tempeh and b-12

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

Tempeh, as previously posted, is not a reliable source of B-12.

 

here is some information from Simply Vegan,

 

Reliable Vegan Sources of Vitamin B12

 

A number of reliable vegan food sources for vitamin B12 are known.

One brand of nutritional yeast, Red Star T-6635+, has been tested and

shown to contain active vitamin B12. This brand of yeast is often

labeled as Vegetar-ian Support Formula with or without T-6635+ in

parentheses following this new name. It is a reliable source of

vitamin B12. Nutritional yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is a food

yeast, grown on a molasses solution, which comes as yellow flakes or

powder. It has a cheesy taste. Nutritional yeast is different from

brewer's yeast or torula yeast. It can often be used by those

sensitive to other yeasts.

The RDA (which includes a safety factor) for adults for vitamin B12

is 2.4 micrograms daily [4]. 2.4 micrograms of vitamin B12 are

provided by a little less than 1 Tablespoon of Vegetarian Support

Formula (Red Star T-6635+) nutritional yeast. A number of the recipes

in this book contain nutritional yeast.

 

Another source of vitamin B12 is fortified cereal. For example, Grape-

Nuts cereal does contain vitamin B12 at this time and a bit more than

a half cup of Grape-Nuts or 1-1/3 cups Grape-Nuts Flakes will provide

2.4 micrograms of vitamin B12. We recommend checking the label of

your favorite cereal since manufacturers have been known to stop

including vitamin B12.

 

Other sources of vitamin B12 are vitamin B12-fortified soy milk,

vitamin B12-fortified meat analogues (food made from wheat gluten or

soybeans to resemble meat, poultry or fish), and vitamin B12

supplements. There are vitamin supplements which do not contain

animal products.

 

Vegans who choose to use a vitamin B12 supplement, either as a single

supplement or in a multi-vitamin should use supplements at least

several times a week. Even though a supplement may contain many times

the recom-mended level of vitamin B12, when vitamin B12 intake is

high, not as much appears to be absorbed. This means in order to meet

your needs, you should take the vitamin several times a week.

 

Tempeh, miso, and sea vegetables often are reported to have large

amounts of vitamin B12. These products, however, are not reliable

sources of the vita-min because the amount of vitamin B12 present

depends on the type of processing the food undergoes [1, 5]. The

standard method for measuring vitamin B12 in foods measures both

active and inactive forms of vitamin B12. The inactive form (also

called analogues) actually interferes with normal vita-min B12

absorption and metabolism [1, 6]. Fermented foods and sea vege-tables

may contain more inactive than active vitamin B12.

 

Some vitamin B12 appears to be found in organically grown plants, but

in extremely small amounts. According to one study [7,8], more than

23 cups of organically grown spinach would have to be eaten every day

in order to meet the adult RDA for vitamin B12. Produce cannot be

depended on as a reliable vitamin B12 source because the level of

vitamin B12 in plants varies widely depending on the type of plant

and the soil in which it is grown. Also, vitamin B12 analogues may be

found in soil and absorbed by plants. If these ana-logues are

present, they could either interfere with the plants uptake of

vitamin B12 or with the usefulness of the plant's vitamin B12 for

humans.

 

(http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/b12.htm)

 

Davida

The VRG