Vitamin B12: Questions Answered

What is vitamin B12, what are the causes and prevalence of deficiencies, where is it found, and what is the best source?

Dr. Pineda Ochoa answers all of these questions and more in this short presentation.

[The following transcript is an approximation of the audio in video. To hear the audio and see the accompanying visuals, please play the video.]

PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT:

More and more mainstream health authorities are promoting plant-based vegan diets – like Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest HMOs in the U.S. that wants to make plant-based diets “the new normal for [its] patients and employees”; or the president of the American College of Cardiology, Dr. Kim Williams, who vigorously promotes a vegan diet; or the chair of Harvard’s Department of Nutrition, Dr. Walter Willett, who recommends “choosing plant proteins over animal proteins.”

As we see this awareness about plant-based nutrition increase, concern is sometimes expressed about vegan diets and vitamin B12 deficiencies. Some might ask, “If a vegan diet really is healthy and natural, why do I need to watch my vitamin B12 levels or take vitamin B12 supplements?”

And this is a great question. So, let’s review the current information about vitamin B12, and the causes and prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiencies.

Vitamin B12, also called cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin. It is produced by bacteria, not animals or plants. So animals, including humans, must obtain vitamin B12 directly or indirectly from bacteria.

In the past, vitamin B12 from bacteria was naturally and more reliably present in plant foods. Today, however, with modern hygienic practices that more deeply clean and sanitize our produce, along with the soil being exposed to more antibiotics and pesticides, most plant foods are no longer reliable sources for vitamin B12. And, it’s probably not a good idea to go back and reverse sanitary practices just to get more of this bacterial product in our diet.

[npoznak]

I'm happy to take a vitamin so others can live without exploitation and slaughter.

[desireayer]

Best explanation ever. I was so confused how people could say that vegan is the natural diet for humans and then say you HAVE to take B12 to stay healthy. It's seemed to me like some information was missing. However, the issues brought up here about how plants sanitation regulations have eliminated this option for B12 availability, makes so much sense. I am so happy I found this channel. Thank you!!

[daveeade]

How does this channel not have more subs? Great videos

[EIRE]

I use *_Marmite_* in my diet, which is a very good form of the B vitamins.

[lavenderteadreams]

Misleading:
She said B12 comes from bacteria, not animals. While it is true that only bacteria can _synthesize_ B12, animals store B12 in their organs and flesh, and B12 is also passed on into their eggs and milk. Therefore, most of the B12 found in animals products comes from those products themselves, not from contamination with feces.
Misleading:
She said she doesn't take B12 supplements, and this was meant to imply that you don't need animal products to get enough B12. However, that doesn't include the fortified foods she mentioned earlier. It's most likely that she's getting her B12 from these fortified foods. This means that a completely natural vegan diet (where no fortified foods are being consumed) would still lead to a B12 deficiency.
Misleading:
She cited that some people have B12 deficiency despite eating meat, which was meant to imply that meat is not actually a good source of B12. However, then went on to describe various conditions that can lead a person to poorly absorb B12 regardless of what they eat. In addition, her citation of the prevalence of B12 deficiency was markedly different from Latin America (40%) to the U.S. (4%). This is because the Latin America study said "deficient _or_ marginal, " meaning it included people without actual deficiency. She clearly threw out the big number first to make it seem like a more common problem, before stating that the actual prevalence in the U.S. is only 4%. She also cited that B12 deficiency was more common in older adults, which means that it is most likely due to overall malnutrition, since malnutrition is common in older adults, or the other health problems she goes on to mention later, which are also more common in older adults. Despite how she makes it sound, "4% of those 40-59" having B12 deficiency is still a small percentage of an already small percentage of the population. She then said that "20% of those over the age of 60... that's a really high prevalence for the general population." No, those over the age of 60 is _not_ the general population. It is only 11% of the world's population. This is deliberately misleading.
Misleading:
Read carefully at 3:20 and see how it lines up with what she says. The text actually says that the condition of cobalamin malabsorption is present in 40% of U.S. adults with unexplained low blood serum levels. This means that cobalamin malabsorption coincides with unexplained low blood serum levels 40% of the time. It does NOT mean that 40% of U.S. adults overall have cobalamin malabsorption or that 40% of U.S. adults overall have unexplained low blood serum levels of B12.
Misleading:
A lot of this video is pure filler. It deliberately avoids the subject of whether B12 can be naturally found in plant products, because the answer is no, it can't. You can only get B12 naturally from contaminated plant products. You _can_ get B12 naturally from animal products, regardless of whether they have been contaminated or not, because the B12 is stored in the muscle, fat, eggs and milk of the animals. She talks a lot about causes of B12 malabsorption, but this subject has nothing to do with supporting vegetarianism or veganism. The "health risks" associated with eating meat are the standard health risks humans have been living with for 200, 000+ years since every culture on the planet not driven by a religious ideology eats meat and has been eating meat for that long.

[VeganosUnidos]

Thanks for your work and summing up this information. More people will get straight to the point: we don't need to cause harm in any other animal [human or non-human] to live a healthy and non-violent lives.

[pixelated.peachyangel]

One of the most informative videos on the matter

[petergwatts]

You look great and the urgency in your presentation spirit along with your useful facts makes you a winner again. Still going Vegan this end and was considering B12 supplement as next step. Now want a B12 check also at next opportunity. Thanks again, you already made a positive change in my life and I am enjoying plant based foods more and more.

[genericeric]

I have been vegan for 3 years and every friday I take a 1/2 teaspoon cyanocobalamin powder just to be sure that my B12 stays good.

[mychaelmcneeley]

Wonderful video, and one that I'll share regularly. One thing that was a little surprising to me is that Dr. Pineda Ochoa doesn't take a supplement. As I understood it, tests are not super reliable and that deficiencies may show up later, making taking a supplement an inexpensive form of insurance. Am I wrong here, Dr. Pineda Ochoa?

[Chelsiukas]

Great video, thanks! :) Maybe an idea could be to include why our bodies need B12 in the beginning. Just to make the video informationally complete. Oh and mentioning the method (-s) for checking B12, just to make sure that people know their options and possibly the procedure/costs/duration/etc.

[VeganJerry]

I love your channel and I'm a fellow Texan.

[Kaillyne]

All of this actually sounds really unbiased and scientifical, which is hard to come by these days. I have been against the aggressive "emotional" vegan propaganda for a long time because most of their "reasons" to go vegan (from a nutritional standpoint) have made no sense whatsoever, had no sources to cite, or were made-up fallacies. This is an interesting video, but I still need to do more research on this topic to accept humans as herbivores. Not convinced so far.

[skringler]

Great summary of the issues! question, should we worry about the cyanide in cyanocobalamine? I use the methyl form. thx.

[leeandbeahinton]

'Deficiency', based on average SAD and meat eaters is a myth.

[KoukosAlex]

So "regardless" of the diet up till 40% of herbivore humans can have a deficiency in B12 vitamin (because of alcohol, and some dysfunctions). Can I ask what would that % be in an herbivore diet (without supplements and even without alcohol and dysfunctions) ?

I'd stick with the ethical approach, evolution is a very complex process that the majority of scientists doesn't have a whole picture of it. Imagine normal people. There are isolated villages where how the weather affects the annual crop has an affect in a specific enzyme if it will be present in the newborns that year or not. There are sublime mechanism that can drive and target in a specific direction our evolutionary path.

What I am trying to say is that technological progress (fire, wheel, clothing, hunting weapons) can and has alter our evolution. Small things, sublime things that even though we where leaning toward becoming herbivores the efficiency of an omnivore diet took its tall and we are here now. Herbivores brought you in this world and herbivores brought your parents in this world.

Please do fight for your cause, I will help you as much as I can. But I could never label myself with this dogmatic veganism you are promoting and I'm not the only one facing this problem.