Are you or someone you know transitioning to a plant-based diet? The number of vegetarians and vegans is on the rise, with an estimated 7% in the UK and 5% in the US cutting down on meat. However, this dietary shift comes with a downside – the risk of vitamin B12 deficiency.
Contrary to popular belief, the issue is not protein but rather a lack of vitamin B12. Around 1 in 5 vegan and vegetarian diets lack essential micronutrients, and this deficiency only increases with age. Transitioning from a vegetarian to a vegan diet can exacerbate the issue, as vegan diets are naturally low in vitamin B12.
Vitamin B12 plays a critical role in blood cell formation, cell metabolism, nerve function, and DNA production, making it essential for overall health. Without adequate intake, irreversible neurological consequences can occur.
While supplements and certain foods may help, the lack of regulation in the market and insufficient research can complicate finding a solution. The best approach, according to science, is…
The High Risks of Vitamin B12 Deficiency
Vitamin B12 is primarily found in animal products like fish, meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy. Even meat-eaters may struggle to meet their daily B12 requirements, as certain meats contain minimal amounts of the vitamin. Dairy products also offer B12 but in limited quantities.
While some plant-based sources like certain mushrooms and algae may contain B12, they are not reliable as a sole source of the vitamin. Among plant foods, Seaweed is noted to have some B12 content.
The more ethical your diet, the higher your risk of vitamin B12 deficiency. – Credit: University of Surrey
Individuals not consuming the right animal products or adequate plant-based sources are at risk of missing out on their required daily B12 intake. Vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to conditions like folate deficiency anemia, affecting the body’s ability to supply oxygen to tissues.
Although studies vary on the prevalence of deficiency, vegan diets have a higher likelihood of falling short on B12 requirements. Symptoms of deficiency include various health issues, and prolonged deficiency can lead to irreversible neurological damage.
For pregnant individuals, a lack of vitamin B12 increases the risk of neural tube defects in the baby. Proper supplementation is crucial, especially during pregnancy, to prevent complications.
How Can Plant-Based Diets Obtain Vitamin B12?
Given the importance of vitamin B12 in animal products, vegetarians and vegans are advised to consider supplementation. High-quality B12 supplements and fortified foods can help meet daily requirements.
Look for GMP-approved supplements, as they ensure effectiveness and quality. In addition to supplements, fortified foods like plant-based milk alternatives, yogurts, and cereals can also be sources of B12, albeit in trace amounts.
It’s crucial to ensure adequate intake of vitamin B12 through supplements and fortified foods for those following plant-based diets. Deficiencies are avoidable with proper supplementation and dietary choices.
About our expert Kourosh Ahmadi
Kourosh Ahmadi is a renowned expert in precision nutrition and vitamin B12 deficiency. He provides insights and guidance on addressing the risks associated with vitamin B12 deficiency.
Things happen at a glacial pace in Antarctica. Just ask Peter Gorham. For a month at a time, he and his colleagues float a giant balloon loaded with a collection of antennas above the ice, traversing more than a million square kilometers of frozen terrain in search of evidence of high-energy particles arriving from space. I watched it scan.
When the experimental aircraft returned to the ground after its first flight, it showed nothing of itself, except for the odd flash of ambient noise. The same situation occurred after the second flight over a year later.
During the balloon's third flight, the researchers decided to revisit past data, especially signals that had been ignored as noise. It was lucky that they did. Upon closer inspection, one signal appeared to be a signature of a high-energy particle. But that wasn't what they were looking for. Plus, it seemed impossible. These particles did not fall from above, but were ejected from the ground in an explosive manner.
This strange discovery was made in 2016. Since then, all kinds of proposals rooted in known physics have been put forward to explain this complex signal, but all have been ruled out. What is left behind is shocking in its implications. To explain this signal, we need the existence of a dizzying universe that was created in the same Big Bang as ours and exists in parallel. In this mirror world, plus is minus, left is right, and time goes backwards. This is probably the most heart-melting idea ever to come out of Antarctic ice, and it just might be true.
Imagine your body as a big sugar bowl. At birth, the bowl is empty. Over decades of eating sugar and refined carbohydrates, your bowl gradually fills up. And the next time you eat, the bowl is already full, so the sugar comes in and spills over the sides of the bowl.
The same situation exists in your body. When you eat sugar, your body secretes the hormone insulin to move the sugar into your cells, where it is used for energy. If we don’t burn enough sugar, after a few decades our cells will be completely full and we won’t be able to process it anymore.
The next time you eat sugar, insulin can’t push any more sugar into the overflowing cells, so it floods into your bloodstream. Sugar moves through the blood in a form called glucose, and too much of it (known as hyperglycemia) is the main symptom of type 2 diabetes.
When there’s too much glucose in the blood, insulin doesn’t seem to be doing its normal job of moving sugar into cells. Then you say your body has become insulin resistant, but it’s actually not the insulin’s fault. The main problem is that the cells are flooded with glucose.
High blood sugar is only part of the problem. Not only is there too much glucose in the blood, there is too much glucose in every cell. Type 2 diabetes is an overflow phenomenon that occurs when there is too much glucose throughout the body.
In response to excess glucose in the blood, the body secretes more insulin to overcome this resistance. This forces more glucose into the flooded cells to keep blood levels normal.
This works, but the effect is only temporary because it doesn’t address the problem of excess sugar. The excess was transferred from the blood to the cells, only worsening insulin resistance. At some point, your body can no longer push glucose into your cells, no matter how much insulin you increase.
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What happens in the body if excess glucose is not removed? First, your body continues to produce more insulin to try to get more glucose into your cells. However, this only creates further insulin resistance, creating a vicious cycle.
When insulin levels can no longer keep up with the increased resistance, blood sugar levels spike. At this point the doctor is likely to diagnose her with type 2 diabetes.
Doctors may prescribe drugs such as insulin injections or a drug called metformin to lower blood sugar levels, but these drugs do not rid the body of excess glucose. Instead, they simply continue to take glucose from the blood and return it to the body.
It can then be carried to other organs such as the kidneys, nerves, eyes, and heart, where it can eventually cause other problems. Of course, the fundamental problem hasn’t changed.
Remember that bowl full of sugar? It’s still around. Insulin simply moves glucose from the visible blood into the invisible body. So the next time you eat, sugar will flood back into your bloodstream and you’ll end up injecting insulin to stuff it into your body.
The more glucose your body is willing to accept, the more insulin it needs to overcome its resistance to it. But as the cells swell more and more, this insulin only creates more resistance.
If you exceed the amount your body can produce naturally, drugs can take over. At first, you only need one type of medicine, but eventually the amount of medicine increases to two or three.
And the problem is that diabetes actually gets worse when you increase the amount of medication you take to keep your blood sugar levels at the same level.
Type 2 diabetes is reversible and preventable without drugs
Once you understand that type 2 diabetes is simply too much sugar in your body, the solution is obvious. Remove sugar. Don’t hide it. Let’s get rid of it. There are really only two ways to accomplish this.
Please add less sugar.
Burn off the remaining sugar.
that’s it. That’s all you need to do. The best part? All natural and completely free. No drugs. No surgery. No cost.
Step 1: Reduce the amount of sugar
The first step is to eliminate all sugar and refined carbohydrates from your diet. Added sugar has no nutritional value, so it’s safe to limit your intake. Complex carbohydrates, which are simply long chains of sugar, and highly refined carbohydrates, such as flour, are quickly digested into glucose.
The best strategy is to limit or eliminate bread and pasta made from white flour, as well as white rice and potatoes.
Protein intake should be kept moderate rather than high. When proteins such as meat are digested, they are broken down into amino acids. Adequate protein is necessary for good health, but excess amino acids cannot be stored in the body, so they are converted into glucose in the liver. Therefore, consuming too much protein adds sugar to your body. Therefore, highly processed and concentrated protein sources such as protein shakes, protein bars, and protein powders should be avoided.
What about dietary fat? Natural fats, found in avocados, nuts, and olive oil, which are key components of the Mediterranean diet, have little effect on blood sugar or insulin, and are well-known for their health benefits against both heart disease and diabetes. Masu. Eggs and butter are also good sources of natural fats.
It has been proven that the cholesterol contained in these foods has no negative effect on the human body. Eating dietary fat does not lead to type 2 diabetes or heart disease. In fact, it’s beneficial because it helps you feel full without adding sugar to your body.
To reduce the amount of sugar you put into your body, stick to natural, unprocessed whole foods. Eat a diet low in refined carbohydrates, moderate amounts of protein, and high in natural fats.
Step 2: Burn off the remaining sugar
Exercise (both strength training and aerobic training) has beneficial effects in type 2 diabetes, but its power to reverse the disease is much less than dietary intervention. And fasting is the easiest and surest way to force your body to burn sugar.
Fasting is just the flip side of eating. If you are not eating, you are fasting. When you eat, your body stores food energy. When you fast, your body burns food energy. And glucose is the most easily ingested food energy source. Therefore, a longer period of fasting allows you to burn stored sugar.
It may sound harsh, but fasting is literally the oldest diet known and has been practiced throughout human history without incident. If you are taking prescription medications, you should seek medical advice.
But the important question is: Will my blood sugar levels drop if I don’t eat? of course. Can you lose weight if you don’t eat? of course. So what’s the problem? I can’t see anything.
A common practice is to fast for 24 hours two to three times a week to burn off sugar. Another common approach is fasting for 16 hours five to six times a week. The secret to reversing type 2 diabetes is now in our hands.
All you need is an open mind to embrace new paradigms and the courage to challenge conventional wisdom.
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This text was extracted from Diabetes Norm: Prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes naturally by Dr. Jason Huangon sale now (£14.99, Greystone Books).
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