View Poll Results: If you take B12 supplements, how do you take them?

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  • I take multivitamin supplements, and swallow them

    36 40.00%
  • I take separate B12 supplements, and I swallow them

    10 11.11%
  • I take separate B12 supplements, and I chew them or use sublingual (under-the-tongue) B12

    25 27.78%
  • I take both, and I swallow the separate B12

    4 4.44%
  • I take both, and I take the B12 under-the-tongue or chew it

    6 6.67%
  • I don't use B12 supplements regularly, but when I do, I swallow them

    9 10.00%
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Thread: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

  1. #1
    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Default If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    ...how? And what do you take?
    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

  2. #2
    veganblue's Avatar
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    Hmmm.... I use B12 injections self-administered as I tend to forget to take tablets on a regular basis and my diet usually supplies everything else - when I remember to eat. I have never used a B12 tablet specifically.
    "if compassion is extreme, then call me an extremist"

  3. #3

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    you inject b12? o_O
    please could you stop the noise? i'm trying to get some rest from all the unborn chicken voices in my head.

  4. #4

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    i have a 500 something b12 tablet a day, though it probably isn't necessary when i am eating healthily
    please could you stop the noise? i'm trying to get some rest from all the unborn chicken voices in my head.

  5. #5
    PinkFluffyCloud
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    I take a 'Seven Seas' Multi-Vit/Mineral supplement which includes 2.5ug of B12, most days.
    I also have 2 cups of fortified Soya milk every day.
    (I used to take a B12 on it's own each day, and dutifully sucked it under my tongue - it made me feel sick and I couldn't face it after a few weeks.)

  6. #6
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    My daily multi has 75mcg of B12 and then every other day or so, I chew a 1,000mcg tablet. It depends on what I've been eating. Yesterday, I had popcorn sprinkled with nutritional yeast so I skipped the supplement.

  7. #7
    AR Activist Roxy's Avatar
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    I take a B Complex "50" each day. It contains B12.

  8. #8
    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Ooops.... a correction:

    the option that said 'I take both, and I take the B12 under-the-tongue or swallow it'
    was meant to be 'I take both, and I take the B12 under-the-tongue or chew it'.

    If you voted for this one, and swallow your B12, let me know, so I can correct the results....
    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

  9. #9
    Leigh's Avatar
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    I don't take any supplements whatsoever....is that really bad?? I do drink soy milk fortified with B12, calcium and omega 3.

  10. #10
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    HOw long have you been vegan Leigh? It is commonly stated that the body's reserve of B12 lasts about five to six years so deficiency does not really show up until after that time - and then, only if you are not getting enough from your diet. There is discussion that while asymptomatic you could still be suffering ill-effects of insufficient B12 after 5 years. As B12 is essential for nervous tissue function and there are few reports (if any) of overdoses, it seemingly won't hurt to take supplementation of some kind or another along with dietary sources. Just a suggestion.
    "if compassion is extreme, then call me an extremist"

  11. #11
    Leigh's Avatar
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    I've only been vegan since May this year. I guess it's just something I have a 'thing' about. Obviously it's better to be safe than sorry, but I'm always hearing about people who take supplements all the time as if that's going to make them healthy, regardless of what they eat. Maybe I'll look into it..... So, are there better ways to take a supplement to get the most out of it than others? If I'm going to spend the money I'd like to be getting every last scrap of it that I can But I don't do injections!!!!

  12. #12
    veganblue's Avatar
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    I use injections because I am absent minded about pill taking. It is not necessary. I also drink fortified soy milk, eat tempeh, miso and mushrooms but only have the shot when I feel the low B12 symptoms. Not terribly pleasant; kind of like feeling slow, or immersed in a viscous liquid. Mostly I maintain it but my diet is not *always* brilliant so I expect the odd deficincy. I regularly forget to eat sufficiently or sufficient variety.
    "if compassion is extreme, then call me an extremist"

  13. #13
    drummer
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    Had a test for blood levels of B12. It was supposed to be at least >210. My result was >334. I take a B-complex supplement a few times a week containing 50ug of B12.

  14. #14

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    I use fortified rice and oat milk and nutritional yeast.
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  15. #15
    1vegan
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    I use Solgar b12 1000 mcg "nuggets"

    I swallow them, but you can also let them disolve under the tongue. But with that dosis there is no difference in what is absorbed (imo)

    I take them "now and then" , that means a few times per week, if I don't forget it.

  16. #16
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    I take a B12/folic acid supplement each day.

  17. #17

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    I take 2,000mg once a week and let it disolve under my tongue

  18. #18
    Goddess foxytina_69's Avatar
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    i take a multivitamin with 50 mcg of b12.
    "you dont have to be tall to see the moon" - african proverb

  19. #19

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    I take a chewable (cherry flavour) - I think it is 100mcg? I take it every day

  20. #20

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    I buy the solgar 100mcg tablets and cut them in half. 50mcg is more than adequate (I chew them), and the jar lasts twice as long!

    10 mcg is the minimum supplement recomended by the vegan society, which is what I'd like to take, as taking large doses is completely unnecessary, but I haven't found any B12 supplements less than 100mcg.

  21. #21
    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements...

    From http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag98/sep98_newlem2.html

    New studies show that supplemental vitamin B12 absorbs better through the stomach than was previously thought. These reports, published in mainstream medical journals, show that orally administered vitamin B12 supplements are effectively absorbed by more than 99 percent of humans (B12 is difficult to absorb from the digestive tract only when it is tightly bound to food).
    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

  22. #22

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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements...

    I don't take B12. I drink soy and rice milk with B12 added.

  23. #23
    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements...

    It has been discussed whether B12 in fortified foods have the effect it should have, because fortified food often contains an amount of inactive B12 analogues, which have been reported to block the intake of 'real' B12.

    Donald Watson, born in 1910, has been a vegetarian since 1924, and a vegan since 1942, and is still alive and in good shape. He has never taken any medicine or taken separate supplements apart from those added to plant milks and other proprietary vegan food, and he even had a weak childhood (to weak to be vaccinated).

    So it seems that the B12 he got from fortified food didn't do any harm, in spite of the reported B12 analogues they contain.

    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

  24. #24
    just_a_grrrl's Avatar
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I take a multi with b12 in it, but I have a question. how do they get the b12 in there? if b12 is only found in animal products then wouldnt my pill not be vegan?
    A good man takes care of his animals, but wicked men are cruel to theirs.
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  25. #25
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I am taking Multi-Vits Vegan ones from Quest Vitamins and B12 from the same people these are swollow with a main meal as they timed release.
    Go confidently in the direction of your dreams

  26. #26
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I take a multi everyday (try to anyways) that has 125mcg/tablet and then a separate under the tongue B-12 supplement of 500 mcg/tablet everyday (or try to) - is that too much? Also the B-12 under the tongur seems to takr forever to dissolve, a good 15 mins. at least, is that normal?
    "An outside enemy exists only if there is anger inside."
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  27. #27
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I use Betolvex, I take one pill twice a week.
    One pill has 1000mg , or something like that, and I take it under my tongue.

  28. #28
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I take a multi-vitamin and swallow them. "Vega Nutritionals" from the Veganstores. Maybe I should take an extra B12 supplement...this has 10wierdsymbolg in it...plus what I try and get from my food.
    "It's not that people suddenly start breeding like rabbits; it's just that people stopped dropping like flies" - population explosion

  29. #29
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I've started to use b12 in 1000mcg tablets, they taste a bit sweet so I let them melt in my mouth.

  30. #30

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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I also can't find one as small as I want. I used to take a 'Natures Own' 100mcg and 400mcg folic acid (which i didnt want) then i smushed a 250mcg into lots of bits and took some every couple of days and now I smush a solgar 1000 into zillions of bits and give me and my baby a bit every couple of days. I am breastfeeding so i know he gets it from the milk also. I dont take any fortified foods. I didnt take any B12 whatsoever for the first 9 years I was vegan but I may have been low after that (long story) so now I do, - regularly since i became pregnant.

    to whoever asked - B12 may or may not be from animal sources - read the label, I think it is a bacteria that can be easily made without animal products, that is why plants are sometimes contaminated with it, but animals always are. If we were grubbier, and had fresher grubbier food we probably would not ever need a B12 pill but its not worth the risk.

  31. #31
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements...

    I have to have B12 injections because despite taking regular suppliments of B12 orally and having a well balanced healthy diet and lifestyle, I developed pernicious anemia. I suggest people have levels checked annually even if taking suppliments as a deficiency is a serious condition. Keep in mind I was informed that meat eaters also develop this deficiency which may lead us to believe we may not be as effective at absorbing it as we like to think. At least if you have a deficiency and take the injections you know you're gettin it!

  32. #32
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements...

    i take a multivitamin w/ b12 as i stated before, but also use nutritional yeast alot and soymilk sometimes. i probably get too much b12 LOL.
    "you dont have to be tall to see the moon" - african proverb

  33. #33

    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    My best sign that my B's are low is my hair falls out more.
    I had my stomach stapled years ago, and three months later, my hair fell out in handfulls, the dr, gave me B12 shot, and it ceased. Now , when my hair starts to fall out, i know, my levels are dropping. I have 8mcg of B12 in my multi, which I try to take everyday, and since i have had the surgery, i need to at least break then in half to expose the uncoated vites, since my digestion time is not long enough to dissolve it other wise.
    "Uh, we don't eat meat. It's kind of like a professional courtesy." -Maggie, Home on the Range

  34. #34
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    Hm, my hair is very strong. It won't break no matter how hard I pull on it, does that mean my B vitamins are good? Or is everyone different?
    Peace, love, and happiness.

  35. #35

    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I'm sure its different for everyone. Not everyone who even had the same surgery as I, had the hair loss.
    "Uh, we don't eat meat. It's kind of like a professional courtesy." -Maggie, Home on the Range

  36. #36
    treehugga's Avatar
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    Quote Tigerlily
    Hm, my hair is very strong. It won't break no matter how hard I pull on it, does that mean my B vitamins are good? Or is everyone different?
    Everyone's different. Also people can lose hair for a number of reasons ie illness, post operative stress, medical treatment, lack of other vitamins and protein. We also go through a moulting process several times a year, we are animals after all, usually spring and autumn, where we can lose large amounts of hair.

    B12 deficiency can take years before you would recognise it through any physical symptoms and by then you could be facing serious neurological damage.
    So...

    The best way to be sure is to have a blood test annually. Some people can't absorb B12 through tablets, so it's best to be sure.

  37. #37

    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I have never used a B12 tablet specifically except sometimes fortified milk.

    Manish Jain

  38. #38
    ogi
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I don't use any supplements.

    What form of B12 is in your pills?

    Cyanocobalamin, Methylcobalamin, ...?

  39. #39
    ogi
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I think about taking B12 supplements in Methylcobalamin form.
    I can't find any with smaller dose, only 1000 microgram and above.

    Please help me to find some high quality vegan Methyl-B12 supplement with max. 100 microgram dose for a long time / every day use.

    Please..

    Methylcobalamin is a coenzyme form of Vitamin B12 which is biologically active. This means that your body can use it as is, and does not require any metabolic steps to make it body friendly. The product comes in a sublingual tablet(dissolves under your tongue) because your digestive system modifies the molecule. The sublingual method allows the vitamin to directly enter your bloodstream, providing rapid benefits.

    Cyanocobalamin is a synthetic, and inactive, form of Vitamin B12 that requires a number of metabolic processes to gain any benefit. This can be problematic in people with certain deficiencies and health issues. Unfortunately, this is the most common form of Vitamin B12 on the market and is found in most Vitamin B-Complex’s.

    Hydroxycobalamin is a non-active form of Vitamin B12 and is used commonly as an injectable form. It has a number of benefits depending on your condition. It is recommended for those who have cyanide sensitivity. Hydroxycobalamin helps the body bind free cyanide, by reacting with the molecule to form cyanocobalamin, which can then be excreted from the body. Most people are aware that cyanide is highly toxic, but the body regularly uses it in very small quantities for metabolic processes.

    Adenosylcobalamin is the other coenzyme form of Vitamin B12 and is biologically active. This form is usually sold as an injectable form and only available by prescription.

  40. #40
    [LMNOP] ellaminnowpea's Avatar
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    Well, the smallest methylcobalamin supplement I've found is 500mcg -- still over 8,000% of DV. Also, it says its kosher gelatin, but doesn't say if it's vegan (the mg stearate) or if its gluten-free like most other B12 tabs. I may just go with a sublingual with the full 1mg to guarantee that it's vegan and gluten-free. I guess I'll just take it less often.
    “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” ~ Alcott

  41. #41
    ogi
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I can't understand that..
    Absorption is much better with a lot of small doses, and it sounds more natural..
    I sent question to vegansociety, maybe is time for VEG2

  42. #42
    alessioisonfire
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I take the VEG1 by the vegan society, one day and they're delicious
    they're chewable blackcurrant tablets!

  43. #43

    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    I know some spray liquid vitamins, u just need to spray under your tongue, it is absorbed by cells and doesn't harm stomach. But I forgot which brand and where to buy.
    After my death I will go to Maitreya's pure land without painful reincarnation anymore,the narrow door to heaven is found.

  44. #44
    [LMNOP] ellaminnowpea's Avatar
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    Default Re: If you take B12 supplements, what do you take?

    Quote ellaminnowpea View Post
    Well, the smallest methylcobalamin supplement I've found is 500mcg -- still over 8,000% of DV. Also, it says its kosher gelatin, but doesn't say if it's vegan (the mg stearate) or if its gluten-free like most other B12 tabs. I may just go with a sublingual with the full 1mg to guarantee that it's vegan and gluten-free. I guess I'll just take it less often.

    I never did buy them!! I suppose I'll get on that this week!

    So do most people take the methylcobalamin?
    “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” ~ Alcott

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