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chakarera wrote

Reply to comment by ziq in by ziq

What's wrong with b12 supplements?

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ziq OP wrote (edited )

  1. Cobalt is acquired by violent imperialism and slave labor.

  2. Depends on destructive industry to mine, refine and process.

  3. Depends on globalisation and capitalism to distribute.

  4. Self sufficiency and autonomy from the system are important to a lot of anarchists who look for the least harmful option in every situation.

  5. It's questionable whether supplements even work.

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chakarera wrote

  1. It's really not questionable, b12 deficiency is a real thing with very serious health consequences and is fixed with supplements all the time. And it's not just a vegan issue either, I'm vegan now but years ago when I was omni I had low b12 (from blood test) that I fixed with supplements.

Yes I agree with your other points and would like a reliable non-animal source of b12 that we can make ourselves. But what do you think about https://veganhealth.org/vitamin-b12-plant-foods/ ? As far as I understand, it is possible to get b12 from natural plant sources, but it isn't well understood how to do so reliably, and a lot of people that tried developed deficiency and health problems.

And I don't want to risk my own health so I keep taking b12 supplements. And I want healthy comrades so I strongly recommend other vegans to supplement b12. (omnis are already supplementing indirectly as cobalt and b12 is added in mass to animal feed, cause if they're pastured raised soil is cobalt depleted nowadays and if they're factory farmed inside eating grains they don't get b12)

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ziq OP wrote (edited )

methylcobalamin injections work for sure, but I've read a lot of studies showing that most vitamin complex supplements taken orally have no effect, especially vitamin D. Idk about b12, but my experience is that the only way to correct a severe deficiency is with injections.

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chakarera wrote

As far as I understand, with b12, methylcobalamin is better absorbed than cyanocobalamin but slightly more expensive, and injections work best followed by sublingual tablets, followed by chewable tablets. Though chewable cyanocobalamin works for most people (I had mild deficiency and it worked for me), but with a long term severe b12 deficiency people lose the ability to absorb or convert it or something and only respond to injections.

With vitamin D it's obviously preferable to spend time outside and get enough sunshine rather than supplement. But it requires anywhere from 15 minutes to a couple hours a day, depending on how much skin you have exposed, how dark your skin color is, and how sunny it is, to get enough. And not everyone can do that depending on their lifestyle. Now I am outside plenty and don't need to supplement but years ago I was working inside from before sunrise to after sunset and got zero sunlight except a little on weekends, and developed vitamin D deficiency that I fixed taking supplements. d3 is more effective than d2, but more expensive and also not normally vegan. Now there is vegan d3 produced by some kind of lichen. After the industrial revolution with babies being raised without sunlight rickets became a big problem until they started adding d2 supplement to milk. vitamin D deficiency isn't nearly as serious as b12 but can cause low energy/fatigue and bone health problems, I think it's recommended for vegans to supplement if they can't get enough sunlight.

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