Don't waste your money on pills

[neil]

I have been vegan for over 10 years and have met loads of vegans and never met one who suffers from lack of B12 but have met several meat eaters who suffer from a B12 deficiency. Don't take supplements unless you are advised to by a reliable health professional as they are a waste of money.

Neil

[Tigerlily]

Source? Link?

[eco]

Over the years I've known two vegans who have had B12 deficiency (one of which started to have neurological problems after being vegan for nearly 20 years, so sometimes it takes a long time to show up and he didn't have intrinsic factor problems), so for peace of mind I'll keep taking the supplement. It's been mentioned in various B12 threads that many meat eaters are B12 deficient and could do worse than to take a B12 supplement too.

[neil]

Yes but sometimes people feel unwell and it could be a deficiency in any number of things and so it is best to go and get yourself a proper check than trying to guess what is wrong could be dangerous as well as a waste of money. A friend of mine has been vegan for over 25 years and leads a very busy life without taking pills.

[Justin]

A friend of mine is a cokehead and leads a very relaxed life, a check up would reveal this issue and push up his health insurance costs.

[Korn]

Hi Neil, IMO the problem is that even something it works for me or you or someone else, it may not work for all, due to different lifestyles, background and many other things.

Lots of people are sick or doesn't feel well from time to other, and- forgetting this - non-vegan doctors (and even vegans and vegan doctors) some times have tendency to be afraid that the reason is that they are not eating meat or supplements.

But to give a general advice to vegans (or others) that using money on pills always equals wasting them is IMO going to far, because vegans may need supplements, just like others, and if they need a supplement, B12 is going to be the one they are most likely to need, while non-vegans have other nutrients on the top of the list of what they should pay extra attention to (which we discuss in the Nutrient deficiencies more common in meat eaters than in vegans? (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24) - thread.

B12 is extra important for pregnant and breastfeeding vegan women, just like making sure one gets enough folate is extra import for non-vegan pregant/breastfeeding women.

[aubergine]

To me, taking suppliments should be a belt and braces approach. It's not a substitute for good diet, it should suppliment it.

[insubordination]

Have a blood test to know for sure.

[Korn]

Yes but sometimes people feel unwell and it could be a deficiency in any number of things and so it is best to go and get yourself a proper check than trying to guess what is wrong could be dangerous as well as a waste of money. A friend of mine has been vegan for over 25 years and leads a very busy life without taking pills.

In addition to what I wrote above, I agree that supplements can be a waste of money to - and that guessing about causes for medical problems can be dangerous.

There are some reports about B12 deficiency cases where serious symptoms appear before light symptoms (like numbness or tingling sensation in the fingers), including severe symptoms that in some cases can be irreversible, and we'll have a poll about this soon.