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I want to go Vegan

I want to go Vegan but I am worried I won’t get enough B vitamins and could become ill.  What can I do to ensure this doesn’t happen?

You can get most B vitamins from a diet which includes a wide range of vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fruits, nuts and seeds.

However, Vitamin B12 is the hardest one to crack, as it’s found in animal products such as meat, fish, eggs, dairy products.  Many processed vegetarian foods are fortified with B12, but if you don’t eat vegan meat replacements or fortified cereals then you won’t be getting it from these sources either. Early signs of Vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms can be tiredness and lack of energy.

meat-platter

B12 helps to keep the brain, nerves and spinal cord healthy, and works with folic acid (one of the B group vitamins) to help the body produce red blood cells.  Prolonged deficiency of B12 and folic acid can lead to pernicious Anaemia. Folic acid is important for pregnant women because it reduces the risk of birth defects in unborn babies and supplements are usually recommended to prevent this.  Levels of folic acid are relatively easy to maintain through eating daily green vegetables, such as broccoli, dark leafy greens, Brussels sprouts, and fruits such as papaya, oranges and grapefruit.

grapefruit-cut

Some forms of a supplement called chlorella (a blue/green algae) may contain B12.  However, the absorption ability is a source of contention.  Personally, I like the B12 sprays that you spray under the tongue so it’s absorbed directly into the blood stream.  As a Vegan you may also run short of Vitamin D in the winter months. Vitamin D sprays can also be helpful here.

vitamin-d

Answer from Jacquie Lane, Nutritional Therapist for CNM

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