Confused about D vitamins, stearic acid, etc.

[ArwenA]

Okay, I thought I had this all straight, but now I'm really confused. After reading an earlier post about vitamins, I thought I understood that for vegans, it was "D3 bad, D2 good." So then I looked up D vitamins in the book Where It All Vegan and they state that both D2 and D3 can come from animal fats. I just changed my O.J. brand and have been cleaning out the vitamin cupboard, so I'd really like to get it right.

Also confusing is stearic acid, which I know can come from animal or plant sources. If the label doesn't explicitly say "vegetable source," can I assume that it's not? This stuff is *everywhere*... it's scary!   Where It All Vegan states that stearic acid is "Fat from cows and sheep and from dogs and cats euthanized in animal shelters, etc. Most often refers to a fatty substance taken from the stomach of pigs." Totally gross! Needless to say, I want to avoid this stuff

Here are the "other ingredients" of the B vitamin complex I've been taking. The label clearly reads "Vegetarian," and lists "Cellulose, stearic acid, cellulose & glycerin coating, magnesium stearate, silica, vanilla." So since the front label says "vegetarian," can I safely assume that the stearic acid and glycerin are from veggie souces? Or should I just give up and order all guaranteed vegan vitamins online? I haven't seen any of those vegan certified labels at Whole Foods. Do they even carry guaranteed vegan vitamins at Whole Foods?

Sorry to go on so long! Someone mentioned in an earlier thread that becoming a vegan is a process. This is reassuring, because I certainly have a lot to learn!

[mabelkitty]

I agree! It seems like the process is day-by-day. I had no idea vitamin D was 1) primarily animal-derived and 2) so confusing to figure out!

Currently, our vitamins say "vegetarian" (which we got at Whole Foods, btw) but now I'm wondering what, if any, animal products are lurking within them. When we're through with this bottle, I think I'll order the vegan vitamins online. It will save me a headache!

I was also curious about a vegan B vitamin. The B vitamins I normally take (PharmAssure, from Rite Aid) don't appear to have animal products in them... but they don't say "vegetarian" so chances are they have some animal component. They ran out last week and I haven't replaced them yet.

Sheesh! We're not asking for too much, are we? Just some vegan vitamins, for cryin' out loud...

[Erin Pavlina]

www.kidbear.com. That's what we use here. And they taste great too.