Vegetarians and supplements (Read 946 times)

I've been vegetarian for 15 years and get my B12 along with iron and all other levels checked once every couple of years when I get a check-up. Not that the doctor has any concern (the last one I saw, didn't even know I was vegetarian), but it seems part of the routine. Never was there any signs of low B12 levels or any other thing for that matter which is quite boring for doctors Before my daughter was born, I did quite a bit of research on vegetarian nutrition including B12 deficiency, and found out there are more questions than answers regarding that vitamin, where we get it from and how it's absorbed. The amount of B12 one needs are minuscule. If you do eat dairy and eggs you should be getting enough B12. Most soy milk drinks are also fortified with B12. I've known vegans that never took any supplements and never had any deficiency. This happens often and you'll often see studies trying to figure out where they're getting their B12 from. Some suggest that the body or bacteria in the body produces it, some think that it could come from eating vegetables that have not been washed well. B12 is exclusively produced by microorganisms/bacteria, cows and other animals get their B12 from microorganisms that's on their food (their vegan after all). One thing that I often read is that people that have B12 deficiency are usually people that have trouble absorbing it. A few years later, to prove the point, my father was diagnosed with B12 deficiency and now has to get a shot every month yet he never was vegetarian or even close! But looking at what you're eating is getting me a bit worried. Not about B12 but more about everything else: iron, B vitamins, zinc, protein, etc. I would mix in things such as beans or lentils, fruit and dark green leafy vegetables like chard and skip the trail mix, I find it to be much too high in calories for its nutritional value. - R

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Margarine is not food. It is some strange manufactured substance wherein a liquid is made to act as a solid, not really the sort of thing I want to put in my body. Butter is food. Eat butter. Not too much. Avoid margarine.

I couldn't understand why that would be any better than butter.

The answer is cholesterol. Butter has it. Margarine does not. We have a deep seated fear of cholesterol, some of which is science-based, but most of which is policy and advocacy-based. Some cholesterol is good, even helpful, in most people. A little cholesterol is always less harmful than a little transfat. The more we engineer "food" away from its natural sources, the more we distance our diet from what we were evolved/designed to eat. And this has a great potential for causing harm.

I'd use half the amount of butter, if I were concerned about the cost. Olive oil is also nice on toast... For cooking I use a bit of coconut butter, a jar of the stuff lasts a long time... If margarine has only 50% the amount of fat as butter, you have to wonder what the other 50% is .

I'd use half the amount of butter, if I were concerned about the cost.

Half the amount does not adequately soak my popcorn! haha Anyways, I will let you guys know when I am hospitalized for my margarine induced heart attack. Take care.