VITAMIN B12! Just Read on Soflavegans

[jmksesholtz]

Veggies run risk of strokes for lack of vit. B-12
PALLAVI POLANKI
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2004

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=780050

PUNE: Widespread deficiency of Vitamin-B12 among vegetarians is
leading to a growing incidence of stroke and heart attacks among
young people, warn doctors.

Deficiency of Vitamin-B12 increases the concentration of a chemical,
called homocysteine, in the blood, which causes blocks in arteries
and veins.

These blocks, in turn, are responsible for heart attacks and strokes.
"More and more young people are getting heart attacks and falling
prey to strokes. Invariably, it is Vitamin- B12 deficiency caused by
a pure vegetarian diet that is leading to this medical condition,"
said Sudhir Kothari, neu-rologist at Poona Hospital.

According to Kothari, incidence of Vitamin-B12 deficiency among pure
vegetarians has gained epidemic proportions.

Rustom S Wadia, neurologist at Ruby Hall clinic, has this to say:
"There is no doubt that it is a huge phenomenon. Nearly 70 per cent
of vegetarians have Vitamin-B12 deficiency. And 70 per cent of the
cases of strokes that I have come across are due to this deficiency."


Wadia has been studying the phenomenon for over five years and has
presented a paper titled 'Strokes associated with hyper
homocysteinimia'. Says Jagdish Hiremath, cardiologist at Ruby Hall:
"There is an increase in the abnormal clotting of blood among pure
vegetarians.

Young people without a history of either diabetes or hypertension, or
those suffering from a heart attack out of the blue is clearly due to
Vitamin-B12 deficiency."

Deficiency of the vitamin can be detected by a blood test: the normal
is 250 units.

Alternately, a blood test for homocysteine will also suffice: while 5
to 15 micro-mols
per litre of blood is normal, anything above 20 micro-mols of the
chemical is abnormal.

"There are incidences where the concentration is as high as 70
micro-mols," said Hiremath. According to experts, this phenomenon has
become pronounced in the last five years. There are many reasons
attributed to the growing incidence.

Previously, there was a practice of people taking vitamin injections,
but that has stopped of late. "Also, consumption of extremely pure
water rid of all bacteria could be one reason," says Hiremath.

And, according to Kothari, the fall in the consumption of milk could
be a factor. Vitamin-B12 is absent in a pure vegetarian diet. It is,
however, present in milk and all animal products.

Thus, vegetarians have to take Vitamin-B12 supplements in the form of
either tablets or periodic injections.



What does everyone think. As far as I was concerned I am a fit for life follower and as long as you eat your varities of veggies and fruit, you shouldn't have a defeciency of anything. Is this another ploy by people who just want to prove anything against vegans. I don't know, I am upset. I feel there are just people who do not know the answers to problems, then they look to always blame it on non-meat eating.

I am not sure if there are any fit for life followers out there but here is page 101. All facts, he bases everything on facts.

" One last issue must be addressed: vitamin b12. Supposedly, if you don't eat meat, you'll develop a vitamin b12 deficiency. Poppycock! Where do the animals whose meat we eat get theirs? Vitamin b12 is found in plants in very small amounts. But the way vitamin b12 is secured is primarily from that produced in the body. The stomach secretes a substance called "intrinsic factor," which transports the vitamin b12 created by the bacterial flora in our intestines. The vitamin b12 issure is part and parcel of the entire protein myth. Where so the cattle that supply us the meat and milk get their b12? Supposedly we will parish without meat or dairy products. Without any sources to show this false except our common sense, we could discount it. However, there are numerous sources, some of which are listed below. Our actual need for vitamin b12 is so minute that it is measured in micrograms (millionth of a gram) or nanograms (billionth of a gram). One milligram of vitamin b12 will last you over 2 years, and healthy individuals usually carry around a five year supply. But here's the rub: Putrefaction hamper the secretion of "intrinsic factor" in the stomach and retards the production of vitamin b12. So flesh eaters are more apt to develop a vitamin b12 deficiency than vegetarians! This has been known for some time and was discussed in part in a report entitled "vitamins of the b complex," in the 1959 United States Department of Agriculture yearbook. The propaganda states just the opposite.

[jmksesholtz]

In addition, more info.

In it's "Technical Suport Paper on Begetarianism," the American Dietetic Association stated that deficiencies may be due more to the difficulty of assimilating vitamin b12 than to its lack of availability in the diet. In Vegan Nutrition: Pure and Simple, Dr. Michael Klapler writes, "Most of the concerns over vitamin b12 adequacy in the began diet (those eating no animal products whatsoever) seem to be more theoretical than real, and most vegan people seem to grow and function very well without ever taking a vitamin b12 supplement." Dr. Kapler is a vegan medical doctor who has been treating vegans for over a decade. His recommendation is that "because vitamin b12 deficiency, though unlikely, can be serious, and because the measures to prevent it are simple and essentially rish-free, all people using the vegan nutrional approach should ensure that they ingest a reliable source of vitamin b12 at least three times weekly." He cites as reliable sources b12 fortified foods such as breakfast creals, breads, pastas, soymilks, soy meat "analogs," and texturized vegetable protein (TVP). Other specialist recommend adding fermented soy products to the list, as well as homegrown vegetables whenever available. They also maintain that fresh sprouts or micoalgae such as spirulina, blue green algae, or chlorella supply vitamin b12. (These are wholefood supplements available in health food stores.) If a person worries about vitamin b12 and wishes to be sure this nutrient is present in his or her diet, Dr. Kapler recommends that a vitamin b12 supplement, from vegetable sources and averaging 25 micrograms, be taken once a week. For children, tablets (in crushed form) or powders can be added to gravies, soy milk, fruit juices, or smoothies. These are the more conservative, precautionary measures I present. In my opinion, the research has up until now focused too heavily on animal sources of vitamin b12, as has been the case with many other nutrients we were once told we could not get from the plant kingdom (protein, for example). What is necessary is further research on plant sources after which the vitamin b12 issue will very quickly become a non-issue. Concerns over this nutrient will be laid to rest, jsut as worries over adequate sources of protein and calcium from the plant kingdom have been laid to rest.

[jmksesholtz]

Excuse some of my spelling errors, it is really late 1:00am and just trying to get this in quick.

Spelling error:
"Technical Support Paper on Vegetarianism".

There are probably more errors, Sorry!!

[Fiona]

Hi Kathy. I agree with the Times of India information. I presume the figures mentioned relate to vegans/strict vegetarians in India (where maybe they are less likely take supplements/eat fortified foods).

I think the issue of elevated homocysteine levels has only recently come to light. I've read about it in a book published by the Vegan Society called 'Plant based nutrition and health', and elsewhere. Previously many people thought that B12 could be supplied from certain vegetables and some fermented products but current thinking suggests that these sources are negligable/unreliable. So the solution is either using a B12 supplement or consuming fortified foods.

Here's some more info from the UK Vegan Society:

http://www.vegansociety.com/html/food/nutrition/b12/

Hope that helps.

Fiona

[annie7]

That's why even though I make my own soymilk, I still buy Silk. I can't get my daughter to take a vitamin for anything, but she drinks soymilk like there's no tomorrow. If she's drinking alot, I sometimes mix it half Silk, half homemade. Cereal is fortified, too.

[vegma]

I started giving my 4 yo a B12 supplement recently. He doesn't alway drink 2 cups of Silk per day, the organic/whole grain/low sugar/low salt cereal we buy is not B12 fortified (duh!), and he won't eat meat analogs! Plus the RDA for B12 is considered the bare minimum. Check out the dietician question/answer section of this site for more good info on B12.