Thinking about going on a vegan diet.
yaj wrote:
> I was thinking that going vegan would be the right moral choice. I was
> wondering what suppliments I would need for this. Can I just take a
> multivitamin?
The biggest nutritional problem for vegans seems to be vitamin B12.
Apparently the body can store enough B12 to last for years without B12
in the diet. The amount of B12 that is needed is very small. But
getting that small amount is important. If you wait until need B12,
then by the time you notice that you are B12 deficient the damage to
your health can be both serious and permanent. You can be in good
health for a long time and then sudden and permanent crash.
To be on the safe side, you might want to take a B12 supplement. It
won't do harm and it might save your health and your life. If you take
a B12 supplement, don't take B12 in the form of cyanocobalamin. Better
is methylcobalamin. Cyano-B12 is more popular because it is cheaper
and because it has a longer shelf life. But cyano-B12 is inferior to
methyl-B12. In the worst case scenario, cyano-B12 acts as an
antivitamin and can cause a deficiency of B12; obviously you don't want
that. In the best case scenario, cyano-B12 is not used well.
Methyl-B12 doesn't have these problems. And it tastes better too.
There are a few other possible nutritional problems with a vegan diet.
Omega-3 might be a problem. You can get omega-3 from plant-source
foods such as flax and hemp and a few others, but that's not long-chain
omega-3. The body has to convert from short-chain and medium-chain to
long-chain, and how well it does might be a question. A safer bet
might be to take a DHA supplement. This comes from seaweed and algae;
probably the only plant-sources of long-chain omega-3. The DHA in fish
oil comes from the algae that the fish eat. Deficiency of omega-3 can
cause brain diseases.
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BTW, according to Blaylock, it is possible for a blood test to show an
adequate level of B12 in the blood but the level of B12 in the tissues
can be deficient.
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