What vitamin do vegetarians really lack?!
What vitamin do vegetarians really lack?
I was thinking it might be vitamin E.
Answers:
Nope. It's B-12, which can be found in nutritional yeast.
It's important for a vegan to make certain of getting enough B-12. There's quite a good article on getting b-12 here
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/b12.htm...
Neither plants nor animals actually make b-12; it's made by bacteria on plants which are consumed by animals, either second hand by eating prey who eat the plants, or first hand by eating the plants. There are vegan sources of B-12 but a lack of B -12 has been linked to symptoms of multiple sclerosis, so it's important to make certain a vegan gets enough.
There are supplements in some vegan products, often not enough in and of themselves, but the key is being aware, reading labels and supplementing when one needs to.
B12 (Cyanocobalamin) from animals is a bad one and Iron is a mineral that is found in abundance in meat/fish - this is why many vegetarians look so pale.
B12
Most people get it from meat.
B12 and iron, however both can be found in supplements.
i don't lack any. i'm a vegetarian and i've always been in perfect health. in fact, i hardly ever even get sick.
They lack B 12
It's actually vitamin B12 and iron because meat (particularly red meats) are very high in the two. Take a multivitamin but also nutritional yeast is a very rich source of B12 and lots of iron can be found in leafy greens like spinach, chard or kale.
MYTH: "Vegans are at high risk for Vitamin B12 deficiency."
FACT: McDougall: "B12 deficiency is rare… Two kinds have been observed. The more common is due to malabsorption of this vitamin as a consequence of diseased conditions of the stomach or of the small intestine. It has nothing to do with the amount of B12 present in the diet, so it is treated with injections of B12. The other kind of B12 deficiency is found very rarely among people who take essentially no B12 in their diet. Less than a dozen cases of this type of B12 deficiency have been reported among the tens of millions of vegetarians in the world. One reason it's so uncommon is that B12 is made by the bacteria naturally present in the human mouth and intestines.… [In addition,] the average American has stored so much B12 in his body's tissues… that twenty to thirty years must pass before you run out of it." McDougall notes that anyone with concerns about B12 can simply take a supplement on occasion.
MYTH: "Vegetarians get little protein."
FACT: Plant foods offer abundant protein. Vegetables are around 23% protein on average, beans 28%, grains 13%, and even fruit has 5.5%. For comparison, human breast milk is only 5% (designed for the time in our lives when our protein needs are as high as they'll ever be). The US Recommended Daily Allowance is 8%, and the World Health Organization recommends 4.5%. [more on this topic, inc. chart]
MYTH: "Beans are a good source of protein."
FACT: There is no such thing as a special "source of protein" because all foods -- even plants -- have plentiful protein. You might as well say "Food is a good source of protein". In any event, beans (28%) don't average much more protein per calorie than common vegetables (23%). [more on this topic, inc. chart]
MYTH: "Meat protein is better than plant protein. You have to combine plant foods to make the protein just as good."
FACT: This myth was popularized in the 1971 book Diet for a Small Planet and has no basis in fact. The author of the book admitted nearly twenty years ago that she made a mistake (in the 1982 edition of the same book). [more on this topic
Vegan and proud, that's a filthy lie. Incidentally, if you're going to copy+paste answers, do it from a beter site.
I'm going to do something I don't do usually, and quote the vegan society site. Intelligent vegans all over the world (ie, not VeganandProud) realise that B12 is a problem for vegans.
"Most vegans show adequate B12 levels to make clinical deficiency unlikely but nonetheless show restricted activity of B12 related enzymes, leading to elevated homocysteine levels. Strong evidence has been gathered over the past decade that even slightly elevated homocysteine levels increase risk of heart disease and stroke and pregnancy complications."
"Clinical deficiency can cause anaemia or nervous system damage. Most vegans consume enough B12 to avoid clinical deficiency. Two subgroups of vegans are at particular risk of B12 deficiency: long-term vegans who avoid common fortified foods (such as raw food vegans or macrobiotic vegans) and breastfed infants of vegan mothers whose own intake of B12 is low."
"If for any reason you choose not to use fortified foods or supplements you should recognise that you are carrying out a dangerous experiment - one that many have tried before with consistently low levels of success. If you are an adult who is neither breast-feeding an infant, pregnant nor seeking to become pregnant, and wish to test a potential B12 source that has not already been shown to be inadequate, then this can be a reasonable course of action with appropriate precautions. For your own protection, you should arrange to have your B12 status checked annually. If homocysteine or MMA is even modestly elevated then you are endangering your health if you persist.
If you are breast feeding an infant, pregnant or seeking to become pregnant or are an adult contemplating carrying out such an experiment on a child, then don't take the risk. It is simply unjustifiable.
Claimed sources of B12 that have been shown through direct studies of vegans to be inadequate include human gut bacteria, spirulina, dried nori, barley grass and most other seaweeds. Several studies of raw food vegans have shown that raw food offers no special protection.
Reports that B12 has been measured in a food are not enough to qualify that food as a reliable B12 source. It is difficult to distinguish true B12 from analogues that can disrupt B12 metabolism. Even if true B12 is present in a food, it may be rendered ineffective if analogues are present in comparable amounts to the true B12. There is only one reliable test for a B12 source - does it consistently prevent and correct deficiency? Anyone proposing a particular food as a B12 source should be challenged to present such evidence."
So, in essence, even the vegan society disagrees with that vegan and proud that B12 can be got from plant foods, let alone made in the human gut, and I've seen sites that word it much more strongly; 60% of vegans have some level of B12 defficiency according to some figures (but in fairness even the article above also says that most vegans have some lack, while rarely clinical, of B12). You have to either eat meat or take supplements.
B12,as mentioned, is about the only nutrient that vegetarians really need to worry about and if you're still eating dairy and eggs, then even that's not an issue.
There are real health dangers in excess iron consumption and healthy vegetarians are usually getting enough in their diet. I tended very slightly toward iron deficiency even when I ate meat, so I take a vegetarian multiple that has a little iron in it and I'm good to go.
You shouldn't be lacking anything if you're eating a well-balanced diet. It's the junk food type vegetarians that might be missing some important nutrients.
B12 is the one most commonly lacking but you can get it from:
* Sanitarium WATERPLUS Flavoured Mineral Water
* Frucor MIZONE Sports Water
* Sanitarium MARMITE Original Yeast Spread
* Sanitarium SO GOOD soy milk: Regular, Lite, Fat Free, Vanilla, Chocolate, Soyacino, Essential
* Sanitarium SO HEALTHY Soy Sausages: Original, Country, BBQ
* Sanitarium SOY SLICES: Smoked, Garlic & Herb
* Sanitarium NOT CHICKEN Soy Fillets
* Sanitarium NOT BACON Soy Rashers
* Sanitarium SO GOOD fresh soy milk (refrigerated): Regular, Lite, Fat Free, Essential
* VITASOY fresh soy milk (refrigerated): Premium, Light, Lush, Calci-Plus
dirt also contains B12, so people who eat food harvested 'naturally', not produced in a "hygienic" way involving sprays, washing can get it
It's vitamin B-12 which is mostly only found in animal products, so taking a supplement or multi-vitamin with 100% of B-12 in it is sufficient. Or you can find soy milk with B-12 in it.
It can be a little tricky trying to get enough protein but more than anything you might look for a vegitarian source of amino acids. They help you to use the proteins. Also you might use iron skillets and take one a day plus iron which is a multi vitamin. If you do take minerals colloidial minerals would be more effective. It is a liquid formula where the minerals are broken down into very small particals, so small that around 98 percent are absorbed into the lower digestive system and used by the body. Check out www.vitaminshoppe.com The company is a huge group that all other vitamin companies sell through. Also any medical information about a vegitarins special needs and vitamins can be found at www.webmd.com\