Vit b12 for vegans is a must! As vitamin b12 is hard to include in your vegan diet because it isn’t in any plants, we need to track how much we get in our diet daily to ensure we aren’t skipping it. I will be exploring the following questions;
- How do vegans get vitamin B12?
- What vegan foods are high in vitamin B12?
- Why do vegans lack B12?
- Do vegans take B12 supplements?
- Why Do I Need Vitamin B12 as a Vegan?
- What Happens If I Don’t Get Enough Vitamin B12?
- What is vegan B12 made from?
I hope to learn more about vitamin b12 to improve my daily intake and educate myself on how vitamin b12 works in our body. The Idea of this post is to create awareness of how to keep healthy as a vegan. I hope it will help you to learn how to add vitamin b12 into your diet as well, and I will share with you some meal ideas of how I add my vitamin b12 supplements.
Vit b12 for vegans: simple ways to boost it – How do vegans get vitamin B12?
Vit b12 for vegans is usually added to vegan products to ensure that vegans have it included in their diet. My own personal way of adding vit b12 into my diet is by adding nutritional yeast flakes, which are high in b12 and Iron, to my meals. Nutritional yeast is usually a nutty, cheesy flavour, so I like to add it to my vegan cheesy mash potato. I sometimes add it to a vegan cheesy tomato and garlic pasta. Here is a quick list of links to organic nutritional yeast flakes that have vit b12:
- Nutritional Yeast Flakes with B12 100g
- Wholefood Earth – Nutritional Yeast Flakes, 250 g – with B12, Dairy Free, GMO Free, Vegan
- Nutritional Yeast Flakes 125g – with Vitamin B12 Protein Vegan Cheese Powder Alternative Dairy Free Flavouring – Cheesy Nutty Seasoning Savoury Condiment Dry Inactive Bulk Nooch Non GMO – PURIMA
- Notorious Nooch – Nutritional Yeast Flakes – Super Nooch B12 Seasoning – Pack of 2
- Nutritional Yeast Flakes 1kg – with B12 Vitamins Vegan Cheese Powder Alternative Dairy Free Flavouring – Cheesy Nutty Seasoning Savoury Flavour Condiment Dry Inactive Bulk Nooch Non GMO – PURIMA
- RealFoodSource Nutritional Yeast Flakes 1kg
Another way is by using a vit b12 oral spray, which is also quite a popular choice. Here is a link to a vit b12 oral spray. You just simply do a couple of sprays onto the inside of your cheek in your mouth. The spray usually is flavoured, I had an orange one myself, and it was a nice taste. I usually just have the yeast flakes these days.
What vegan foods are high in vitamin B12?
Here are some vegan foods that contain or have had vit b12 added to them:
Vegan Sources of Vitamin B12:
- Nutritional Yeast.
- Marmite + Yeast Spreads.
- Fortified Soy + Almond Milk.
- Plant-Based Meats.
- Fortified Cereals.
- Tempeh.
- Chlorella.
- Nori Seaweed
I wanted to add that even though plant-based meats have vit b12 in them, they are usually highly processed and unhealthy, so I do not recommend adding these to your daily diet. Just because it has vitamin b12 on the packaging doesn’t mean that it’s healthy.
Why do vegans lack B12?
Vit b12 for vegans is the most well-known vitamin that vegans seem to miss out on. However, I find this curious as the YouTube video above suggests that Vit b12 doesn’t come from animals but from the earth’s natural soil. Due to humans adapting to hygiene, we have cleaned the b12 off the vegetables we consume, and they can only have vit b12 through supplements.
However, when researching other sources, multiple articles say Vit b12 is found in meat. This has left me feeling a little unclear. Still, the animals humans eat are herbivores that eat vegetation from unwashed soil, so they consume vitamin b12, which is absorbed into their bodies. When humans consume meat, they also absorb the Vit b12 from the meat the animal originally absorbed. This is just my theory, but it isn’t a fact. This is why meat eaters don’t need to take vitamin b12 supplements, as they are eating animals that contain vitamin b12.
Do vegans take B12 supplements?
Vit b12 for vegans is usually in supplement form; I have linked some supplements above via affiliate links. You can get Vit b12 supplements from most health shops such as Holland and Barrett; you can get them in tablet form, oral spray, plant milk and yeast flakes.
Yes, vegans do need to take vit b12 supplements as vit b12 is found in soil, but the plants we eat nowadays don’t contain vit b12 as they used to because of humans advancing in hygiene. Vegans need to take vitamin b12 supplements because vegans don’t eat meat which can contain vitamin b12.
Why Do I Need Vitamin B12 as a Vegan? And What Happens If I Don’t Get Enough Vitamin B12?
Vit b12 for vegans is hard to get naturally; if you don’t take vit b12 supplements in your daily diet, you will experience vitamin b12 deficiency. Your body will produce large blood cells that won’t function properly. No vit b12 in the body can cause numbness, depression and anxiety and affects blood flow and muscle weakness.
How much B12 should a vegan take?
Is 1000 mcg of b12 enough for vegans? All vegans should take 250 mcg daily or take a weekly supplement of 2000 mcg. Most supplements in health shops are the best b12 supplement for vegans; you can choose which way you can take the supplement, whether it’s mixed with food or as a spray.
You can check out the links for different vitamin b12 recommendations that I have listed above.
What is vegan B12 made from?
Vitamin b12 is made from bacteria that are found in soil. The bacteria is a healthy bacteria that is essential for us to function. It is good for your blood cells, which help get oxygen around your body needed for healthy function.
Is methylcobalamin vegan
Yes, methylcobalamin is vegan, as it is just vitamin b12. This was also mentioned in the YouTube video mentioned above. If you take vitamin b12 in capsule form, it should say methylcobalamin in the ingredients on the bottle.
Methylcobalamin (vit b12) is a bacteria found in soil that is essential for our overall health. I have mentioned above in the previous heading how the bacteria works in our body to contribute to our overall health.
Conclusion
Vit b12 for vegans: simple ways to boost it – we have learnt what supplements you can take and how much you can take daily and/or weekly. We have learnt why it is essential to take vitamin b12 and what happens to our bodies when we don’t take it. We have also known where vitamin b12 comes from and how meat eaters include it in their diet. We have also leant what is another name for vitamin b12 and if it is suitable for a vegan diet.
There are no vitamin b12 vegetables and fruits, so we have learnt that they must be supplemented. Where does vitamin b12 come from naturally? We now know that it is naturally found in the ground.
I hope you have enjoyed this post, and I hope you have learnt something new from this post. If you are vegan, I hope it made you aware of the importance of having vitamin b12 in your diet.
