Do vegans need to take vitamin supplements?

Question

How else could a vegan get the necessary vitamin B12. If they do need to take supplimental vitamins why do some vegans claim this is such a natural diet?

Answer 1

Vegans do need to make certain that they have a source of B12 in their diets. But in North America, commercially produced soymilk is enriched to mimic the nutrition profile of milk, which itself is enriched before being available commercially. As well, many food products made for vegetarians and vegans is enriched as well.

Vitamin B12 is one that is both stored and reused within the body. Only a tiny, tiny amount is lost on a daily basis. Someone who has been either an omnivore or a vegetarian and becomes a vegan has a store of B12 that is good for about 5 years. But it's also very, very easy to supplement such stores by diet alone.

There are medical problems that can cause a B12 absorption problem, but these are not the consequence of a vegan diet. Pernicious anemia is one. So is the surgical loss of part or all of the stomach.

Why do some vegans claim that theirs is a natural diet? Well, you did say some. That's their personal belief. It doesn't correspond with any of the reasons that I became a vegan, so I ddon't say that a vegan diet is a natural one. A much, much healthier one, yes, but I don't claim it to be a natural one. Not with the media saturation that says otherwise.

Answer 2

I'm pretty sure that vegans take some vitamins to keep them healthy. B12 is probably one of the most common taken as it's usually lacking in a vegan diet.

Answer 3

Considering that so many foods are now "fortified" with vitamins and minerals, it's probably possible for a vegan to get by without taking supplements as long as they read their food labels and monitor their intake. I would say though that suppements are never a bad idea, one can never be too careful.
As far as it being a "natural' diet, when I was vegan I did it for animal reasons, which is very different from trying to be "natural." It is very hard to get all of your vitamins and minerals as a vegan, as a result of this I know ALOT of unhealthy vegans. It is possible to be a very healthy vegan, but it takes alot of research and diligence.

Answer 4

Yes but only Vitamin B12.

Interesting question though. I know that herbivores obtain B12 because of B12-manufacturing bacteria in their stomach. Some like rabbits eat their own feces to absorb the B12 produced by large intestine bacteria (beyond the point of absorption). So unless humans eat their own poop, in the natural world without any supplements, they would have to depend on dirt and microscopic animal matter in it for their B12, or depend on dairy. I believe this is why dairy-eating vegetarian Hindus look at veganism as unnatural. But traditional means of obtaining dairy products weren't cruel like modern factory farming.

Answer 5

Historically, most buddhist monks/nuns did not follow any specific diet as they lived on charitably donated food and could not be fussy. However, monks/nuns were not allowed to eat from an animal that had been slaughtered specifically for them. Chronic B12 deficiency causes appaling neurological damage, however it can take up to five years for this to take effect. The Vegan Society recommends either taking a weekly B12 supplement, or eating a fortified breakfast cerial.

Answer 6

No you don't have to, i figure it this way i used to take vitamins when i did eat meat so why would that change now that i'm a vegan, I'm gonna start taking vitamins but vegans don't have to. to get B12 we eat nutritional yeast, it's an inactive yeast with a cheesy flavor, it provides b12

Answer 7

The way vegan-spurned food aquired is unnatural and unnecessarily cruel. But to answer your question, yes.

Answer 8

yes they do beacuse in meat there is protiens and since u are a veg head u need protins so surive so ya

Answer 9

i am

Answer 10

no