Do Vegans really need vitamin supplements?
I’ve been a Vegan for a while, and felt fantastic and had great energy. But now I get on here and hear about how I’m supposed to be taking vitamin supplements, etc. Is this a scientifically established fact? How have Buddhist nuns been Vegans for Millenniums? Are they not really vegans?
This is a great question, you get a star.
Being a personal trainer and someone who has worked at a GNC, I will tell you right now that the average person knows NOTHING about nutrition. Omnivores buy themselves all kinds of food supplements because they think that’s what they need. Fish oil pills, CoQ10, multivitamins, calcium pills…pretty much anything you’d find in a GNC or Vitamin Shoppe. If people just ate a well-rounded diet, the entire supplement industry would collapse, I’m being perfectly honest. The weirdest part is that they don’t typically even know why they’re taking them. I used to have people coming into the store and ask for things because they heard about it on Oprah, The Doctors, Dr. Oz, email, spam advertisements, and the radio…but they didn’t actually know what they were for, how a person could be shown to be deficient, etc..
It’s not just general health supplements, either. I get all kinds of questions about workout supplements, of course. Now, I thought that if a person wanted to workout and improve their physique, they’d do a little research on what to do. Instead, not only do most people have no idea what to eat, but they just take any old supplement they either see in a magazine or see someone drinking at the gym…and they don’t understand anything about it. They don’t know why they’re taking it, they don’t know what it does, how it’s supposed to work, nothing. They just go into a supplement store or order it online, spend their money, and don’t know why. Hell, some don’t even read the label, so they don’t even take the supplement PROPERLY. It…it boggles my mind. Seriously. I have no idea why people do this.
Now that you know this, is it any surprise that people are telling you that you need to take supplements? They think that their "normal" diet REQUIRES supplements, so your "crazy hippie diet" must need them…so they think.
Hell, Allison’s comment talks about how vegans should "worry" about calcium because they don’t get dairy, when there are hosts and hosts of research supported by cancer societies and Harvard’s research facility that show milk is not only incredibly bad for you, but it also makes your body more prone to osteoporosis. WebMD isn’t an authority, so please, please don’t listen to the drivel that they spout with no research to back it up.
Just eat a well-rounded diet, you’re fine.
Historically, most buddhist monks/nuns did not follow any specific diet as they lived on charitably donated food and could not be fussy. However, monks/nuns were not allowed to eat from an animal that had been slaughtered specifically for them.
Chronic B12 deficiency causes appaling neurological damage, however it can take up to five years for this to take effect. The Vegan Society recommends either taking a weekly B12 supplement, or eating a fortified breakfast cerial.
Nope.
In the Mahayana tradition, Monks and Nuns eats a strict vegetarian diet. They replace meat with beancurd (tofu). I personally am not a vegetarian but was told by a nun that a good diet should consist of 5 colors. (black, white, red/orange, green, yellow) corresponding to the 5 elements in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
If you can get enough B-12, calcium, zinc and iron, I think you should be fine. Cereals are easy way to get B-12, zinc and iron. As for calcium and protein, tofu or beans. Unless you lack certain nutritions in your diet, vitamin pills is not be a must. Monks and nuns have lived healthily for hundreds of years before the discovery of vitamin supplements.
It doubt it is a scientific fact. Just a recommendation.
The only ones that need vitamins are the ones not eating correctly if your getting a good supply in vitamins in your fruits and veggies you shouldn’t lack vitamins.
I’m only taking a vitamin supplement because it’s my pre-natal vitamin and I’m pregnant. I know vegetarians and meat-eaters who don’t eat well. My SIL is a vegetarian and takes a vitamin supplement simply because she doesn’t eat well. (I don’t consider many of the things she eats food.) She thinks she needs it just because she’s a vegetarian. (She’s one of the mis-informed vegetarians and I think she became one because it was trendy.)
I think that if one eats a well-rounded diet of whole, real foods, then there is little worry.
I don’t take any, and I’ve been a vegan for 13 years.
I think that supplements are generally recommended to help those who don’t eat a balanced enough diet to get the base nutrients they need in some way.
The information below is according to Webmd.com
"A vegetarian diet can be a healthy diet, but vegetarians — especially vegans — need to make sure they’re getting enough vitamin B12, calcium, and iron.
The American Dietetic Association warns of the risk of vitamin B12 deficiencies in strict vegetarians (vegans). Vitamin B12 is found naturally only in animal products. A lack of vitamin B12 can lead to anemia and blindness. It can also cause muscle weakness, tingling, and numbness.
Calcium is another nutrient that may be lacking in some vegetarian diets. Ovo-vegetarians, who eat eggs but not dairy, need to find foods that compensate for the missing calcium from their diets. Dark green vegetables are a good source of calcium.
Lacto-vegetarians (who don’t eat eggs) also need to boost their intake of B12 and iron.
A vegan diet, in particular, may lead to an increased risk of deficiencies of vitamin B12, vitamin B2, calcium, iron, and zinc. To counteract the increased risk, vegans should include B12 supplements, or fortified cereals and veggie burgers in their diets."
No, But if your interested you can get high vitamin veggie bacon. (SOY)
No, I don’t take any. As long as you eat a wide enough range of fruit, veg, seeds, & pulses you should be fine.
But then I bet most meat eaters lack in a lot of vitamins. There are so many people who just live of junk food!
I’ve been vegan for about two decades, and the only time I took vitamins was during my pregnancies.
B-12 is found in nutritional yeast.
The symptoms of B-12 deficiency are actually mild, and do not usually manifest until the individual is over 70. They are also more frequently seen in omnivores, who have a congenital absorption difficulty.
Yeah, how else are they supposed to get their vitamins and minerals? They don’t eat meat. Most Buddhists actually eat normal diets, they aren’t vegetarians.
The only supplement that vegans must take is vitamin B12. Every year, there are a number of horrible cases in the medical literature about vegans who developed severe neurological problems from B12 deficiency.
However, you don’t have to panic. If you were a meat and/or dairy-eater within the last 3 years, you do have a supply of B12 built up in your body. After 3 years as a pure vegan, you might want to get your blood tested and see how low your B12 levels have gone. When they get fairly low, you will need to take a supplement, or use B12-fortified soy milk, or B12-fortified breakfast cereal. You don’t need much: the requirement is 7 mcg per day, which is a very tiny amount.
B12 is made by bacteria. Animals get it from eating food with dirt on it. Modern humans wash their food and remove any B12 on it. You could get B12 naturally by eating dirty produce (as people in primitive societies do), but then you might get e coli or some other nasty pathogens too.
no you don’t need to.
I’m a vegan that doesn’t take any! I’m not sure what all the nonsense is about needing supplements, but I get what I need from a balanced diet well enough.
[...] Do Vegans really need vitamin supplements? [...]
[...] Do Vegans really need vitamin supplements? [...]
[...] Do Vegans really need vitamin supplements? [...]
[...] Do Vegans really need vitamin supplements? [...]