I keep hearing how important it is for people on a plant based diet to supplement with B12. Because my body chemistry is fairly delicate I tend to be particularly vigilant in trying to make sure that I'm getting the correct amount of vitamins and minerals daily.
Most people get their daily dose of B12 by consuming animal products such as red meats, cheese or milk. People who choose not to eat animal products or byproducts can supplement by taking B12 capsules, liquid or injections. B12 can also be found in nutritional yeast (only if fortified... try Red Star Vegetarian Support Formula and Twinlab Natural Nutritional Yeast... keep them in the refrigerator & out of the light - B12 is light sensitive), seaweeds (ie nori), fermented soy, & algae (ie spirulina). There is a debate that B12 from plant sources is not as readily absorbed as it is from animal sources. Some believe that taking a good quality probiotic will help you to absorb plant derived B12. However from what I've read most experts on the subject believe that plant sources will not raise your B-12 levels enough to keep you from being deficient and that taking some sort of supplement is necessary.
In his book Cure for Diabetes Dr. Gabriel Cousins has this to say about B12 “Thirty-nine percent of meat eaters are deficient in B12 and up to 80% of vegans and live-food eaters are deficient in B-12 after six years"... the body stores B12 in the liver so if you have spent most of your life eating a standard American diet and are new to live foods you probably have enough B12 stored in your liver to see you through until you figure out which type of B12 is right for you - however - Dr. Cousins goes on to say... "it is absolutely essential that we supplement with this nutrient. Research has found that vitamin B-12 is also very helpful in maintaining proper function of the nervous system in individuals with Type-2 diabetes. Increased levels of B-12 were closely correlated with reduced oxidative stress in individuals with poor blood sugar control. People’s needs for for B-12 are quite variable, and stress plays a big role in those needs. Vitamin B-12 deficiency can result in memory loss, depression and numbness or burning feelings in the feet…
From an article Dr. Cousins wrote on B12 for Living Foods.com he suggests....
"My suggestion, out of my concern for all of my clients, for my fellow live fooders and vegans is that it is well advised to supplement with an actual B-12 human active supplement. There are vegan B-12 supplements, which allow us to be totally successful vegan live fooders. My general recommendation is that if you have symptoms of B-12 deficiency, you can even start with a 100 pg. injection, or according to the research, an oral administration of 1,000 pg. per day for two to four weeks is equal to repeated monthly injections. After about a month of the oral, the dose can be cut in half. One can even cut that in half again. I don't really recommend nutritional red star yeast, because of the fungal potential; I think that the safest and healthiest approach is via supplementation."
If you would like to read more about what Dr. Cousins has to say on this topic you can find an article at www.living-foods.com (the link below)
I use two websites on a regular basis that have excellent nutritional information databases.
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