From veggie to vegan... what should I do??

Question: I've heard that to be a vegan you have 2 take vitamins. is this true? and if so, which ones?

Answers: I am a vegan. I personally take a vitamin every other day or whenever I remember to. (I forget) And I'm perfectly healthy.

Anyway, if you have a pretty decent diet, you really don't need to take vitamins. You can get most nutrients from a plant source. The only one that is of some concern is Vitamin B12. This isn't found in any plant source, only in meat and dairy products. But, it is found in fortified soy milk and other things, including vitamins.

If you want to take Vitamin B-12, you can find in vegetarian/vegan multivitamins or you can buy it alone. However, you do need other B Vitamins to help it be absorbed in your body. If you are looking for a good one or just can't stomach taking pills, try the one that is offered by TriVita. It goes under your tongue and you suck on it. And the flavor is great!

I eat meat and I don't have that problem.

4 Bananas and a cup of earl grey old bean.
For it is written in the stars, if all the world's a tram-ride then jam is also a free spirit to warm you like toast on a cold and frosty morning or in the middle of the night when you lose your underpants whilst tripping a*se over t*t.
Anyway, If this is understood to you by yourself I wish it to be known also that you have a friend in clay pottery classes. Hoooooooooooooooooooooo ray !

i am a vegan and i've never had to take vitamins. what you need to do is have a balanced diet, and if you're worried about what you could be missing, you can drink/use the Enhanced Soy Milk, because it has all the Bs, folic acid and Omega 3s. i don't think they're even sure about whether we need all those things (except for folic acid if you're preggers), but if you're nervous about it, that's the way to go. (you can also get Omega 3s from flax seed, like in granola, Bs from dark green veggies. not sure about folic acid.)

Everyone should take multivitamins anyway. It's especially important for vegans to watch their iron (but not too much, because iron poisoning is fatal). Calcium supplementation is also a good idea. Soy milk has a lot of calcium in it (I'm not too fond of the taste myself...)

My favorite all-around multivitamin is Women's One A Day, or Equate (Walmart brand) Women's 1 Daily. A good multivitamin should supply you with:
(Percentages are all the recommended daily value)
Vit A 50%
Vit C 100%
Vit D 100% (especially important for calcium absorption!)
Vitamin E 100%
Thiamin 100%
Riboflavin 50%
Niacin 50% (Some people have adverse effects with too much niacin though, so it's best to have it in a multivitamin rather than by itself)
Vitamin B6 100%
Vit. B12 100%
Folic Acid 100% (especially important for women who plan on having children; you MUST start taking folate BEFORE you become pregnant!)
Calcium 50% (You shouldn't rely on multivitamins too much for calcium though)
Iron 100%
Magnesium ~15%
Zinc 100% (for immune function)
Pantothenic Acid 50% (Honestly not too sure what this is...)

Hope that helped!

Get a subscription to Vegetarian Times magazine. It's awesome. Regardless of your dietary habits it's always good to take a good multi-vitamin. Water is just as important too - drink plenty everyday. Good luck and good health!

Hey, I'm in the same boat as you are! I've recently gone vegetarian, but I don't think I can stomach the crimes committed on dairy farms any more than I can tolerate the slaughterhouse. I don't think you have to take vitamins if you do it properly (as in, don't just eat chips!), though a daliy multivitamin never hurts. If you go to http://www.notmilk.com they talk about all kinds of bad stuff dairy can do to you, so I don't think you're missing out!

	Home
	Alternative Medicine
	Dental
	Diet & Fitness
	Diseases & Conditions
	General Health Care
	Men's Health
	Mental Health
	Optical
	Women's Health
	General