I’m a vegetarian, and to be on the safe side I take vitamin supplements - in particular B vitamins. Recently I was talking to a friend who is also veggie (and infinitely more fanatical about it than I am) was telling me how the fact that vitamin B deficiency in vegetarians was all propaganda by the Evil Meat Eater conspiracy, and that the body could produce it on it’s own given a sufficiently well balanced vegetarian diet. As a cite she provided this book, pages 161 and 162. I don’t have a copy of this book unfortunately, so I can’t confirm the details of what it says.
Hyperbole aside, I was wondering if she might be correct. I’m aware that the vitamin B problem is frequently vastly overstated and, considering that there have been vegetarian cultures for however many hundreds of years, it doesn’t seem altogether implausible.
So, just to clarify the question: Does the body produce the neccesary B vitamins on it’s own, in absence of an intake of meat to provid it?
Thanks,
Kit (Who will continue taking his multivitamins regardless.)
As a strict veggie you do run the risk of being low in vit B12 especially (possibly deficient). Eating Marmite (vegamite?), miso and soya products is said to assist in raising vit B12 from a non animal source.
The body does not synthesize any vitamin, except for D, and that with the aide of solar radiation. As the prior post said, B-12 is a real problem for veggies. Soybeans have it. Otherwise, you will have to take a supplement.
There have been cases of people doing fine with no apparent intake of vitamin B-12: I say “apparent,” because there are those who speculate that these people get it from accidental ingestion of tiny insects or manure dust on their fruits and vegetables. (Just how vitamin-rich are bugs and poop, anyway?) There have also been cases of people getting permanent nerve damage. Since the liver can store enough B-12 for several years, it’s hard to get a definitive answer. I guess you’d have to lock the experimental subjects in the lab for. years, feeding them a special diet and waiting for deficiency symptoms to show up, or not. I think if I wanted to be a vegan, I’d be a vegan, but take supplements. Vitamin pills are cheap, and better safe than sorry.
It can sometimes be difficult to ensure that a supplement contains non-animal sources of B12, that’s why I suggested including Marmite (etc) in the diet.
I did some research on B-12 a while ago and one thing I learned was that it was actually made by microorganisms. This meant that both beer and bread were a source of B-12. Also, I would expect that tofu would have more than unprocessed soy beans.
Exactly how much B-12 they had I could not find out. Probably not a lot. Perhaps the microorganisms have to grow on meat or milk to produce a lot of B-12.
I remember learning about a case of severe pernicious anemia in a strict vegan. After it was corrected, the patient stated that he’d learned from the experience, and that in the future he’d avoid the situation by washing his vegetables less thoroughly.
Myself, I would rather get my vitamin B12 from meat than from animal feces.
Please keep in mind that “vegatarian” has slight different meanings to slightly different people. Hindu vegetarianism, for instance, does include milk, an animal product, which would supply B12. I would not be surprised if other “vegetarian cultures” likewise have the occassional animal-derieved product, perhaps as a sauce (Asian cultures seem to go for this) that may contain B vitamins. Would honey (also animal derieved) contain B’s? I’m talking about unrefined honey, not stuff processed and canned by modern methods. I do know some African cultures not only eat honey, they’ll eat the combs containing larvae as well (yummy, I guess). Maybe that would be sufficient. As you pointed out, you don’t need HUGE amounts, and that occassional bit of animal-derieved stuff may be quite sufficient.
Certain modern vegetarians - such as ethics-based Vegans - use NOTHING derieved from animals. They have a slightly more difficult problem than what I’ll call historical cultural vegetarianism. And there are folks even more extreme than “regular ethical vegans”. Ran across a “fruitarian” website - only fruits are allowed, but they define pretty much all seeds as “fruits” - with an article by a woman espousing “monodiets”. She went in delirious raptures about her “orange monodiet” when, she claim, she ate nothing but different varieties of oranges for months. Personally, I have my doubts that she actually did that, but certainly that is in no way a healthy or balanced version of vegetarianism.
“Because the body stores several years’ worth of vitamin B12, nutritional deficiency of vitamin B12 is extremely rare.”- Taken from here.
Also, just to let you know, there are inexpensive, non-animal supplements out there. Even if you don’t take a supplement, however, most meat and dairy replacement products such as soy milk, vegan cheeses, and tofu practically cram the stuff down your throat. I think it’s something like at least 50% of your DV of B12 per serving for most products. I almost worry about getting too much. Even for Vegans, as long as you’re eating a properly balanced diet, you should be ok.
So it’s not a myth, but it’s not something you should panic over, either.
