Greetings!

Thanks for taking the time to check out our newsletter! One of the biggest arguments against the raw food diet, according to experts, is that it contains no vitamin B12. This argument is both unfounded and inaccurate. Today we will be de-bunking some of the myths surrounding vitamin B12.

Enjoy!

Discovery

Vitamin B12 was not identified until 1955. However, long before, in the early 1920′s certain foods (such as liver) were used to cure pernicious anemia. This disease was once thought to be strictly caused by B12 deficiency.

To be absorbed into the blood stream vitamin B12 must combine with an organic substance secreted by the stomach called intrinsic factor (a protein). The resultant complex can then be absorbed at the far end of the small intestine called the terminal ileum.

Diseases of the stomach often result in a deficiency of intrinsic factor. This condition, not the dietary deficiency of B12, is often the cause of pernicious anemia. This misunderstanding led to the “everyone must eat meat” syndrome that continues to this day. As with meds, there are huge profits associated with the sad and disgusting consumption of animal flesh. This profit keeps meat at the forefront of conventional wisdom regarding nutrition. Also, unlike most vitamins, B12 is not destroyed by heat.

Functions

All cells in the body require B12 to function normally, but certain tissues need more of this vitamin than others. These include gastrointestinal tract, nervous system, and bone marrow (where blood cells are produced).

Effects of Deficiency

Lack of B12 will result in pernicious anemia. Also, fewer red blood cells will be produced. In severe cases, nervous system diseases that includes a “pins and needles” sensation in the hands and/or feet, poor equilibrium (balance), and mental depression (can be severe) can occur.

Sources

Standard nutrition teaches that B12 is only present in animal products such as meat, eggs, and dairy. That none is found in veggies, fruits, seeds, nuts, sprouted legumes, or sprouted wheat.

Yet B12 is produced by bacteria that are SO widely prevalent in nature that many, or most, edible plants contain small amounts of B12. More importantly scientific evidence has proven our main source of B12 comes from our own bacteria called probiotics, or flora.

While it is true that animal products, especially beef liver, are great sources of vitamin B12, it is also true that fruits and veggies contain the vitamin. Some of the plants that B12 has been isolated in include:

* Greens
* Sunflower seeds
* Leeks
* Dates
* Sprouts
* Beets
* Green Beans
* Carrots
* Peas
* soybeans
* oats

Requirements

Scientists counter by saying this is true, but plants contain only small amounts of B12. Yes, very true, there’s a reason for that! The reason is is our daily requirement is VERY minute.

Logic would tell us if nature placed small amounts in our food then our need would be minimal. In fact, we need less than one micro-gram. A micro-gram is one millionth of a gram per day. Not only that but we recycle vitamin B12 over and over before our body discards the vitamin.

It would not be surprising if one day when science becomes sophisticated enough it was proved that all plant foods containing any of the B vitamins also contained B12. The reason is B’s are NEVER found alone in foods. They are always found in a complex of all or most of the B’s. Many believe that all B’s are always together. It’s just that some plant nutrients, like B12, are in such minute amounts, our current methods of detection cannot isolate them.

Even if this theory was not true, it really wouldn’t matter as we all have in our intestinal tract a B12 factory. Vitamin B12 is manufactured by micro organisms called flora (our friendly bacteria) found in the small intestine. This friendly flora is composed of non-pathogenic bacteria and yeast colonies, some 126 different strains that we know of. One of the most renown is known as Lactobacillus Acidophilus.

Let me ask you this, if cows which are loaded with B12 don’t eat meat where do they get their B12? It is well documented their friendly flora manufactures the vitamin as does ours. Also our livers store it for rainy days. Recently a raw food leader wrote that it is necessary for vitamin B12 to be consumed in liquid form. Not true, it is not in liquid form in nature and we successfully filled in the deficiency on thousands of occasions without the aid of liquids.

Most with the deficiency are meat eaters. It is the noxious habit of overloading the digestive system on a regular basis, resulting in the food being broken down via putrefaction instead of digestion, that destroys the friendly flora. This of course leads to a B12 deficiency and its resultant health issues.

Other killers of flora include all meds especially antibiotics, excess concentrated protein foods, foods high in fat, tobacco, chemical additives, emotional stress and poor food combining.

Dr. Charles Partito N.D./ Raw Nutritionist
Counselor of Natural Health
Ejuva

Ever since I first saw an even smaller list of plants containing B12 some years ago, I suspected what Dr. Partito suggests – that most plants probably contain it, but just hadn’t been tested for it. However, after reading this article it makes sense that they just aren’t showing the B12 because it is in such trace amounts. Also, since hearing that Bee Pollen has B12, I also wonder if honey may have B12. They say seaweed has B12 too, but the argument is that it isn’t absorbed properly because it is analog B12…Would love to know about that. It is an important concern as B12 deficiency can be really serious. However, out of our whole family none of us are B12 deficient. This article finally explains why that could be so!

Jinjee (The Garden Diet)

Source: http://www.thegardendiet.com