Recipes/Foods rich in B-12 & Folic Acid?

Question

I have been diagnosed with a pretty severe B-12 deficiency (I'm just happy to have a diagnosis that explains all my symptoms) and need some ideas for foods I can eat that would help out. I'm receiving monthly B-12 shots and also taking supplements but I also need to adjust my diet. I'm not *completely* a vegetarian anymore but I rarely eat any meat - just hamburgers, tacos, stuff like that - I don't ever eat fish/seafood and on occasion I can choke down a couple chicken fingers. So, yeah, I'm a picky eater and I also rarely eat anything "healthy" and I eat about once or twice a day. Anyway, any suggestions on some foods/recipes I could rely on to help with my deficiency? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

Broccoli is good.

Answer 2

B12 is in Spirulina and Chlorella

Answer 3

From the Wiki...

Folic acid/follate:  Leafy vegetables such as spinach, turnip greens, lettuces, dried beans and peas, fortified cereal products, sunflower seeds and certain other fruits and vegetables are rich sources of folate. Some breakfast cereals (ready-to-eat and others) are fortified with 25% to 100% of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for folic acid. A table of selected food sources of folate and folic acid can be found at the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. Folate is also found in Vegemite, with an average serving (5gm) containing 100μg. Folate is also synthesized in bacteria.

B12:  Vitamin B-12 is naturally found in foods of animal origin including meat (especially liver and shellfish) and milk products. Animals, in turn, must obtain it directly or indirectly from bacteria, and these bacteria may inhabit a section of the gut which is posterior to the section where B-12 is absorbed. Thus, herbivorous animals must either obtain B-12 from bacteria in their rumens, or (if fermenting plant material in the hindgut) by reingestion of cecotrope f***s. Eggs are often mentioned as a good B-12 source, but they also contain a factor that blocks absorption.[24] Certain insects such as termites contain B-12 produced by their gut bacteria, in a manner analogous to ruminant animals.[25] An NIH Fact Sheet lists a variety of food sources of vitamin B-12.

Plants only supply B-12 to humans when the soil containing B-12-producing microorganisms has not been washed from them. Vegan humans who eat only washed vegetables must take special care to supplement their diets accordingly. According to the U.K. Vegan Society, the only reliable vegan sources of B-12 are foods fortified with B-12 (including some plant milks, some soy products and some breakfast cereals), and B-12 supplements.[26] Fortified breakfast cereals are a particularly valuable source of vitamin B-12 for vegetarians and vegans.

While lacto-ovo vegetarians usually get enough B-12 through consuming dairy products, vitamin B-12 may be found to be lacking in those practicing vegan diets who do not use multivitamin supplements or eat B-12 fortified foods. Examples of fortified foods often consumed include fortified breakfast cereals, fortified soy-based products, and fortified energy bars. Claimed sources of B-12 that have been shown through direct studies[27] of vegans to be inadequate or unreliable include, laver (a seaweed), barley grass, and human gut bacteria. People on a vegan raw food diet are also susceptible to B-12 deficiency if no supplementation is used[28].

The Vegan Society, the Vegetarian Resource Group, and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, among others, recommend that vegans either consistently eat foods fortified with B-12 or take a daily or weekly B-12 supplement.[26][29][30]