Vegetarians And Benefits of B12

New DocumentVegetarians And Benefits of B12

 

The popularity of vegetarian diets has risen along with an interest in avoiding meat and meat products for environmental, philosophical, and health reasons. However, the term vegetarianism is subject to a wide range of interpretations. Some people consider themselves to be vegetarian when they avoid red meat.

Others believe that vegetarianism requires avoidance of all products that come from animals, including meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy foods. The most commonly described forms of vegetarianism include: "lacto-ovo vegetarians", who avoid products that come from meat, poultry, and fish but consume eggs and dairy foods; "strict vegetarians", who avoid meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy foods; and "vegans", who avoid meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy foods and also do not use products that come from animals such as honey, leather, fur, silk, and wool.

Strict vegetarians and vegans are at greater risk of developing vitamin B12 deficiency than lacto-ovo vegetarians and nonvegetarians because natural food sources of vitamin B12 are limited to foods that come from animals.

Fortified cereals are one of the few sources of vitamin B12 from plants, and are an important dietary source of vitamin B12 for strict vegetarians and vegans. Strict vegetarians and vegans who do not consume foods that come from plants that are fortified with vitamin B12 need to consider taking a dietary supplement that contains vitamin B12 and should discuss the need for vitamin B12 supplements with their physician.

It is widely believed that vitamin B12 can be consistently obtained from nutritional yeasts. Consumers should be aware that these products may or may not contain added nutrients such as vitamin B12. Dietary supplements are regulated as foods rather than drugs, and companies that sell supplements such as nutritional yeasts fortified with vitamin B12 can legally change their formulation at any time. If you choose to supplement, select reliable sources of vitamin B12 and read product labels carefully.

When adults adopt a strict vegetarian diet, deficiency symptoms can be slow to appear. It may take years to deplete normal body stores of vitamin B12. However, breast-fed infants of women who follow strict vegetarian diets have very limited reserves of vitamin B12 and can develop a vitamin B12 deficiency within months.

This is of particular concern because undetected and untreated vitamin B12 deficiency in infants can result in permanent neurologic damage. Consequences of such neurologic damage are severe and can be irreversible. There are many case reports in the literature of infants and children who suffered consequences of vitamin B12 deficiency. It is very important for mothers who follow a strict vegetarian diet to consult with a pediatrician regarding appropriate use of vitamin B12 supplements for their infants and children.

Information Above Found At Office of Dietary Supplements • National Institutes of Health

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