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Vitamin B12
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by Anna Royce
on March 15, 2011
From my own experience, I would urge everyone to track their blood levels of B12, and vitamin D3 also, while you're at it (ask your doctor about it at your next physical). I am currently working on fixing my own B12 level, which is severely deficient. My theory is that I always preferred plant foods to meats, so I never had much of a store of B12 in my system to begin with. Then when I went vegan 18 months ago with no meat at all, it only took me a year to begin seeing symptoms of the deficiency (exhaustion, mental fog, cravings for seafood) Once deficient, supplements have not helped me, even the sublingual ones, which may lift the level slightly, but not enough for me to see improvement in the symptoms. I just bought a vial of B12 from my M.D. who trained me to give the injections myself, every two weeks. After an injection, my energy returns, I can think straight, and I'm only craving dark green leafy veggies and whole grains and beans. If you are interested, you may want to read about it on my blog. "Coming Clean, Sometimes I Eat Shellfish" and "Odds-n-Ends, Back to School Edition" are the posts dealing with this subject. http://midlifevegan.blogspot.com . The symptoms of the deficiency accrue very gradually, so you may not notice. It's best to know for sure, with a simple blood test.
The easiest way to make sure you get enough B12 is to take a supplement. While nutritional yeast (such as Red Star) does contain B12, there have been NO conclusive study proving that sea vegetables and tempeh are reliable, and easily absorbable, sources of B12 (as suggested by Evie). You should NOT rely on those foods to get appropriate amounts of B12. Fortified cereals and "milks" are good too, but I say, better safe than sorry...
Well Alicia still takes a B12 once a week? even though she does get it from other sources. So I'm not sure that using NO B12 supplement is the way to go as she's done the research.
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