A note on vegetarians/vegans who feel tired

In response to a topic where someone's friend was feeling "spacey" and was eating meat to "ground" herself.

If you're feeling fatigued or out of sorts on a vegetarian or vegan diet, please consider inadequate nutrition as the source, especially when it comes to B12. Do your research on what your body used to be getting from meat, eggs, and dairy, and find replacements.

[Tobi]

Yes, B12 is lacking in a vegan diet, and has to be supplemented.
Also Vitamin D3
Calcium needs to be kept an eye on, as well as Omega 3.
Those are the 4 main problems that can be encountered on a vegan diet.
So finding plant sources of Omega 3 and Calcium are important. (There are quite a few vegan foods which contain Calcium. The main source of Omega 3 is Flax seeds.)
D3 and B12 I find usually have to be taken in the form of supplements.

[Belle]

I'm keen on supplements but think I was a bit seduced by the supplement selling features - you know the sense that you read the blurb and can easily believe that each one is essential to your wellbeing.

I eat quite a few nuts for protein, and also I take flax seeds. But, nutrition is important.

Just a quicki,

I found out the hard way that vegitarian diet was not good for my body.....i also became very unwell on the juice diet....what it boils down to is yes, do your research but more importantly, listen to your own body and try to work out what it needs as we are all so different.
Its taken me years to feel better and lots of diets to try and improve my flagging energy levels.
I now eat a Paleo diet, consume only natural sugars ( small amounts at that) i cant drink alcohol at all and i avoid Gluten absolutely ( Im Celiac).

Many people take supplements and if you feel better doing so then great, but be aware that if you have an unhealthy gut, IBS, candida or celiac etc then no amount of supplements will be absorbed until you have healed your gut!

to all with digestive issues cos i hear ya

[Swami Chihuahuananda]

Originally Posted by lunalass

Just a quicki,

I found out the hard way that vegitarian diet was not good for my body.....i also became very unwell on the juice diet....what it boils down to is yes, do your research but more importantly, listen to your own body and try to work out what it needs as we are all so different.
Its taken me years to feel better and lots of diets to try and improve my flagging energy levels.
I now eat a Paleo diet, consume only natural sugars ( small amounts at that) i cant drink alcohol at all and i avoid Gluten absolutely ( Im Celiac).

Many people take supplements and if you feel better doing so then great, but be aware that if you have an unhealthy gut, IBS, candida or celiac etc then no amount of supplements will be absorbed until you have healed your gut!

to all with digestive issues cos i hear ya

That's what a lot of the CLEAN diet/book is about , is gut health. Scary all the bad things most people do to their digestive/assimilation/elimination systems . Eating or not eating meat doesn't have a lot to do , by itself, with the health of the overall organism.

B12 is not available to a vegan. It is to a vegetarian in eggs and in dairy products.

This is by far the best vegan thread ive seen on here.......

You have to be careful with supplements. Some minerals are not absorbed by the body if you have excess of other. Taking a broad spectrum multi vitamin seems like common sense, but you can be over dosing on certain ones, which ironically can hinder the absoprion of others. The best thing to do is get your levels checked in your blood, and then take supplements that you are lacking. Best thing is to see a dietician.

[knightofalbion]

B-12 in mushrooms.
http://www.pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf9010966

Dietary B-12 can also be obtained from fortified plant milks etc.

[knightofalbion]

The best article on B-12 I've read.
http://www.vibrancyuk.com/B12.html

[unname28]

Originally Posted by Tobi

Yes, B12 is lacking in a vegan diet, and has to be supplemented.
Also Vitamin D3

Couldn't I get vitamin D3 from sunlight?