"Pete <(.¿.)>" > wrote in message ...
> On Thu, 08 Feb 2007 18:09:59 GMT, "ontheroad" > wrote:
>
> >
> >"Pete <(.¿.)>" > wrote in ...
> >
> >> snippage...
> >
> >
> >> We simply do not NEED to eat meat. That's a fact.
> >
> >We don't "need" veggies either.
>
> Yes we do, to live.
>
> >
> >There are NO plant sources of b12. You could just eat your s**t and not
> >wash your veggies then yes, you would not 'need' meat.
> >
>
> Her you go old chum.
>
> http://www.vegsoc.org/info/b12.html
...
> Introduction
> Vitamin B12 is a member of the vitamin B complex. It contains cobalt,
It is the cobalt that can be lacking. Livestock are
supplemented with cobalt or Vitamin B12 directly.
See: The B12-Cobalt Connection
http://www.championtrees.org/topsoil/b12coblt.htm
'The Bacterial Flora of Humans
...
'(8) While E. coli is a consistent resident of the small intestine,
many other enteric bacteria may reside here as well, including
Klebsiella, Enterobacter and Citrobacter.
1. The normal flora synthesize and excrete vitamins in excess of
their own needs, which can be absorbed as nutrients by the host.
For example, enteric bacteria secrete Vitamin K and Vitamin B12,
and lactic acid bacteria produce certain B-vitamins.
... '
http://textbookofbacteriology.net/normalflora.html
* emphasis added:
'Suzuki1 (1995, Japan) studied 6 vegan children eating a
genmai-saishoku (GS) diet, which is based on high intakes of
brown rice and contains plenty of sea vegetables, including
2-4 g of nori per day ("dried laver"); as well as hijiki, wakame,
and kombu. The foods are *organically grown* and many are
*high in cobalt* (buckwheat, adzuki beans, kidney beans,
shiitake, hijiki). Serum B12 levels of the children are shown:
Results of Suzuki.1
age(yrs) years vegan sB12
7.1 4.4 520
7.7 4.4 720
8.6A 8.6 480
8.8A 8.8 300
12.7 10 320
14.6 10 320
average 443 (± 164)
A - Exclusively breast-fed until 6 months old.
Mothers had been vegan for 9.6 and 6.5 yrs
prior to conception. Both mothers consumed
2 g of nori per day.
...'
http://www.veganhealth.org/b12/plant
Eating meat does _not_ guarantee adequate B12 levels..
'Are You Vitamin B12 Deficient?
Nearly two-fifths of the U.S. population may be flirting with
marginal vitamin B12 status-that is, if a careful look at nearly 3,000
men and women in the ongoing Framingham (Massachusetts)
Offspring Study is any indication. Researchers found that 39 percent
of the volunteers have plasma B12 levels in the "low normal" range-
below 258 picomoles per liter (pmol/L).
While this is well above the currently accepted deficiency level
of 148 pmol/L, some people exhibit neurological symptoms at the
upper level of the deficiency range, explains study leader Katherine
L. Tucker. She is a nutritional epidemiologist at the Jean Mayer
USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts
University in Boston.
"I think there's a lot of undetected vitamin B12 deficiency out there,"
says Tucker. She noted that nearly 9 percent of the study population
fell below the current deficiency level. And more than 16 percent fell
below 185 pmol/L. "Many people may be deficient at this level,"
she says. "There is some question as to what the clinical cutoff for
deficiency should be."
Deficiency can cause a type of anemia marked by fewer but larger
red blood cells. It can also cause walking and balance disturbances,
a loss of vibration sensation, confusion, and, in advanced cases,
dementia. The body requires B12 to make the protective coating
surrounding the nerves. So inadequate B12 can expose nerves to
damage.
Tucker and colleagues wanted to get a sense of B12 levels spanning
the adult population because most previous studies have focused on the
elderly. That age group was thought to be at higher risk for deficiency.
The researchers also expected to find some connection between dietary
intake and plasma levels, even though other studies found no association.
Some of the results were surprising. The youngest group-the 26 to 49
year olds-had about the same B12 status as the oldest group-65 and up.
"We thought that low concentrations of B12 would increase with age,"
says Tucker. "But we saw a high prevalence of low B12 even among
the youngest group."
The good news is that for many people, eating more fortified cereals
and dairy products can improve B12 status almost as much as taking
supplements containing the vitamin. Supplement use dropped the
percentage of volunteers in the danger zone (plasma B12 below 185
pmol/L) from 20 percent to 8. Eating fortified cereals five or more
times a week or being among the highest third for dairy intake reduced,
by nearly half, the percentage of volunteers in that zone-from 23 and
24 percent, respectively, to 12 and 13 percent.
The researchers found no association between plasma B12 and meat,
poultry, and fish intake, even though these foods supply the bulk of B12
in the diet. "It's not because people aren't eating enough meat," Tucker
says. "The vitamin isn't getting absorbed." The vitamin is tightly bound
to proteins in meat and dairy products and requires high acidity to cut
it loose. As we age, we lose the acid-secreting cells in the stomach. But
what causes poor absorption in younger adults? Tucker speculates that
the high use of antacids may contribute. But why absorption from dairy
products appears to be better than from meats is a question that needs
more research. Fortified cereals are a different story. She says the
vitamin is sprayed on during processing and is "more like what we get
in supplements."
-By Judy McBride, Agricultural Research Service Information Staff.
This research is part of Human Nutrition, an ARS National Program
(#107) described on the World Wide Web. Katherine L. Tucker is
at the Jean Mayer USDA-ARS Human Nutrition Research Center on
Aging at Tufts University, 711 Washington St., Boston, MA 02111;
...
"Are You Vitamin B12 Deficient?" was published in the August 2000
issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
http://www.epic4health.com/areyouvitb12.html