Category Archives: B12

Concerns about Vit B12 for eaters of a plant-based diet, vegans and vegetarians

Iodine

mortonsLike most American kids, I grew up using Morton’s salt. My mother, a nurse in her former life, stressed that the reason we used it was to be sure we got our iodine. To further imprint the lesson we were shown gross pictures of people with goiters due to lack of iodine in science classes.

sea salt
Then I grew up and discovered the amazing tastes of sea salt. I started experimenting with it in cooking, on salads, on various foods and snacks. I loved it. The variety in tastes made me very happy!  Gradually the Morton’s salt disappeared from our house. (more…)

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Plant-Based Diets and Iron

As a young woman my pulse was alarmingly high. I was a swimmer, got plenty of exercise and should have had a nice low resting pulse rate. My Doctor at the time was alarmed enough by my pulse rate to order a blood test that measured my hemoglobin.

The results showed that my hemoglobin was very, very low. The doctor concluded that I wasn’t getting enough iron in my diet.  He explained that the lack of iron meant that my body could not make enough of the protein, hemoglobin. And since hemoglobin carries oxygen to the cells my body was chronically short on cellular oxygen. He mentioned the word “anemic” and suggested that since I was a vegetarian it was unlikely I could get enough iron in my food. He got out his pad and prescribed iron pills.

He described the problems that came from chronic anemia – fatigue, brain fog, leg cramps, shortness of breath and on and on.  He scared me into taking the iron.

The iron pills made me miserable – I will spare you details. Just leave it that it took about a week for me to toss the iron pills in the trash and to start looking for iron-rich foods. This is my first memory of using nutrition as a “medicine” and the start of a life long practice of looking at food instead of medicine. (more…)

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The Year of Being Vegan: 2012 Lessons Learned Part 2

I have always been a plant-based eater; a vegetarian. Over the last year David and I decided to become vegans. It has been an incredible learning experience! Between now and the end of the years I will share some of the things I learned.

About Eggs

egg

I spent a lot of time experimenting with egg replacers this year. It was a truly informative experience. What I discovered is that

there are certain recipes where there is NO substitute for the actual egg. These include pumpkin pie, meringues and waffles. Even Ener-G, the most popular egg replacer on the market, does not work well. (more…)

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What I Learned by Taking Classes for My Certificate In Plant-Based Nutrition

Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition

I finished my certificate course from the T. Colin Campbell Foundation a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I have been reflecting on the things I learned and how it changed my thinking about various aspects of plant-based nutrition. In the end I tally 2 changes and 2 take-aways. (more…)

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A Quick Word about Vitamin B12

Everyday, I hear that a plant-based diet is dangerous!  Stories abound! There are urban legends about Jane or John or Joe Doe who eat a plant-based diet are sick and/or dying. No one actually knows someone who admits to being Vitamin B12 deficient but the danger still lurks around every corner.

Evidently we have all heard about vitamin B12 deficiency. The problem is that we have heardabout it.  Maybe one person in a hundred can come up with a single fact about vitamin B12. So here are a few facts about B12 to think about.

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