Potential nutrient deficiency

actingthegoat · 03-01-2016 9:33pm #1

Hi All,

I've been vegan nearly a year now and haven't been supplementing (aside from the occasional B12 injection) as I believe that vegans can get all necessary nutrients from their diet. I eat what I think is a reasonably balanced diet (December not included, obviously

) but recently feel my mental health has taken a hit and I'm going to the GP to get bloods done as I feel this could be related to my dietary intake. Can anyone suggest what sort of tests I should ask to get done?

I've looked into supplements but the list is never ending and expensive :eek: so I figure it's probably easier to pinpoint any deficiencies and then address them. Any insights appreciated!

Tar.Aldarion · 03-01-2016 11:15pm

Doing good so far, pretty much ask for the likes of B12, iron, vitamin D etc. They will run a lot of tests either way, convey your concerns and they will help you out. Only thing I like to take is B12 (or get it from supplemented foods, vitamin D3 and omega 3.

greenwicklow · 04-01-2016 8:37am

actingthegoat wrote: »

Hi All,

I've been vegan nearly a year now and haven't been supplementing (aside from the occasional B12 injection) as I believe that vegans can get all necessary nutrients from their diet. I eat what I think is a reasonably balanced diet (December not included, obviously ) but recently feel my mental health has taken a hit and I'm going to the GP to get bloods done as I feel this could be related to my dietary intake. Can anyone suggest what sort of tests I should ask to get done?

I've looked into supplements but the list is never ending and expensive :eek: so I figure it's probably easier to pinpoint any deficiencies and then address them. Any insights appreciated!

Have you tried raw juicing all the leafy greens and in particular, kale? It has a high content of b-12. For low energy juicing raw carrots, 1 beetroot, 1 apple and celery.

Why do you need b-12 injections? Hope you don't mind my asking.

For blood tests it would be good to get in touch with a herbalist.

Consider natural supplements as opposed to synthetic ones.

Have you tried stopping sugar and reading up about it. Sugar is the cause of most problems. I've stopped it for 8 weeks and have been migraine free apart for 2 or 3 times. Its the best detox I gave myself prior to Christmas and since.

Tar.Aldarion · 04-01-2016 11:09am

B12 is not naturally occurring in any food, meat, plant or otherwise. It comes from bacteria. Animals have it because they ingest this bacteria or are supplemented with synthetic B12 (also made from the same bacteria). Some B12 used to be found on plants because they were not cleaned, they had bacteria from the soil, usually from animal faeces. This is not the case today for the vast majority of produce as it is now cleaned, even if it were not it is completely up to chance whether there would be B12 consumed from it, which would lead to deficiency. Vegans have to use synthetic supplementation, be it from foods already fortified like nutritional yeast, soy milk etc or just taking B12. Rrecommending any other way is dangerous.

People over 50 are the vast majority of B12 supplementers, not vegans, because a lot of them can not absorb B12 from any diet, meat based or otherwise. B12 supplements are improving on nature.

As for blood tests, I would see a doctor in a phlebotomy lab.

greenwicklow · 04-01-2016 2:54pm

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

B12 is not naturally occurring in any food, meat, plant or otherwise. It comes from bacteria. Animals have it because they ingest this bacteria or are supplemented with synthetic B12 (also made from the same bacteria). Some B12 used to be found on plants because they were not cleaned, they had bacteria from the soil, usually from animal faeces. This is not the case today for the vast majority of produce as it is now cleaned, even if it were not it is completely up to chance whether there would be B12 consumed from it, which would lead to deficiency. Vegans have to use synthetic supplementation, be it from foods already fortified like nutritional yeast, soy milk etc or just taking B12. Rrecommending any other way is dangerous.

People over 50 are the vast majority of B12 supplementers, not vegans, because a lot of them can not absorb B12 from any diet, meat based or otherwise. B12 supplements are improving on nature.

As for blood tests, I would see a doctor in a phlebotomy lab.

All this time I believed that collards were the super food with respect to b12 and, in particular, the luscious green kale.

Are you a nutritionist? It would be great if they made nutrition a must as a subject starting from school. It's pretty much bone dead with the medical facility.

Would you know if there are people who grow stuff themselves and sell it - like farmers markets in the dublin and wicklow areas?

Tar.Aldarion · 04-01-2016 5:52pm

I'm not a nutritionist, I just know a lot about it. Careful of people calling themselves nutritionists, anybody can in Ireland as it is not a legal term. The official ones are called dietitians.
It really should be taught to people, as most people don't know and believe the first thing they here, not a healthy way for anybody to be. There are markets around Dublin that sell veg (not seen kale) but it wouldn't be a good way to try and get B12, eventually the person would be deficient, and they wouldn't know for a long time.

greenwicklow · 04-01-2016 7:02pm

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

I'm not a nutritionist, I just know a lot about it. Careful of people calling themselves nutritionists, anybody can in Ireland as it is not a legal term. The official ones are called dietitians.
It really should be taught to people, as most people don't know and believe the first thing they here, not a healthy way for anybody to be. There are markets around Dublin that sell veg (not seen kale) but it wouldn't be a good way to try and get B12, eventually the person would be deficient, and they wouldn't know for a long time.

The clarification is well received. However, are dietitians not focused on getting people to lose weight as opposed to someone who is a nutritionist and who is supposed to know anything and everything about the composition of each and every food type?

It's great to know so much. I've only just started researching recently from suffering with migraines esp when its that time of the month. I turn into a little monster. I just want chilli con carne and cottage pie and chocolates

Thankfully over the past two months none of that drama.

Do you also find that very few of the medical faculty know the abc of nutrition and that is why it is good to know as much as you do.

About the farmers markets would you know which areas of Dublin?

Tar.Aldarion · 05-01-2016 1:48pm

A dietitian is what you called a nutritionist there, it's not about losing weight. A person can easily know more than a doctor about nutrition if they put in the study, they are not solely focused on nutrition, but they will know if you are healthy or not from a blood test, which is most of what they need to know for their job. I like to know because being vegan means I deviate a lot from the standard diet and i want to be healthy.

Here's a list of all the farmers markets!

http://www.bordbia.ie/consumer/aboutfood/farmersmarkets/Pages/default.aspx

greenwicklow · 06-01-2016 11:17am

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

A dietitian is what you called a nutritionist there, it's not about losing weight. A person can easily know more than a doctor about nutrition if they put in the study, they are not solely focused on nutrition, but they will know if you are healthy or not from a blood test, which is most of what they need to know for their job. I like to know because being vegan means I deviate a lot from the standard diet and i want to be healthy.

Here's a list of all the farmers markets!

The link is appreciated as is the clarification... thank you!

actingthegoat · 06-01-2016 9:47pm

greenwicklow wrote: »

Have you tried raw juicing all the leafy greens and in particular, kale? It has a high content of b-12. For low energy juicing raw carrots, 1 beetroot, 1 apple and celery.

Why do you need b-12 injections? Hope you don't mind my asking.

For blood tests it would be good to get in touch with a herbalist.

Consider natural supplements as opposed to synthetic ones.

Have you tried stopping sugar and reading up about it. Sugar is the cause of most problems. I've stopped it for 8 weeks and have been migraine free apart for 2 or 3 times. Its the best detox I gave myself prior to Christmas and since.

I had been juicing before the summer but had kind of forgotten about it, thanks for the reminder!

The sugar thing I've been considering and will probably do it at some stage but I'm not ready for it at the moment.

Re: the B12 shots, I had some symptoms of deficiency a few years ago (low energy, anxiety) and when the gp did a blood test it was quite low. B12 deficiency can lead to all sorts of problems long term if left untreated - depression, psychosis, early onset dementia etc and is common in omni's too as previously mentioned. Worth getting levels taken every so often if one isn't supplementing.

greenwicklow · 07-01-2016 8:38pm

actingthegoat wrote: »

I had been juicing before the summer but had kind of forgotten about it, thanks for the reminder!

The sugar thing I've been considering and will probably do it at some stage but I'm not ready for it at the moment.

Re: the B12 shots, I had some symptoms of deficiency a few years ago (low energy, anxiety) and when the gp did a blood test it was quite low. B12 deficiency can lead to all sorts of problems long term if left untreated - depression, psychosis, early onset dementia etc and is common in omni's too as previously mentioned. Worth getting levels taken every so often if one isn't supplementing.

Will read up on the b12 because I don't know much about it to be honest.

Hypothyroidism also results in low energy, anxiety and so on. So it would be useful for me to read up and have a meaningful discussion.

What is omni's?

Yes the fact that you mentioned getting tested is spot on. My only concern being that this isn't what is approved when one is insured.

For hypothyroidism reverse t3 is usually never approved and they look at you as if you dropped out from Mars for suggesting it. So you've got a gp that is genuinely concerned about your well being. This is very positive.

Look forward to reading up and writing soon.

Is it freezing there at home in Ireland?

Potential nutrient deficiency

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