Guest guest Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 > I'm very bad at taking my vitamins. Since I eat every veggie you > can find and hemp, nuts, grains etc. I always fear taking too > much. I usually take them 3 times a week > Donna It really is confusing, isn't it? How on earth can you estimate how much of any vitamin you're getting from a really good vegetarian/ vegan diet? And if you take a multi-vitamin it contains some of everything, but not enough, usually. We use Red Star nutrional yeast, eat homemade fermented sauerkraut almost daily, so how much additional Vit B-12 do we need? If you Google this stuff you find a ton of conflicting opinions, advice, sales pitches, warnings, and claims. No point in asking my HMO doctor. When I told him that I was a long time vegetarian and asked if he had any suggestions to make to me, he just shrugged and told me 'you probably know more about nutrition than I do'. Not terribly reassuring. ~ irene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 My solution is this: If I feel good, I'm probably getting enough vitamins and minerals. I'm notorious about forgetting to take my vitamins. I mean really, they're a pretty new concept, and humans have been surviving for millions of years (or at least 6,000 years, depending on your view) without them. Maybe they're just another faction of our 'rely on a pill' society? I get yearly blood draws at my doctor's, and have them check for everything. My vitamin K seems to be a little low most years, but everything else is always fine. If you have insurance, the test should be covered. If not, I'd consider paying for it once a year. , irene wrote: > > > > I'm very bad at taking my vitamins. Since I eat every veggie you > > can find and hemp, nuts, grains etc. I always fear taking too > > much. I usually take them 3 times a week > > Donna > > It really is confusing, isn't it? How on earth can you estimate how > much of any vitamin you're getting from a really good vegetarian/ > vegan diet? And if you take a multi-vitamin it contains some of > everything, but not enough, usually. > > We use Red Star nutrional yeast, eat homemade fermented sauerkraut > almost daily, so how much additional Vit B-12 do we need? If you > Google this stuff you find a ton of conflicting opinions, advice, > sales pitches, warnings, and claims. > > No point in asking my HMO doctor. When I told him that I was a long > time vegetarian and asked if he had any suggestions to make to me, he > just shrugged and told me 'you probably know more about nutrition > than I do'. Not terribly reassuring. > > ~ irene > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 I don't take multivitamins, I just take a B12-vitamin as I have a known deficiency and then during the winter months vitamin D as I live that far north that I don't get any extra from the sunshine (if we have any). A balanced vegetarian diet gives you what you need, except for the B12, unless you eat a lot of products fortified with it. I wouldn't be surprised if there are many who have a B12-deficiency, even among meateaters. There is a specific blood test to see if you have a B12-deficiency or not, but I don't think it's done unless you have symptoms. As for overdoses of vitamins, the only ones that can cause problems are A, D and E, they are fat-soluble and the body can store them (that's why I don't like multivitamins), if you take too much of B and C vitamins, they are water-soluble and are flushed out. /Helga , irene wrote: > It really is confusing, isn't it? How on earth can you estimate how > much of any vitamin you're getting from a really good vegetarian/ > vegan diet? And if you take a multi-vitamin it contains some of > everything, but not enough, usually. > > ~ irene > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 The reading I've done (just in the last couple of days, online so who knows how accurate!) seems to say that most animals raised for food have to have B12 shots (as well as antibiotics and all of the other stuff they give them). So how " natural " is that B12?? Good point about multivitamins. I find it hard to imagine that anybody really knows exactly what amounts of each vitamins and minerals we need. I do think I'll check out some B12 supplements, though, just to be safe. I don't particularly want to chance the neurological damage or anemia related to deficiencies in that department! Audrey On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 12:30 AM, hsp870 <lady.nightowl wrote: > I don't take multivitamins, I just take a B12-vitamin as I have a > known deficiency and then during the winter months vitamin D as I live > that far north that I don't get any extra from the sunshine (if we > have any). A balanced vegetarian diet gives you what you need, except > for the B12, unless you eat a lot of products fortified with it. I > wouldn't be surprised if there are many who have a B12-deficiency, > even among meateaters. There is a specific blood test to see if you > have a B12-deficiency or not, but I don't think it's done unless you > have symptoms. > > As for overdoses of vitamins, the only ones that can cause problems > are A, D and E, they are fat-soluble and the body can store them > (that's why I don't like multivitamins), if you take too much of B and > C vitamins, they are water-soluble and are flushed out. > > /Helga > > <%40>, > irene wrote: > > > It really is confusing, isn't it? How on earth can you estimate how > > much of any vitamin you're getting from a really good vegetarian/ > > vegan diet? And if you take a multi-vitamin it contains some of > > everything, but not enough, usually. > > > > > ~ irene > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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