Plant based diet, B12& Iron deficiency

[Impregilo]

If one eats plant based diet then how to compensate for B12& Iron deficiency?

Are supplements the only option?

[TheAwfulToad]

A 'plant based diet' is not the same thing as 'vegan', Impreglio. Lots of people eat plant-based diets with adequate animal products to ensure complete nutrition.

If you don't want to do this then yes, supplements are virtually essential, especially for B12. Attempting to do without will land you in deep trouble. Seeds/legumes are probably your best bet for plant-based iron, although humans don't absorb it very well, so you need a lot of these.

You can avoid B12 deficiency by adding some dairy and eggs, and these are available from ethical sources. Hard to find, but they're definitely out there! Ethical dairy tends to be from goats.

[Matt2584 in reply to TheAwfulToad]

I eat nutritional yeast which is a source of B12 and it is vegan too :).

[TheAwfulToad in reply to Matt2584]

Well ... it might be, but not because yeast itself contains B12. It doesn't. Those "nutritional yeast" products have had vitamins and minerals added to them. The yeast is merely a carrier. This is not a very good way of getting your B12 because it's a fragile molecule that can degrade if not stored properly. If you take the B12 pills, you can be certain of the right dose.

To be clear: there is no natural plant source of B12, and you are at high risk of anemia if you attempt to do without the synthetic form.

Of course, synthetic vitamins are technically 'vegan', so no problem there as such.

[Matt2584]

People like Dr. Axe will say that B12 is only obtained from animals but this is not true.

Like you have said and many others will say, supplements are the best way to get B12 without hurting animals.

So how come I can get B12 through eating nutritional yeast and it is vegan?

[Matt2584]

Nutritional yeast is a food source for a vegan to get B12 and as some will tell you can get iron from seeds and legumes.

But it is not just seeds and legumes. You have leafy greens to like Spinach, that has iron. Now think of Popeye the sailor man :).

And when my mum was little, her mum was anaemic so of course, iron deficient and her doctor used to tell her to drink Advocaat... Guinness is another source of iron.

[Matt2584 in reply to Matt2584]

See, that’s why I like nature. Their is always another way to get what you need :).

[Kai--]

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🅱️1️⃣2️⃣: netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-eat...

. . . . . . . . • healthunlocked.com/healthye...

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Iron (non-heme) : i.redd.it/ow06bq9pvc901.jpg

. . . . . . . . • nutritionstudies.org/iron-d...

. . . . . . . . • nutritionfacts.org/?s=non-h...

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Easy peasy lemon squeezy 🍋 🗜 💦 .

If you’d like, kindly let us know how you make out, Impregilo. ☺️ 🙏 🍀 🌺 🌞

.

[Matt2584]

No, I don’t eat nutritional yeast every day but normally once a week on top of a veggie pizza :).

It certainly makes a difference with me cos it gives me more energy to do things :).

[Mostew in reply to Matt2584]

Did you mean you get more energy from n. Yeast from one serving a week !!!!

It’s so tasty I have it every day

[Matt2584 in reply to Mostew]

Yes, I did mean that.

When I first tried N. Yeast I was much more energetic and was able to get out a lot more.

But now I limit my consumption and although I might not be buzzing like I was, I still have a good amount of energy to do things.

[Michalbaner]

B12 - you absolutely have to supplement. No B12 analogues such as spirulina, algae or yeast are reliable. Lot of them dock on B12 receptors but do not have the B12 function. If youa re serious about plant based you could supplement daily 500mcg, or 1000mcg 3 times a week or 2000 mcg once a week. Preferably cyanocobalamin but you could also do methylocobalamin.

This is THE MOST crucial thing on plant based diet and lot of vegans do not supplement because they think its unnatural. Lack of B12 can lead to demyelination of your central nervous system leading to loss of limb function, neuropathies, blindness, dementia and complete paralysis. Please absolutely make sure to supplement. Or get back some meat.

Iron - This is relatively easy to get. The daily recommendation is 8.7 for adult men and 14.8mg for menstruating women. Iron is found in greens, vegetables, legumes, seeds and nuts. The dark green leafy vegetables are amazing sourced but as long as you combine meals properly, eat a cup of legumes daily, handful of nuts and 2 tbsp of seeds you are going to be good.

[Cooper27 Administrator]

If you do opt to supplement iron, I would suggest you get your iron levels tested every so often. Iron can be dangerous if we take too much. I naturally seem to have quite high iron levels, and have to be careful with vitamin C supplements, as they have pushed my levels too high in the past.

They test iron levels if you give blood, so that's an option (but this also reduces your iron levels quite substantially), or you can get private blood tests from the likes of Medichecks or Thriva

[Subtle_badger in reply to Cooper27]

NHS Blood (in the UK) will not detect high iron. It's a simple test to see if your blood sinks in a solution within a time limit. So high iron will make it sink faster, but they don't care about that, it's a pass to them. A detailed number will only be obtained if your blood sinks too slowly or floats. So it's a sneaky way to get tested for anaemia but not for high iron.

[Cooper27 Administrator in reply to Subtle_badger]

The last few times I've given blood, they've had a machine similar to a blood glucose meter, that tests a strip and gives you a number. I asked the nurse what the range was, so I could work out where my levels were, and the said over 160 was when they considered it too high. I had a few years off from donating, but I was first tested with the machine about 8 years ago They could still be rolling them out though.

[Subtle_badger in reply to Cooper27]

I haven't given for over a year - and am now no longer a donor 😢 - but the only time I saw the metre was the last time I donated, when I failed the gravity test. I have given at various mobile units and several times at West End, and they all used the gravity test.

I was shocked when saw the gravity thing, Red Cross - overseas - has been using a metre since at least the 1980s.

[Cooper27 Administrator in reply to Subtle_badger]

You would expect them to have a meter in the big centres at the very least. It may just be down to the individual health boards I guess. I'll keep it in mind if I'm looking to find out my levels this way in the future.

[Subtle_badger in reply to Cooper27]

Last time I gave (well, failed to give) was late 2018. They had a meter then, but I only know that because I failed the drop test - and was borderline on meter so was sent home.

I am surprised you have seen it 8 years ago, and got it every time, because according do this blood.co.uk/news-and-campai... they have only recently got the meter and and are using the way I described.

Way off topic: sorry everyone else!

[Cooper27 Administrator in reply to Subtle_badger]

Interesting! Well I have only donated at 2 venues over the last 8 years, so it's possible they were just testing it out and I got lucky. I had a gap of a few years between donations at one point (medication prevented me), and I started going back 18 months ago. My nearest venue is a permanent donation centre, so they have lots of bells and whistles in there.

[Matt2584]

As far as I know, Popeye didn’t cook spinach before he ate it.

I can imagine him doing so though :).

Unless of course the spinach was pre cooked before it was stored in the can.

But some things, whether it is cartoon or not can speak truth.

There are too many people who “treat” themselves with alcohol. However I don’t see them as treating themselves though. I see it as that they just want to get bladdered :).

It’s something I don’t understand really, a lot of people end up in debt or with a low amount of money because they waste it on alcohol.

Alcohol isn’t a necessity.... well, it can be if you are anaemic :).

But having said that, you don’t necessarily need alcohol to treat yourself.

Thank you for commenting my drawings.

You like the bird!

See, I could have made that one a bit better really. I kind of rushed it.

The proportions were good but the feathers looked rushed.

I enjoy living my last days to the max as possible... am I going to die sometime soon, then? :).

[Subtle_badger in reply to Matt2584]

Canning works by heating the food to kill bacteria. You could not have raw canned spinach.

🤓

[Matt2584]

Maybe canned spinach has lost or has less of the iron in it than it did but maybe Popeye was trying to teach us to eat spinach in general, not necessarily from a can.

People used to say when your a kid lEat your greens to grow up strong”.

The last time I heard something like that was probably on Spider-man the film in early 2000 :).

How many videos have I seen now of really buff vegans, too many.

I think I was in a state of depression once.

I spent 6 years of my life stuck at home doing next to nothing and this is how I lost a hell of a lot of confidence, motivation and was very antisocial.

I was on the verge of becoming an alcoholic too until my dad had a talk with me and I just stopped just like that.

I did get out of the house at times just to have a walk around the block and I think this did help. It was amazing I had the confidence to do it as well.

Then years later when I wised up on nutrition I found that getting outside amongst nature is good for depression and lifts your spirits.

I have also read a thing or two about how cashew nuts can help with depression.

I have no idea if this is true though.

There will probably be the one person or two on here that will say that information is not true and will provide a link or video discrediting the info I provided... there always is.

The world is in a fight between good and bad.

If the world was all good then every bit of info you read would be sound... but it’s not is it and that is because the bad fights back.

The way I see it, anything natural is good.

I know there are things in nature that are bad like the leaves of the deadly nightshade are bad but you know what to do don’t ya... you avoid it... simple :).

[Matt2584]

You are very lucky to have all that land and forest. I envy you.

When it comes to different information from the internet, I don’t really know what to believe these days.

Every right answer seems to counteract a wrong answer.

I don’t really trust that snopes website.

I say, if you read something about cashews benefitting you and you try it out and it works or helps, then in my book what you read is truth.

If someone else says something different then they are probably misinformed.

Like with B12and nutritional yeast, yes it may be added to the yeast but it is fit for a vegan at least. And you might have to have a lot of it but I don’t feel I need a lot of it.

B12 gives you energy and I get enough energy from nutritional yeast from my fewsprinkles of it on a pizza each week :).