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<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>Bluejeans84</strong> <a href="/forum/post/2880261"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style=""></a><br><br>
So, I have a few questions about vitamin b12. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/smiley.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="
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1) Where to herbivorous animals get b12, since they don't take supplements?</div>
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From what I've read, most herbivores and most animals in general have B12 already growing and multiplying in their gut. Humans are one of the few species who can't actually absorb this because it's too far down in our intestines, but many other species can.<br><br><br><div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">2) I've heard that there were vegans ever since the creation of humans, since they didn't have supplements, where did they get b12?</div>
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That sounds like an exaggeration or downright lie to me. This is the kind of propoganda that hurts the vegan movement more than it helps. For all known intents and purposes, what we call veganism is a relatively recent social phenomenon that solidified in its current form in the 1940's. There have been sects of humans who eat very few animal products for centuries, but that's not the same as being vegan.<br><div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">3) I constantly get "supplements aren't natural". Are there any counter arguments for this other than what they're doing isn't natural either?</div>
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From Jack Norris' website:<br><br><div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">To be truly healthful, a diet must be best not just for individuals in isolation but must allow all six billion people to thrive and achieve a sustainable coexistence with the many other species that form the “living earth.” From this standpoint the natural adaptation for most (possibly all) humans in the modern world is a vegan diet. There is nothing natural about the abomination of modern factory farming and its attempt to reduce living, feeling beings to machines. In choosing to use fortified foods or B12 supplements, vegans are taking their B12 from the same source as every other animal on the planet – micro-organisms – without causing suffering to any sentient being or causing environmental damage.<br>
\t Vegans using adequate amounts of fortified foods or B12 supplements are much less likely to suffer from B12 deficiency than the typical meat eater. The Institute of Medicine, in setting the US recommended intakes for B12 makes this very clear. “Because 10 to 30 percent of older people may be unable to absorb naturally occurring vitamin B12, it is advisable for those older than 50 years to meet their RDA mainly by consuming foods fortified with vitamin B12 or a vitamin B12-containing supplement.” Vegans should take this advice about 50 years younger, to the benefit of both themselves and the animals. B12 need never be a problem for well-informed vegans.<br>
\t Good information supports vegan health, pass it around.</div>
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<div class="quote-block">4) Are there any reliable vegan sources of b12 that we just don't eat enough?<br><br>
Thanks for taking time to look at this. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/grin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="
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Yes. Supplements and fortified foods.<br><br>
Relying on the hyperbole and misinformation that vegans "don't need as much B12" or "B12 can be gotten from seaweed" is performing a dangerous experiment and a gamble with your health.<br><br>
There's no good reason for any vegan not to take B12 supplements. It's a gamble not to.
