Vegan Problem?

Question

I'm a vegan, and have been for about 4 months now and everyone keeps telling me I'm not going to get enough vitamin B12 and i won't grow. I'm 13 years old, i don't know if i should see a nutritionist of just take B12 pills or what. Please help, i don't want to stop growing.

Answer 1

Congratulations of your choice! You must be very strong and intelligent boy to make such a good choice that will help the animals, environment and your health :)

Remember that usually MOST people who aren't vegan themselves don't know anything about how to put up a healthy vegan diet and haven't educated themselves about this particular subject. Don't listen to them, search information yourself from the internet, library and maybe ask certified nutritionist who SPECIALIZES in vegetarian and vegan diets. Doctors and nutritionists are human too, they don't and cannot know everything. Most doctors aren't even properly educated about human nutrition... Trying to find vegan friends helps a lot - they can even teach you how to cook :)

The only things you need to supplement, IF you are eating varied diet that is, are vitamin B12 and vitamin D (only the if you live in an area where you cannot get sunlight on bare skin daily).

VITAMIN B12

Vitamin B12 is usually added to vegetable dairy products, such as soy milk and maybe even cereals. Check the labels, it says right there if they are fortified! You don't need separate supplements if you eat fortified products. If you cannot find any fortified products from your local super market, buy a supplement from pharmacy. It's that easy :) If you eat either fortified products or supplement, you cannot get vitamin B12 deficient!

VITAMIN D

The best natural sources of vitamin D are direct sunlight on skin. You should get approx. 30 min of sunlight per day, if you have bare head, arms and maybe a bit of bare skin on legs. The amount of sunlight you need also depends of your skin colour: the darker your skin is, the more sunlight you need. Just take supplement with a warm meal at least once in a while, even though you get some sunlight, and you will be alright.

Ask your local pharmacist about what they recommend for vitamin D2 and B12 supplements. Just be careful with vitamin D-supplements, because vitamin D3 isn't vegan (it is made from sheep) but vitamin D2 is OK.

The next one don't need to be supplemented if you pay some attention to them when planning your diet.

IRON

Since you are still growing, you should pay attention to iron. Good sources are spirulina, lentils, coconut milk, soy and other beans. To get all the iron absorbed from foods, it is a good idea to drink fresh juice with food, or eating fresh citrus fruit for dessert, because vitamin C increases the iron absorption.  It's easy to sprinkle dried spirulina and cooked lentils on almost everything! Also bean salads are delicious and hummus made from chickpeas is healthy and delicious spread for bread.  Because hummus has sesame seed paste it is also rich in calcium.

CALCIUM AND MAGNESIUM

Legumes give you in addition to iron, a lot of protein, calcium and magnesium, which are important for a growing boy. You will get healthy bones by making sure that you will get the trio of calcium, magnesium and vitamin D. Calcium cannot be absorbed without those two. Exercise plays a big role for healthy bones! It's said to be even more important than actual calcium intake. All sports that need running are very good for bones. Play football, tennis, basketball etc. with your friends... Caffeine (coffee, tea, coke), refined sugar (usually in sweets, pastries, fizzy drinks...) and salt will deplete your body from nutrients, so staying away from those help your overall health, including the bones.

Go to your local library and lend some books about vegetarianism and vegan cookbooks. It's important to learn how to educate yourself! :) it's good idea to keep food diary once in a while so you can check if you really are eating as varied diet you are supposed to be.

Answer 2

drink a monster.

i kno its pretty bad for you but

its got alot of B12 in it

Answer 3

Needing supplements is a sign of a bad diet. All necessary nutrients will be found in a balanced diet.

Answer 4

Try a 1000 mcg B-12 supplement (cyanocobalamin is a good non-animal source) 2-3 times per week.

And you really should see a nutritionist at your age; not only for your nutrition now, but you are also setting up the eating patterns that you will likely follow as an adult; I can think of no one better than a nutritionist to start this journey with.

Answer 5

I would go to the doctor and see what they say... But I heard B12 is going against being a vegan (idk?)

Answer 6

im pretty much the same way, what i do is I drink vitamin fortified soy or rice milk and have some sort of vitamin fortified vegan cereal, most cereals are vitamin fortified and have quite a bit of B12 you just have to be careful on the vitamin sources.

If you dont want to do that then you can just take the vitamin, just make sure the vitamin is vegan and doesnt have to much of anything, if you are going to do this I would suggest seeing a docter

Answer 7

B12 is the one nutrient that is not readily available on a vegan diet.  Vegans need to eat fortified foods or take supplements.

If you can see a nutritionist or a registered dietitian, that's a great idea.  At 13, you'll need some help planning the healthiest diet for yourself.  If you can't, I strongly recommend reading a book called "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina (have your parents read it, too.)  Both authors are registered dietitians and the book is an invaluable resource.  They have a chapter specifically addressing the needs of growing vegans.

In the meantime, find yourself a good vegan multivitamin that includes B12.  Deva brand makes vegan supplements and is available online.  You can plan a diet that will give you what you need, but a good multi is good insurance for the days when your diet comes up a little short.

Answer 8

well basically i think that you should go and see a nutritionist just in case because you do not want to be small for ever and plus you are only 13 so just to be on the safe side visit your local nutritionist

Answer 9

I dont know anything about being a "full" vegetarian but if your worried about not getting enough of those vitamins then you should do what i do, only eat chicken and fish. No pork or red meats.

Answer 10

Every vegan person should consciously seek out foods fortified with B12 or take a B12 supp. Neither is difficult or expensive.

Every person needs to be aware of what they are eating, even people that don't consider any ethics when it comes to food.

B12 is the only nutrient that is believed to not have an adequate plant source but the vast majority of all other essential nutrients have far better sources in the plant kingdom than anywhere else.

If you are vegan at 13 yrs and your family just sees it as a mistake, you need to keep reading beyond what you get from Yahoo Answers. I suggest that you begin here:

http://www.veganhealth.org/sh

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/index...

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/f...

Don't let any one tell you, that veg people are sick and frail. People love to pull stuff right out of their @ss and call it fact.

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/?page=b...