beth@umcp-cs.UUCP (02/01/84)
Last night I was reading a book titled something like "Eating for the 80's"
in which the authors (I can't remember names or qualifications) discussed the
one real objection to a vegan (no animal product) diet -- lack of B-12.
Apparently your body can store it for quite a while, and you can live on your
reserves. They suggest taking a supplement made of non-animal products for
it if you could find it. That is difficult, but they said that some health
food stores may have enriched yeast (Brewer's, I assume) that has B-12 added
to it somehow although the yeast does not produce it.
I'm one of those people who has cut back on my meat eating to try a variety
of foods. I still eat meat, but I'm fascinated by the variety of foods my
mother never fed me. Experimenting with food is fun. Besides, I seem to feel
fuller while eating fewer calories when I don't eat meat. But I also take a
multi-vitamin with iron every day to fill in the gaps I may have missed.
--
Beth Katz, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Computer Science Dept.
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!beth
ARPA: beth@maryland CSNET: beth@umcp-csmarcum@fortune.UUCP (Alan M. Marcum) (02/07/84)
Be VERY CAREFUL when considering taking any of the individual members of the B-Complex! The B-Complex is just that -- a group of nutrients that work together. Individual B vitamins, when taken alone, can have drug-like effects, sometimes severe. (One example, if I recall, is severe depression among some pregnant women supplementing, under doctors' supervision, with B-15. Several of the women committed suicide because of the depression!) Alan M. Marcum Fortune Systems, Redwood City, California ...!hplabs!hpda!fortune!rhino!marcum
eugenez@azure.UUCP (Eugene Zinter) (02/22/84)
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* Subject: B-12 Deficiency *
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Just to save some people a few missing heartbeats due to the possibility
of a B-12 Deficiency---it's not what it's made out to be. I suspect
mostly to sell more B-12 supplements.
Those experts who are worried because some people choose to eat a vegetarian
diet don't seem to know (or choose to ignore) the full facts. "They" assume
that one must obtain vitamin B-12 from food or drink. That is totally false
because of one often overlooked fact:
The bacteria that live within your digestive tract
(intestine) produce vitamin B-12 that you use.
The people who risk actually having a vitamin B-12 deficiency are, of
course, those who use antibiotics regularly (those who get sick often).
Because the symbiotic bacteria (the friendly ones) are killed also,
you cut yourself off from the best source of B-12 of all---produced by
bacteria within your own body. There may also be other ways of killing
these bacteria. Garlic, for instance, is known to be powerful enough
to kill bacteria---so those who are eating it regularly to fend off
colds, may be harming themselves in other ways. Most likely, your
total life style affects these bacteria, whether it be in a positive
or negative fashion.
Since the B-12 requirement is incredibly low (from 1 to a few
micrograms per day), it is easily met by said bacteria.
I will get back to this with more specific information in the
near future. Along with some interesting health "bombshells".
ECZ