How Important is Vitamin B?

Not only are raw food vegans and vegetarians harassed about not getting enough protein, but there is vitamin B to be concerned about also. But is vitamin B really that important? Can we be healthy without it? Is vitamin B worth all the hoopla?

Vitamin B 12

First off, vitamin B is a complex of several vitamins. The B vitamin that meat-eaters dangle over the heads of vegetarians is that of vitamin B 12. Mainly because it happens to be abundant in meat, dairy and eggs– while plant foods are completely lacking of vitamin B 12. The chief importance of vitamin B 12 lies in the blood. It is responsible for making red blood cells. An individual who is anemic is said to have a B 12 deficiency. The symptoms include:

*excessive tiredness
*shortness of breath
*poor circulation
*pale complexion
*low resistance to infection

However, anemia can afflict meat-eaters as well as vegans and vegetarians, and the disease may be corrected by vitamin B 12 injections. It has also been shown that anemia is not caused by a lack of B12 in the diet, but more by the body’s inability to utilize it. This arises from deficiencies of other nutrients like, folic acid, iron, and vitamin B6.

But never fear, vegans! All is not lost. Before you run off to grab a B12 burger, there are some reliable vegan sources of B 12 vitamines. Nutritional yeast, a food yeast grown on a molasses solution, has been shown to contain significant amounts of vitamin B 12. (This is not to be confused with Brewer’s yeast, which many people are sensitive to. They aren’t the same.) Spirulina algae and nori, a seaweed used in popular nori wraps and nori rolls, have both been found to be an abundant source of vitamine B 12. Probiotic formulas are also an excellent way to obtain plenty of vitamin B 12.

Vitamin B 12 supplements

Lastly there are vitamin B 12 supplements. A supplement dose of vitamin B 12 as a single vitamin may not be as effective as a multivitamin supplement. Studies on vitamins and health, and on vitamin B 12 in particular, have shown that individual vitamin components appear to be better absorbed and more effective when part of a vitamin complex. The main concern for vegans and vegetarians when taking supplements should be how the vitamin supplements are made. Many vitamin supplements contain animal products.

The need for vitamin B, or the B 12 vitamin can easily be fulfilled without eating meat and dairy. Is vitamin B important? The answer is vitamin B is responsible for numerous health and maintenance functions in the body, and the vitamin B-complex is linked together in important ways. So, how do you get your vitamin B?

Edwin Geronimo is a writer, musician, and explorer. He has a bachelors degree in Biochemistry and has been a vegan health enthusiast for 7 years. To read more about hot alternative health topics, please visit nappy-head.com nappy-head.com.

Tags: diet, vegetarians, vitamin c

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Tags: diet, vegetarians, vitamin c