Vitamin B12…The Big Mystery

I thought I should bring up B12 right away. B12 is the ONE vitamin that you truly cannot get enough of in a pure vegan diet. It is also a very important vitamin, particularly if you’re into brains and the nervous system… and we clearly are into brains and the nervous system in this house.

If you want to learn a bit about B12 from a simple source, here is the Wikipedia reference for B12. 

So you must be wondering, if a vegan diet means no B12, this could cause such major problems! Why would a brain surgeon not only allow, but also recommend a vegan diet? Well, because it is easy to get. Most grain products are fortified with it, as are most nondairy milk products. There are plenty of supplement options for kids and adults as well.

What I always wondered, though, was if this is way of eating is good for me, why is there one deficient vitamin? I knew God or nature or whatever you want to believe in would not screw up that badly. 

I found out about a decade ago that there is a simple answer to this question. It’s that vitamin B12 is a soil vitamin. Back in the day, humans and other mammals did not spray their foods with deadly pesticides nor were they very worried about things like food contamination. In other words, they just picked some fruit or lettuce and ate it. They might have wiped it off, but they did not wash the heck out of it. There was always a little dirt in the diet and so B12 was abundant. 

As it is in the SAD (Standard American Diet), people consume the animals that consume the unwashed produce. They concentrate the vitamin B12 (and the pesticides and antibiotics and everything else they ingest), so it is easy to get B12 if you eat the animals. It is just as easy (and far less disgusting) to get it from a supplement or B12 fortified product, though.

I like the VegLife Vegan Kids Multiple for insurance purposes. There are plenty of others available, too.

Oh, and please ask questions! I need ideas for posts!

 

Toodles!