallowed whole.

Forward facing eyes has nothing to do with being a predator. Look at lizards. Many species of insectivore lizard have eyes on the sides of their head. Most monkey species are herbivores or omnivores, and even the ones that are omnivore do not consume the amount of meat we do on a daily basis. Take your average omnivore monkey. The majority of their meat consumption consists mostly of insects. They may pick at a dead small animal but for the most part, they enjoy their vegetation.



B12 supposedly used to be available through plants when our soil was healthier, but it's not available in plants anymore, at least not in sufficient quantities. Several vegan milks (soy, rice, etc.) are fortified with B12, and you can get a bottle of nutritional yeast that is high in B12. We add the yeast to soups, casseroles, etc. as a thickening agent, kind of like flour.

The whole natural / unnatural argument is old and both sides have relevant points. Yes, we have canines like predators, but we also have a long intestinal tract like herbivores. It's pointless to argue about that. Humans seem to be equipped to live either as herbivores or omnivores. The relevant questions are, 1. What does 'natural' mean? and 2. What does 'natural' have to do with ethics? If natural is just what humans have done since our species appeared, then rape and infanticide could be considered natural. Let's instead look at necessity and our impact on others. Farming animals causes pain, and we don't need to eat animals to survive.



B12 is found in the 'poop' of one-celled organisms.

Animals, including human animals, get their B12 from the same places.

Why does nobody ever ask, "Where do Chimps" get their B12 from?"
or
"Where do cows get their B12 from?"

Because the answer is simple, from the food they eat, from the bacteria in their mouth, in their food, in their gut... one celled organisms are EVERYWHERE and so is their 'poop'.

If you look at the actual medical statistics on people who have been diagnosed with B12 deficiency in North American, the people who have this problem are generally meat eaters, diary eater, junk food eaters, overweight, etc. etc. They likely eat an entirely DEAD diet consisting of nearly all cooked and highly processed dead foods etc.

It's true, your professor did not do much of an investigation beyond looking in the government issued propaganda textbook from which he teaches.

Regarding: 2 canine like teeth for eating meat / eyes face forward like a predators -- what a stupid thing to say. Humans are in the APE family. I don't see apes jumping out of trees and landing on unsuspecting animals that they then kill and eat. And our canine teeth... have you ever looked in a mirror? How deep do you think your canine teeth could penetrate? 4mm? They're not for killing. Our teeth and jaws, and our entire digestive system is totally different from 'predators'.



If it's not too personal, might I ask when was the last time you caught your own food using only your own body?

Case closed.

also, I'm pretty sure most animals' eyes do NOT face forward, and I can picture several off the top of my head who could easily kill a human.

I hope you're not paying a lot for this course.



even if we do have canine teeth we don't need to eat meat.
no animal makes b12, it comes from a bacteria in the soil. since we are very careful about washing our foods we wash it off a lot

yeasts, fortified foods, like cereals, or a supplement all have b12. this always confused me cause almost all cereals are fortified with b12, not just ones sold to vegans. also, many meat eating cyclist take b12 shots.



B12 is actually made by bacteria. A lot of foods, such as soy milk and many breakfast cereals, are fortified with B12. So vegans can easily get their B12 from fortified foods, or just take a vitamin supplement.



Your professor is right. You can put aside all the eye spacing and teeth arguments for one simple fact: B12 is found only in animal products. Since humans need B12, we are NATURALLY obligated to eat animal products to survive. Today people can get B12 in pills, shots or highly processed foods. But who wants to take pills, shots or eat that junk food? Not me.

From VEGAN nutritionist Dr. Jack Norris:

"B12 is generally found in all animal foods (except honey). Contrary to rumors, there are no reliable, unfortified plant sources of vitamin B12, including tempeh, seaweeds, and organic produce. The overwhelming consensus in the mainstream nutrition community, as well as among vegan health professionals, is that plant foods do not provide vitamin B12, and fortified foods or supplements are necessary for the optimal health of vegans, and even vegetarians in many cases...."

His website is pretty straightforward that being a true vegan is not a simple thing. You really need to watch proteins, calcium, iron and, of course B12.

The people who claim B12 used to be in the soil are wrong. Cobalt is in the soil. Plants take it up and animals eat the plants, especially cows. The bacteria in their gut turns it into B12 and they store it in their flesh, which humans can eat and get B12. Humans do make B12. They just make it in a part of their gut where it passes on through without being absorbed by our bodies. Sort of like rabbits, but not quite.....

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/vita…



I do not have any idea.

http://science-pramod.blogspot.com/



take multivitamins and i tthink there are alot of juice with b12 and vitamin water im sure the drug store has b12 pills




The consumer Foods information on foodaq.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007 FoodAQ - Terms of Use - Contact us - Privacy Policy

Food's Q&A Resources