Do Vegan's need B-12 and Vitamin Supplements?

I have spent a fair share of my life gulping down giant vitamin pills and chewable vitamin C tabs in an attempt to micro-manage my health and prevent communicable illness.  When my children were young, they were also subject to my "pushing" of chewable vitamins in fun shapes and colors.  Even until just recently (this morning) I thought that I needed to take vitamin B-12 from a safe and trustworthy supplier.  Everything I have read and studied about the vegan diet has pointed me in the direction of supplementing B-12 as it is presumed to be absent in plant-based foods.  

Here is a good article regarding B-12, B12 Breakthrough - Missing Nutrient Found in Plants by T. Colin Campbell, PhD, 

Dr. Campbell states in the following excerpt:

1. Contrary to the most recent U.S. Dietary Guidelines, B12 can be found in plants.

2. Organically grown plants contain higher levels of B12 than plants grown non-organically with chemical fertilizers.
3. Plant roots are able to absorb certain vitamins produced by soil microorganisms, thus suggesting that plants grown in healthy soil, full of microflora and microfauna, are more nutritious.
4. Vegans - and anyone else - should be able to obtain B12 by consuming organically grown produce.
5. Evidence that plants obtain vitamins from the soil has been available for several decades.

Colins continued to site an investigative research project by Dr. Mozafar who found that vegetables grown with organic matter contained more B vitamins than those grown with chemically fertilized soil.  B vitamins are taken up through the roots of vegetables where the soil's microflora manufacture B vitamins.  Wild herbs and fruits are thus higher in B vitamins than their commercially grown cousins.

Another good article, The Vitamin B12 Issue, sites several resources regarding B-12.  It is clear that people need to support healthy gut flora through diet and organic raw foods.  In defense of a vegan diet, the author points out that meat eaters have been known to be more likely to have vitamin B-12 deficiency - medically understood since 1959.  This is true because animal based foods (meat and dairy) contribute to a very acidic and toxic intestinal condition which kills off the beneficial bacteria in the gut.  Grains, junk food, sugar and artificial sweeteners also create an acidic environment in the GI tract.  On the contrary, fruits, vegetables beans and legumes promote a more alkaline pH promoting a healthy gut. 

The gut health is an interesting topic and, I feel, could be the very link to health that is being missed by conventional medical treatments.  Recommended daily values of vitamin needs have been established, but what type of diet is the person supposed to eat for the estimated values?  Could it be that a vegan would require far less Vitamin B-12 than a meat eater?  If the GI tract is very acidic, then B-12 cannot be adequately absorbed - requiring more B-12.  This is comparable to a car's engine with a vacuum leak.  The engine is meant to be closed in order to run most efficiently; but with a vacuum leak, it requires more fuel to keep it running.  Perhaps the Vitamin B-12 issue is more about the condition of our gut than it is about the "fuel" we eat.

For more information on gut health, see my posts on probiotics, vegetable-ferments-and-probiotics, some-bugs-you-need-to-catch, pre-biotics-and-gi-health-2nd-brain.html

Here are three videos by Dr. Pam Popper that include talks on vitamins and supplements.  Micro-managing nutrition with vitamins and supplements is ineffective, dangerous and really expensive.  The most efficient way to provide your body with the vitamins that it needs is to get your nutrition from fresh, organically grown, plant-based foods. 

Dr. Pam Popper: Throw Away Your Supplements

The following are two more video links which Dr. Popper addresses a supplement.

VIDEO   Popper: Multivitamin and Cancer Prevention Myth

VIDEO   Popper: Iodine and Hypothyroidism

Adults are part of the childhood obesity problem!

Dr. Pam Popper's news post for today is a good one!  Adults, parents and school staff are "feeding" the childhood obesity problem.  As parents, we are challenged by our kids when we make dietary changes meant to benefit the health of the entire family.  I won't try to say anymore, here.  Just watch Dr. Pam's 9 minute video and hear for yourself how adults can perpetuation the growing obesity epidemic among children in America. 

Dr. Pam Popper: Kids are Unhealthy and Parents and Educators are Part of the Problem

My husband and I laughed at her final point, "Children don't need tall friends.  They need parents to tell them what to do and when to do it!"  It is funny - but very TRUE!  Imagine the life-long difference that you could make in your kids lives and the lives of those who come into your home and eat with you.  By preparing healthy, simple and nourishing meals, you could help someone else decide to take their current and future health into their own hands by changing their diet.  Get your kids involved in the kitchen as you prepare food.  As you prepare meals, talk to them and let them get excited about what the fresh fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains will do for their bodies.

Toxic hunger and addictive foods

Have you ever considered that some foods, touted as being healthy "diet food", could be the cause of a vicious addictive cycle that makes you overeat, feel fatigue between meals and cause you to gain weight?  Many processed foods are labeled as "low in fat and calories" or packaged in tiny little portions so that a person can only eat 100 calories of that item.  When the package is eaten, or the serving size is consumed, only a short time passes before your tummy is growling or you experience a gnawing hunger pain that can't be relieved.  If that is your problem, there is good reason for it and there is a way to eliminate the viscous cycle of hunger, small portions and starvation.  It is possible to eat unlimited quantities of nutritious food and lose weight - no more calories to count!

A person can eat more food by volume (which is lower in calories than the standard 2000 calorie American diet) by eating mostly unprocessed vegetables, beans, whole grains and fruits.  Eating such foods that are high in plant nutrients, such as dark green vegetables and legumes, allows your digestion to be satisfied longer.  Nutritionally dense foods keep you feeling satisfied between meals and your body can go into the "burn", using stored energy during the catabolic stage of metabolism.  Dr. Fuhrman explains the two cycles in the body metabolism, anabolic (the building phase during digestion) and catabolic (detox and repair while living off stored glycogen) phases.  In this audio interview with Dr. Fuhrman, you can learn how nutrition density will help break the addictive hunger that comes from eating a poor diet. 

Why You're Addicted to Certain Foods, Joel Fuhrman

The following video presentation that Dr. Neal Barnard gives is especially informative with regard to food addictions.  He offers a great variety of information in this presentation, so if you don't have time to watch it now, be sure to come back and view it when you have some free time.  The foods that trigger an addictive or drug-like response in the brain are: Chocolate, Cheese, Meat and Sugar.

Dr. Neal Barnard:  Chocolate, Cheese, Meat and Sugar -- Physically Addictive

For more information and resources regarding food additives that cause illness and food addiction, see my blog post on Food Additive. . . and Bread tips and Hidden MSG

Prenatal and infant diet determines long term health

The foods that a pregnant mom consumes significantly influences the long term health of her child.  In fact, studies have shown great benefit to the child's life long health when the mother's diet has been nutritionally stable for at least 2 years prior to pregnancy.  

  

Eating a high sugar diet can influence the developing baby to lay down more fat cells in order to accommodate the elevated insulin in mother's blood.  This determines the baby's number of fat storage cells for his or her lifetime. 

 
Consumption of dairy, animal and high fat foods can leave gaps in the nutrition which is needed for the baby's development.  

Low consumption of vegetables and fruits prior to and during pregnancy has been linked to the most common childhood form of leukemia (ALL).  

Leafy green vegetables, essential to everyone's diet, are of particular importance to pregnant and nursing women in order to provide support to the baby's immune system.

Eating plenty of raw vegetables while breast feeding helps to inoculate the baby's digestive tract with good bacteria which support immune system function, prevent diseases and protect from development of food allergies. 

Click on the link below and watch the 3 minute video of Nick Delgado, PhD, talking about how the infant's diet can affect his or her health for a lifetime.  

Infant's Diet Affects Life-Long Health!

Nick Delgado made a reference to Nathan Pritikin.  I have posted a link below to a private interview by Dr. McDougall with Nathan Pritikin in 1982.  Pritikin's wisdom was far beyond what standard medical doctors would recommend for dietary treatment or solution to common diseases.  He addresses a wide range of diseases (from heart disease to cancer) that can be corrected by changing the diet to whole grains, beans, peas, fruits, vegetables and potatoes while  omitting all animal protein and dairy foods.  He tells the story of one of his patients who had a rare form of stomach cancer that was completely reversed.  The patient lived beyond the cancer diagnosis.  His emphasis about dairy is clear, linking dairy to disease and stating that it is an unnatural food because humans lack the ability to digest it.  He also states that infants should not consume any food other than mother's milk up to age 6 months to prevent development of a food allergy.   This interview is VERY GOOD - don't miss it!  Nathan Pritikin: A Casual Conversation with Dr. McDougall

Lentil soup

Lentils are mild in flavor, protein rich, high fiber, filling and easy to digest.  For those who have trouble digesting beans, lentils are the best choice within the bean family.

We enjoyed a visit with "soon-to-be" family members over the weekend.  It was refreshing to be able to eat someone else's cooking and know that it was whole food and plant based to accommodate our dietary changes.  Some new recipes were put together for us and I now have a new menu item for our rotation of meals at home.  This lentil soup recipe, from www.allrecipes.com, has become a new favorite soup.   

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lentil-Soup/Detail.asp

The hostess who made the soup for us made a couple of additions that tweaked this recipe with fantastic flavor.  She added one teaspoon of ground cumin and the juice of one lemon. FANTASTIC!

Insulin like growth factor
One great health benefit from eating beans comes from the bean's ability to lower the insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in the blood.  Insulin like growth factor is a hormone, secreted by the liver, which inhibits the death of unhealthy cells - allowing flawed cells to grow and reproduce.   IGF, therefore, contributes to the growth of cancer cells and to advanced aging.  Eating animal protein elevates IGF-1.  Eating a plant based diet which includes beans helps to keep IGF-1 at normal levels and gives the body cancer fighting powers!

Oat burgers - oh my goodness!

They look like hamburger patties but they are meatless.  Made with simple ingredients, these "burgers" can make a filling meal in just 30 minutes.  Serve them up with a bun or on a bed of lettuce.  Add some sliced tomato, black olives, avocado, sweet onion, pickle, ketchup and mustard and you have a very affordable meal.  The best part is that these "burgers" contain zero artery clogging animal fat.  

The recipe comes from the Amazing Discoveries website.  There is a link below  that gives the recipe as well as a video to demonstrate how these burgers are made.  (I omit the nutritional yeast in this recipe.) 

http://amazinghealth.com/oat-burgers

No Nutritional Yeast!

I have stopped using nutritional yeast as well as Bragg's Liquid Aminos as these two flavorings have been the culprit of my brief episode (two weeks) of heartburn.  Nutritional yeast is naturally high in free glutamic acid - like MSG - which triggers heartburn for me.   I am suspicious that the Liquid Aminos may also contain free glutamic acid because I get the same reaction (heartburn) after eating foods that contain Liquid Aminos as those containing hidden MSG.  So those items are off my grocery list!

What is so great about Oats?

• Good source of Manganese, selenium and essential minerals.
• Contains antioxidant avenanthramides which protects against heart disease.
• High in fiber which prevents colon cancer and heart disease.
• Enhances immune response to infection.
• Helps to stabilize blood sugar, lowering risk of type 2 diabetes.
• Contains plant lignans (along with other whole grains) which are converted by the intestinal flora into different types of mammalian lignans.  One important lignan, called enterolactone, is being studied for its protective benefits against breast and other estrogen dependent cancers.  This plant lignan is also present in cabbage and other leafy green vegetables.
• Oats are very low in gluten - the protein found in wheat, barley and rye - which causes allergy problems in some immune deficient children or people with Celiac disease.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=54

Dates! Delicious and Nutritious!

My husband and I have recently started a love affair with dates - particularly Medjool dates.  These delightful dried fruits have become one of our favorite daily snacks.  They are soft, slightly chewy and very sweet, making us feel as though we have eaten something like candy (caramel candy).  However, dates have much more to offer than a piece of candy could ever provide in the nutritional realm.  Dates provide a source of potassium, manganese, magnesium, vitamin B-6 and fiber.  

Potassium  There are many benefits to increasing your potassium intake.  Just 4 dates a day can provide enough potassium to aid the kidneys in eliminating sodium, reducing blood pressure and reducing the risk of stroke by 40%.  Potassium is also essential for nerve and muscle cell action throughout the body. Because potassium is an electrolyte, it functions to conduct the electrical impulses that make muscles work - including the heart!  An inadequate level of potassium can result in muscle cramps and spasms or fatigue.  A dangerously low level of potassium can affect the heart's rhythm.

Energy boost  The natural sugar combined with the dietary fiber in a serving of dates provides a good energy boost.  I personally do not notice a blood sugar spike after eating a couple of dates.  My opinion is that the fiber in the dates allows the sugar to be digested more slowly than a refined sugar which goes to the blood stream too quickly.  

Fiber  Well now, we all know what fiber can do for a person.  The risk of colon cancer and heart disease goes down as fiber intake goes up.  A daily dose of dates is a very effective way to keep the digestive tract moving!  An efficient GI tract promotes better overall health, more energy, clear skin, and better mental function.