"Aaron" wrote in message
om...
"Michael Balarama" wrote in message
...
"ta" wrote in message
.. .

"Michael Balarama" wrote in message
...

"usual suspect" wrote in message
...
ta wrote:
Is there any reason a proper, healthy vegan diet cannot supply
all
of
the
necessary vitamins and minerals without supplementing?

A lot of planning would have to go into such a diet to assure
getting
the proper RDA of vitamins and minerals. One would especially have
to
pay attention to zinc, iron, and B-12. In the real world,
supplementation *is* necessary since most veg-ns don't pay
attention
to
what they eat except to make sure their food has no animal parts.

because of the mass farming, pollution and stuff-there are not all
the
vitamins we need in the vegetables and fruit..it is a good idea to
supplement...

Michael, you hit on a key secondary question that I was hoping to
address
as well. That is, to what extent, if any, has the quality of human
food
degraded to the point where supplementing is necessary? Naturally (no
pun
intended) human beings didn't always have vitamin pills, nor did they
probably need them. In other words, shouldn't we be able to get
absolutely
everything we need from the food we eat, and if not, why not? You hit
on a
couple of reasons, but if you have any specific sources on that, I'd
appreciate it.

This might hlep-Eric the Programming director at our TV station-is a
vegan...
I asked him for help...
From what I was taught, you are correct, the soil is depleted of
nutrients
due to innappropriate commercial use of land. Also, we thoroughly wash
the
fruits and veggies, which counteracts us getting the bacteria we need
that
produces B12 in our colons. I don't have specific sources, but I would
start him off on Dr. Schulze's stuff. As for books, tell him to look up
Herbert Shelton (a pioneer in natural hygiene movement in america.

Eric













The reason I ask is because it seems entirely "unnatural" to have to
take
supplements. Thanks.



This is an interesting discussion to me because I work with a
supplement manufacturer that frequently comments about the issue of
soil depletion, and why this makes it so important to take supplements
(like theirs). I've never been completely clear if that angle is
"junk science" for the sake of marketing more product, or if there's a
factual basis.

I'd be real interested to know if anyone can direct me to independent
research that backs this up factually...

Aaron

Here's one source I came upon:

http://www.healingwithnutrition.com/s264.html