That is an excellent question Patsy. Let me explain why we need vitamin B-12 in our vegan diet. When we were foragers for food, we did not clean the fruits and veggies. The food had dirt on them and that dirt had vitamin B-12 in it. As we became more civilized we cleaned our food before eating it. Thus we eliminated vitamin B-12 from our diet.
Contrary to popular belief, flesh is not the only place to get that essential vitamin. If that were true then how do we get a vegan vitamin B-12? It comes from the fermenting process of molasses and a few other foods. Also remember that many flesh eaters need to take vitamin B-12 supplements so it is not just vegans that need it. Using your analogy, if a flesh eater only ate flesh would they be able to survive? No! They also need fruits and vegetables. So does that mean that say that humans need to eat fruits and veggies? Humans can live with only eating fruits, nuts, and veggies but a flesh eater can not live for any long period of time only eating flesh. Think about that.
Now for your last part. I have two leaky heart valves and my cardiologist recommended a vegan diet for being the best diet for someone with heart problems. He was not a vegan but he still recommended it. He felt that a vegan diet was too difficult for him to follow so that is why he was not a vegan. He did cut way back on flesh, dairy, and eggs because he knows what they do to the heart. A vegan diet keeps the arteries clean. Scientific studies show that it depends on what kind of oils that one uses and not just all oils. Extra virgin olive oil has been proven to be of benefit for anyone including those with heart problems. Lard on the other hand is very harmful to almost everyone. Maybe your cardiologist said oils to make it simple to remember what to stay away from. Please do some research and you will see that science backs up what I wrote. One last point, please do not over heat olive oil. It can create a carcinogen if it is over heated.
(By: Doc)
ANS: Question: B12
That is an excellent question Patsy. Let me explain why we need vitamin B-12 in our vegan diet. When we were foragers for food, we did not clean the fruits and veggies. The food had dirt on them and that dirt had vitamin B-12 in it. As we became more civilized we cleaned our food before eating it. Thus we eliminated vitamin B-12 from our diet.
[By: @ 2011-11-19, 22:37 | Reply | Print ]Contrary to popular belief, flesh is not the only place to get that essential vitamin. If that were true then how do we get a vegan vitamin B-12? It comes from the fermenting process of molasses and a few other foods. Also remember that many flesh eaters need to take vitamin B-12 supplements so it is not just vegans that need it. Using your analogy, if a flesh eater only ate flesh would they be able to survive? No! They also need fruits and vegetables. So does that mean that say that humans need to eat fruits and veggies? Humans can live with only eating fruits, nuts, and veggies but a flesh eater can not live for any long period of time only eating flesh. Think about that.
Now for your last part. I have two leaky heart valves and my cardiologist recommended a vegan diet for being the best diet for someone with heart problems. He was not a vegan but he still recommended it. He felt that a vegan diet was too difficult for him to follow so that is why he was not a vegan. He did cut way back on flesh, dairy, and eggs because he knows what they do to the heart. A vegan diet keeps the arteries clean. Scientific studies show that it depends on what kind of oils that one uses and not just all oils. Extra virgin olive oil has been proven to be of benefit for anyone including those with heart problems. Lard on the other hand is very harmful to almost everyone. Maybe your cardiologist said oils to make it simple to remember what to stay away from. Please do some research and you will see that science backs up what I wrote. One last point, please do not over heat olive oil. It can create a carcinogen if it is over heated.
(By: Doc)
Category: Becoming a vegan