If you haven't already seen them, the Vegan Society's nutrition pages provide really clear and reliable information on dietary needs and how to meet them. They also point out in the section on B12:
A blood B12 level measurement is a very unreliable test for vegans, particularly for vegans using any form of algae.§ Algae and some other plant foods contain B12-analogues (false B12) that can imitate true B12 in blood tests while actually interfering with B12 metabolism. Blood counts are also unreliable as high folate intakes suppress the anaemia symptoms of B12 deficiency that can be detected by blood counts. Blood homocysteine testing is more reliable, with levels less than 10 mmol/litre being desirable.§ The most specific test for B12 status is methylmalonic acid (MMA) testing. If this is in the§ normal range in blood (<370 nmol/L) or urine (less than 4 mg /mg creatinine) then your body has enough B12. Many doctors still rely on blood B12 levels and blood counts. These are not adequate, especially in vegans.So if your doc did an
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It recently set in. I have been more sensetive for a while, but I think that's due to going from being a junk food eater and becoming -really- sick because of it, to trying to eat healthy. So the sensetivity has actually been happening for a few years now. However, it seems a tad more so since going vegan. I am losing weight, though, but in a way that is moderated and doctor approved. I lost 50lbs over the last year (from August to August give or take), and feel stronger, walk more and feel generally healthier
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I think it is a B12 deficiancy. Scary! I was reading other symptoms it lists and realized I have experienced those, too. Wow! Thanks for pointing me to this site. This is a great resource.
B12 deficiencytheevilchemistOctober 9 2006, 13:24:19 UTC
B12 deficieny usually won't manifest itself for many years. The body stores more B12 than any other vitamin, up to a full 5 years worth. Many long term raw food vegans are B12 deficient, but don't realize it's their diet, b/c they've been on it for many years.
B12 deficiency is easy to remedy. There are many vegan supplements that have not only the regular Cyanocobalamin (most stable) but the more bioavailable coenzyme forms like methylcobalamin and dibencozide (cobamide).
If you are really worried, try taking something like this which is a sublingual form which contains all 3 active forms mentioned above.
You might try keeping a food diary. It's a great way to look for patterns. It can also be helpful when talking with health professionals, so they know exactly what you're eating, when, how much, etc. If you suspect blood sugar issues, your carb consumption may be part of your problem. Proteins and fiber will give you more sustained energy.
There are also some online health sites where you can input what you've eaten for the day and they'll tally up all the nutrients. Vegans have different requirements than omnis, but it can still be a useful tool.
Are you taking any sort of multivitamin? Consume any probiotics?
Yeah, I flaked on the food diary when life got unexpectedly busy :) But I'll start trying that again and see if I can actually keep up with it.
The multivitamins I take have geletin in them, unfortunately. My Mom bought them for me because I asked her to pick some up. I'm so tight on money right now, I can't afford to invest in gelatin free vitamins until maybe spring or summer. So I'm tolerating the gelatin thing for now. Those multivitamins I take are taken only when I'm feeling the hints of illness (those symtoms described above) coming on. I probably should take them all the time.. :P But I'm trying to keep my dietary needs covered with food alone.
i get similar symptoms from my (multiple) food intolerances. some of them hit right away, but with some of them there's a lag time, i eat them and it takes a few hours for my body to react. i used to feel like like crap all the time, same symptoms you're describing... brain-fog, fatigue, dizziness, skin irritations, nausea, bowel-issues. my doctor just said i had IBS and left it at that because she didn't know what it was, by my naturopath recognised intolerance symptoms and got me off gluten, which is my biggest problem... and OMG i'm a whole new dilettante. amazing. eliminating a few other things has capped it -- i now feel really healthy, for the first time in yearslook, i know i sound like an infomercial, but seriously, you need to catch this as early as possible, or you'll damage your gut. at the start, my symptoms would come and go, like what you're describing, and i kept thinking "oh, i'll just eat better" or "oh, maybe i'm depressed?" or "hey! this new vitamin will fix it!"... and so by the time i did get around to trying an
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just thought of something else -- this may be obvious, but is your BF or the co-op or both using anything (a sauce, maybe?) that has MSG in it?
if it's happening mostly when you're relying on convenience foods or packaged foods, it could be a flavour enhancer or preservative or colourant or something that you're reacting to?
Interesting. I will definitely give that a try, too :)
Did things improve for you when you took multivitamins, or when you ate something? I usually got the symptoms when I hadn't eaten in an hour or two.. Or when I ate very limited foods. I'll ask the Co-Op about the MSG, but I suspect it's fairly free of it because they're also an organic/natural foods type place that's very picky about what they use in their foods.
I have a friend who's a naturopathic doctor. I'll ask him if he can think of anything :)
"Did things improve for you when you took multivitamins, or when you ate something? I usually got the symptoms when I hadn't eaten in an hour or two.
yes, but for me that was a symptom, not a cause -- it was more a matter that my body didn't have the resources to maintain a stable blood-sugar level, and was too damaged to be absorbing nutrients very effectively; so smaller things would tip the balance one way or the other.
if you do have an intolerance, you're damaging your innards. if they're damaged, they're not working at optimal efficiency. if they're not working at optimal efficiency, your nutrient requirements will be higher, your blood-sugar will be less stable, etc, etc.
as i understand it, most deficiencies and other nutritional issues are cumulative problems -- they build up over a period of time, so the pattern would be more of gradual build up and decline of symptoms and not the rapid cycling you're describing. it really does sound like you're reacting to something in your diet rather than missing something in your
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Comments 13
A blood B12 level measurement is a very unreliable test for vegans, particularly for vegans using any form of algae.§ Algae and some other plant foods contain B12-analogues (false B12) that can imitate true B12 in blood tests while actually interfering with B12 metabolism. Blood counts are also unreliable as high folate intakes suppress the anaemia symptoms of B12 deficiency that can be detected by blood counts. Blood homocysteine testing is more reliable, with levels less than 10 mmol/litre being desirable.§ The most specific test for B12 status is methylmalonic acid (MMA) testing. If this is in the§ normal range in blood (<370 nmol/L) or urine (less than 4 mg /mg creatinine) then your body has enough B12. Many doctors still rely on blood B12 levels and blood counts. These are not adequate, especially in vegans.So if your doc did an ( ... )
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B12 deficiency is easy to remedy. There are many vegan supplements that have not only the regular Cyanocobalamin (most stable) but the more bioavailable
coenzyme forms like methylcobalamin and dibencozide (cobamide).
If you are really worried, try taking something like this which is a sublingual form which contains all 3 active forms mentioned above.
The supplements I take are this folic acid supplement with B12, this broad spectrum mineral supplement and this multivitamin fizzy drinkI don't take them everyday, but usually a couple times/week in rotation ( ... )
Reply
There are also some online health sites where you can input what you've eaten for the day and they'll tally up all the nutrients. Vegans have different requirements than omnis, but it can still be a useful tool.
Are you taking any sort of multivitamin? Consume any probiotics?
Reply
The multivitamins I take have geletin in them, unfortunately. My Mom bought them for me because I asked her to pick some up. I'm so tight on money right now, I can't afford to invest in gelatin free vitamins until maybe spring or summer. So I'm tolerating the gelatin thing for now. Those multivitamins I take are taken only when I'm feeling the hints of illness (those symtoms described above) coming on. I probably should take them all the time.. :P But I'm trying to keep my dietary needs covered with food alone.
Reply
Reply
some of them hit right away, but with some of them there's a lag time, i eat them and it takes a few hours for my body to react.
i used to feel like like crap all the time, same symptoms you're describing... brain-fog, fatigue, dizziness, skin irritations, nausea, bowel-issues.
my doctor just said i had IBS and left it at that because she didn't know what it was, by my naturopath recognised intolerance symptoms and got me off gluten, which is my biggest problem... and OMG i'm a whole new dilettante. amazing. eliminating a few other things has capped it -- i now feel really healthy, for the first time in yearslook, i know i sound like an infomercial, but seriously, you need to catch this as early as possible, or you'll damage your gut. at the start, my symptoms would come and go, like what you're describing, and i kept thinking "oh, i'll just eat better" or "oh, maybe i'm depressed?" or "hey! this new vitamin will fix it!"... and so by the time i did get around to trying an ( ... )
Reply
if it's happening mostly when you're relying on convenience foods or packaged foods, it could be a flavour enhancer or preservative or colourant or something that you're reacting to?
Reply
Did things improve for you when you took multivitamins, or when you ate something? I usually got the symptoms when I hadn't eaten in an hour or two.. Or when I ate very limited foods. I'll ask the Co-Op about the MSG, but I suspect it's fairly free of it because they're also an organic/natural foods type place that's very picky about what they use in their foods.
I have a friend who's a naturopathic doctor. I'll ask him if he can think of anything :)
Thanks for the info!
Reply
yes, but for me that was a symptom, not a cause -- it was more a matter that my body didn't have the resources to maintain a stable blood-sugar level, and was too damaged to be absorbing nutrients very effectively; so smaller things would tip the balance one way or the other.
if you do have an intolerance, you're damaging your innards. if they're damaged, they're not working at optimal efficiency. if they're not working at optimal efficiency, your nutrient requirements will be higher, your blood-sugar will be less stable, etc, etc.
as i understand it, most deficiencies and other nutritional issues are cumulative problems -- they build up over a period of time, so the pattern would be more of gradual build up and decline of symptoms and not the rapid cycling you're describing.
it really does sound like you're reacting to something in your diet rather than missing something in your ( ... )
Reply
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