Considering being vegetarian

There are a lot of resources out there that will help with ideas to get your iron and calcium without supplements. Forks over Knives is an amazing place to start - it is more aimed towards the plant based vegan diet, but has great information. I have been vegetarian for 10+ years - never had a problem with protein, iron or calcium in my diet. Granted, it is easy to make bad choices too - I mean, Oreos are vegan.

I'm a pescetarian, which means I eat mostly vegetarian with a meal involving fish about twice to three times a week. It's really easy to keep up with, and I don't miss red meat or poultry at all. I agree with what others have said: ease into it slowly by having a few vegetarian days a week to see how it feels for you.

JanetYellen wrote: »

Vitamin B-12 is another important nutrient for vegans.
You can get plenty from a daily multivitamin.
Or look for fortified cereals that contain added vitamins.
This will also provide a bit of calcium and iron.

Remember though that milk slows down the absorption.
If taking any vitamin tablets take with something containing Vitamin C like orange juice.

Try it. Nothing wrong with giving it a shot and seeing how you like it. I gave it a try and it's not for me but that doesn't mean it won't work for you. I do eat more vegetarian meals now then I used to and I don't eat a lot of red meat (mostly due to cost honestly), but cutting it all out just did not make me happy at all.

A few years ago, I had successfully lost 44 pounds and was officially thin. Started hanging out with a lot of vegan and vegetarian people who convinced me it was the healthiest way to eat. I switched to vegan for about 6 months, meanwhile gaining back most of the weight I had lost. The thing is, vegan and vegetarian food tend to be very nutrient dense, sometimes calorie dense. So, it takes a much smaller portion of food to meet nutritional and caloric needs. Portion control was never a strong suit of mine to begin with, hence the need to lose weight in the first place. I'm not telling you that you shouldn't try it. But, please do not think it will be the magic key to weight loss.

fr33sia12 wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

JanetYellen wrote: »

Vitamin B-12 is another important nutrient for vegans.
You can get plenty from a daily multivitamin.
Or look for fortified cereals that contain added vitamins.
This will also provide a bit of calcium and iron.

Since B12 is best absorbed sublingually, a multi-vitamin (which is swallowed) isn't a great source for it.

I'm sure that is taken into account when creating these tablets, otherwise there'd be a lot of vegans not getting B12 when they think they are. But then food is swallowed too (not placed under the tongue) so there's no difference.

But multi-vitamins aren't designed for vegans, they're designed for the general population (many of whom are getting at least some B12 from animal products in their diet).

There *are* vegans not getting sufficient B12 when they they think are, which is why it's important to point out where a multi-vitamin may not meet the needs of this population. Sublingual B12 is easy to find and cheap. There's really no reason to *not* recommend it to vegans.

fr33sia12 wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

fr33sia12 wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

JanetYellen wrote: »

Vitamin B-12 is another important nutrient for vegans.
You can get plenty from a daily multivitamin.
Or look for fortified cereals that contain added vitamins.
This will also provide a bit of calcium and iron.

Since B12 is best absorbed sublingually, a multi-vitamin (which is swallowed) isn't a great source for it.

I'm sure that is taken into account when creating these tablets, otherwise there'd be a lot of vegans not getting B12 when they think they are. But then food is swallowed too (not placed under the tongue) so there's no difference.

But multi-vitamins aren't designed for vegans, they're designed for the general population (many of whom are getting at least some B12 from animal products in their diet).

There *are* vegans not getting sufficient B12 when they they think are, which is why it's important to point out where a multi-vitamin may not meet the needs of this population. Sublingual B12 is easy to find and cheap. There's really no reason to *not* recommend it to vegans.

My point is if B12 has to be taken Sublingual either way, then how are people getting it from food, which is also swallowed like a tablet is.

B12 in food requires some interaction with stomach acid in order to become usable by our bodies (it's bound to protein). B12 in supplements isn't protein-bound and the stomach acid can reduce the amount that is available to us. Even after B12 from food is ingested, it doesn't get absorbed by our bodies in the same way that other vitamins we consume are -- it actually binds to another protein and is transported to the small intestine via these proteins (not passing with food, the way other vitamins can be). This is why siblingual absorption is the most efficient way to get B12.

Assuming someone consumes enough unbound B12, they would get enough via the stomach. But multivitamins tend to contain just the RDA for B12 and since vegans aren't getting any from food (unless they are also eating fortified food), they risk getting less than they need from a multivitamin. If I'm consuming *just* the RDA, I don't want to be losing any due to sub-optimal absorption. This is why I personally recommend that vegans *not* depend on a multi-vitamin to meet their B12 needs. They aren't created to meet vegan needs -- a dedicated supplement that contains more than the RDA and is designed for better absorption is a safer choice.

Keep in mind that the person who recommended taking a multi-vitamin isn't a vegan and, as far as I know, has no special insight or education into the nutritional needs of vegans.