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".
ECZhxe@rayssd.UUCP (03/05/84)
Along the lines of the article that I am following up on (which
stated, in essence, that B-12 is manufactured by bacteria in your
body and that antibiotics can kill those bacteria) -
My doctor, knowing that I am a vegetarian and am unlikely to get
B-12 from red meat, etc., recommended that I take a tablespoon of
yogurt with every antibiotic I take. Since I started that, I have
had no adverse reaction (stomach problems, strange swelling of the
tongue) to any antibiotic. There seems to be no problem with mixing
the antibiotic with a dairy product (yogurt), also.
(Should this be in net.med?)
Heather {allegra, decvax!brunix, ccieng5, linus} rayssd!hxerpw3@fortune.UUCP (03/07/84)
#R:azure:-255500:fortune:2700011:000:860
fortune!rpw3 Mar 6 22:39:00 1984
DO NOT mix ANY form of dairy product (or anything else with lots
of calcium, magnesium, etc., such as antacids) with antibiotics
unless you are SURE (ask your doctor or pharmacist on a case-by-case
basis) that you are not taking tetracyclin or a derivative!
The tetracyclin will bond to the calcium in the milk/cheese/yogurt
and will never make it into your body, thus exposing you to all sorts
of ills (pun), like super-infections, mutant beasties, etc.
Some new variants of the 'mycins can tolerate the presence of alkali,
but CHECK WITH AN EXPERT FIRST.
(I used to eat a lot of Di-Gel, and the worst part about getting an
infection that needed antibiotics was watching what I ate...)
Rob Warnock
UUCP: {sri-unix,amd70,hpda,harpo,ihnp4,allegra}!fortune!rpw3
DDD: (415)595-8444
USPS: Fortune Systems Corp, 101 Twin Dolphins Drive, Redwood City, CA 94065