I drink fortifiled rice milk and oj, and eat good foods, but would prefer to be on the safe side, especially when it comes to B12 and other stuff that's hard to get from non-animal sources. Any vegan supplement suggestions?
I can't say that my diet is always vegan, but when I it is I try to either drink rice milk with B12 or take a vitamin. Currently I have: http://www.veganstore.com/vegan-vitamins/all-veganlife/veganlife-stress_dash_x-(b_dash_complex)/Page_1/492.html I have also used: http://www.veganstore.com/vegan-vitamins/all-veganlife/veganlife-b12-supplement/Page_1/644.html This one has more B12 in it. I don't worry about B12 really. I just try to make sure I am getting atleast a little from some place. I don't worry about anything besides B12 as you can get everything else from a diverse and varied diet.
I'm pesca-vegan (please don't argue with me about the terminology- you do what's best for your body, I'll do what's best for mine) and I take calcium, magnesium, an "energy" multivitamin (with extra B12), selenium, and vitamin D. I also have an order out for cinnamon (to stabilize blood sugar), iron & zinc, and vitamin C. This sounds like an awful lot, but I feel much better now that I'm on them. I really only eat from 3 food groups ("meat" from fish once or twice a month and beans, vegetables, and fruit) and have celiac disease so my vitamins and minerals are all out of whack. Also, I am forced to eat dorm cafeteria food so I know there is plenty lacking from my diet when often all I can eat is dry salad.
Methyl cobalamin is the best form of b-12 to take supplementally, sublingually. USP vitamins are generally the cheaper form and you can read more about that if you search around on www.newstarget.com
I take a Ranbow Light pre-natal vitamin (I'm breast feeding) with "Vegan Guard." I also take a sublingual vitamin b12 supplement, and if I get too caught up and work and don't cook enough meals at home, I take a Vegan Omega3/DHA supplement. Most of the time, I just eat walnuts instead of that one, though.
I take a liquid sublingual B total every morning. That's it. As long as you eat a healthy varied diet and feel good I don't see any reason to take tons of supplements all the time... and those things are expensive! I wouldn't even take the B, but I've made an effort to cut down on the amount of "substitutes" I eat (which are usually the fortified foods, too) and I just wanted to be on the safe side for B12. One good thing - it genuinely DOES give me a good energy burst at the start of the day when I take it!
I just discovered "Udo's 3-6-9 Oil Blend"... it's vegan and you only have to take one a day to get a decent serving of all your omegas. Not too pricey either.
i eat enough things fortified with B12 i don't need a suppliment - the amount of my margerine one would use to cover two slices of bread is about 50% of my RDA... then i have lots of margerine in mash potato (i mash veggies in too) too so that's even more. thank god for sunflower "Pure" margerine! but no, i dont take supplements, i have all the vitamins i need in my diet.
Supplements are to vegetarians what philosophers are to heaven. You're doing something wrong. When the day comes that you live your life according to what a bunch of numbers say, you've really lost the fun life has to offer. x
I'm vegan and i don't take supplements. I don't see the need to. I want to show people a vegan diet is healthy all on it's own. And i am!
so true! and besides if you're eating a balanced diet you should be getting enough nurients anyway. vitamin tablets are fucking expensive and altogether avoidable.
How is a food fortified with vitamins much different than taking them in pill form? They wouldn't naturally be in the foods unless they were fortified with them. To me that does not seem any more natural than pills.
you can't reliably get B12 from vegan foods, so fortified foods is the closest option without popping pills. what i meant was people who take multi-vitamin tablets when they can easily get the vitamins from a balanced diet.
I see what you mean. I agree. Fruits and vegetables are where the vitamins and minerals are at so if your diet is based on this why do you need a multi-vitamin.
There's nothing wrong in having a low-multi as a "back up plan". We'd have to be reallllllllly conscious of what we eat every day in order to get all of our vitamins and minerals. It's not just a matter of eating well. And sometimes it's not simply a matter of eating a balanced diet. Some fruits and veggies have some nutrients and some have others, same with nuts, legumes, etc. You'd have to be eating a lot (too much probably) each day if you were getting everything you needed. I'm not saying that you can't be a healthy vegan without supplements, but if you want to feel your best then I would do so. A multi-vitamin with daily percentages no higher than %100, a sublingual B-12 lozenge, and a vegetarian omega blend are perfect in aiding the vegan lifestyle. Iron also might not be a bad idea.
Best way to get iron, is to use iron skillets. No kidding. A well seasoned cast iron skillet is as stickfree as teflon. Soak it in hot water to clean, NEVER use soap on it. The food cooks great in a heavy skillet like this. For "proper"cornbread, it's required. Get your iron right of the utinsel itself. It leeches into whatever you cook in it. No taste, but you want to remove food from it right after cooking and clean and reseason the skillet with oil. Wipe it down a little and you're ready to go again. I use a 10 inch and a 7 inch skillet. The smaller makes first-rate grill cheese sandwiches. x