Do Raw Vegans Need Supplements?

A month ago I posted an article entitled “Raw Vegan Questions that Make you Go Hmmm?”  These are head scratching questions that people considering a raw vegan diet often ask.

I will take a question from that list and answer a question every month.  The answers I provide to these questions will not be based on what I think, but based on scientific research and studies.

The question for today is “Do I need supplements?”

My recommendation for you is to have your blood tested so that you will know for sure if you are deficient in anything.  You cannot always go on how you feel.  When in doubt check it out!

It is a known fact that vegans and raw vegans test low for levels of vitamin B-12.  Raw vegans also test low for calcium and vitamin D.  How do we know this?  We know this because there have been research studies conducted on vegans and raw vegans.  Time after time they have tested low for vitamin B-12, calcium and vitamin D.

Let’s look a little closer at some studies.  These studies were conducted on raw vegans.

Vitamin B-12

• Giessen study:  39 people eating a raw vegan diet for 2 years.  Every participant who did not take a vitamin B-12 supplement were deficient as defined by low blood plasma B-12.  There were 4 people who used a B-12 supplement and there levels were higher than those who did not take a B-12 supplement.

• Hallelujah Acres Diet study.  49 American adults who had followed the Hallelujah Diet for 4 years without vitamin B-12 showed that 75% of the participants had levels indicating there was a deficiency.  There was a follow-up study conducted on 25 of the ones who tested low for B-12.  In this study,  1 group was given a sublingual B-12 supplement, second group was given– Red Star brand Vegetarian Support Formula nutritional yeast on a regular basis, and the third group was given probiotics.

• Hallelujah Acres Findings.  B-12 supplement helped reverse deficiency, Red Star nutritional yeast had a strong effect, but less of an effect than the supplements, probiotics were ineffective in reversing the B-12 deficiency.

• Finns Study. These participants had been eating a living-food diet for an average of 5 years.  Diet consisted of fermented foods, nori, and Chlorella algae.  The findings showed that these individuals were also deficient in vitamin B-12.

• 1982 Study conducted in the United States. Vegans who attended a natural hygiene conference had vitamin B-12 levels tested.  These individuals ate raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and minimal amount of grains and legumes.  They took no supplements.  They were found to be deficient in vitamin B-12.

Recommendation: Take a quality vitamin B-12 supplement.  Methylcobalamin is a superior form of B-12.

Vitamin D

A deficiency in vitamin D is not only found in raw vegans, but also in non-vegetarians and vegetarians.

• People at risk of vitamin D deficiency are those over age 50, women, people who are inactive or overweight, and people with darker skin.

• A raw vegan diet does not provide a safe food source of vitamin D.

Recommendation: Spend time in the sun whenever you can.  Take a vitamin D supplement.  Most multivitamin-mineral supplements will have vitamin D in them. There are vegan forms of vitamin D, make sure you get the vegan form.

Calcium

If people eat a very small amount of food, causing them to be very lean and underweight, they are likely to have trouble with their bones.  This is true of people following any diet.  Michael Donaldson, director of research for the Hallelujah Acres diet study

DRI (dietary reference intakes)

Women, 1000-1200 mg

Men, 1000-1200 mg

• Giessen study Germany, 2001, 43 adults – 714 mg calcium

• Hallelujah Acres diet, USA, 2001, 87 women – 577 mg calcium

• Hallelujah Acres diet, USA, 2001, 54 men – 687 mg calcium

• Living-food diet, Finland, 1994, ’95, ’96, 19-20 women and 1 man – 562 mg calcium

• Living-food diet, Finland, 13 adults mostly women with rheumatoid arthritis – 796 mg calcium

• Living-food diet, Finland, 1992, 7 women and 2 men – 520 mg calcium

• Raw vegan diet, USA, 2005, 2007, 7 women and 11 men – 579 mg calcium

Recommended: Eat a variety of foods that are high in calcium.  If you are finding it difficult  to consume foods high in calcium, then it would be wise for you add a calcium supplement to your diet.

Conclusion

Should you take supplements?  The answer is yes!  Even if some authority/guru mentions that they don’t take any supplements, it doesn’t mean that you should follow suit.  Use your head and have some common sense about your own body.

Note: Currently, I take a multi-vitamin (affiliate link) – (this is not vegan, after I’m done with these, I will get a vegan multi) and vitamin B-12 (affiliate link), since writing this article I will be adding calcium to my supplement regimen.

Information for this article obtained from Becoming Raw written by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis.

Image: Andy Newson

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Tags: advice, Becoming Raw, high raw food vegan, kale, protein, vegan, vitamin b12

Category: Diet and Nutrition, Vegan