Hi There,

This is my first post to this forum. I have been a vegetarian for years, recently vegan and now I am trying my hand at raw vegan. Going very well so far, but I read something on the website for International Natural Hygiene Society quoted below:


"Vegan diets are deficient, but it may take years before any deficiency symptoms are noticeable. For adults. Children can be damaged much more quickly.
In the beginning, a raw vegan diet can be very cleansing, especially if you came off a SAD diet. If you are a raw vegan and love it, then you can e.g. continue until you begin to feel some of the deficiency symptoms listed here. Or just add a tiny amount of eggs & dairy (raw and organic is best). Added fish gives a good health boost. A raw vegan diet with a few added animal products is an adequate (but not optimal) diet. How much? Eat a minimum of 2% of your diet as animal foods, preferably every day for maximum effect.
Vegans who have not replenished their stores of animal fats and proteins have often slowly gotten into trouble, sometimes first showing as bad moods and depression, sometimes as dry scalp & hair, sometimes loose teeth & receding gum-line. Serious lack of B12 has caused brain damage, pain and paralysis, so be careful.
(Supplements are a must if you are a true vegan, e.g. vitamin B12, D and omega-3. But of course, NH is not in favor of supplements - they can never mimick the real thing. A truly adequate diet is better.)"

Back to me now.....Should I worry about this? I was shocked at where I found it mostly since I thought people who followed Natural Hygiene were raw foodists...

Does anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

Much appreciated!
Daniela

Those animals got their nutrients from plants, if we eat the animals then we are still getting those nutrients from plants but they've gone through an animal first. So why not just get them first-hand from plants.

B12 is a bacteria and the animals don't "produce" it, I mean it's not like they have a B12 gland that secretes B12. I supplement B12 every so often, it's no big deal.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2008 06:43PM by Lillianswan.

Thank you very much for your thoughts Lillianswan!

If what your doing is working for you then don't worry about a thing....if I listened to all the people that told me I couldn't do this lifestyle and that I'd get sick due to a lack of whatever I'd still be sick and tired of being sick and tired!

F1

I've been an all-raw vegan for about 10 years with no problems (beyond the usual! ha! ha!). My suggestion, if you are concerned, is to first and foremost grow some of your own food or sprouts in soil.....at least once per month. This should eliminate the problem of getting B-12 direct from the same source animals do - the soil. Sunflower seeds, wheatgrass or radishes are an excellent way to do this. Lentil, mung bean or some other sprout is also a good idea (depending on your preference). Beyond this, by eating a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables...and keeping fat intake reasonable (under 30%) and activity levels healthy (at least 3 times per week) you should achieve excellent long-term health.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Thank you so much all of you! I feel better now.
Daniela

Daniela,

Most B-12 related issues are problems with absorption rather than lack of B-12 in the diet. The are far more people eating meat with B-12 problems than there are vegans with problems.

I have not chosen to supplement B-12 on my raw vegan diet, but others have. My approach for myself is let me see how I do without supplementation, and should problems arise, I would be open to trying supplementation to see if it addresses these problem. I have been all raw now for over 6.5 years now without supplementation, and I feel fine.

As for Natural Hygienist, there is no agreed upon diet among the Natural Hygienists. There are some that are fruitarian, raw vegan, raw vegetarian, raw omni, vegan with lots of raw, vegetarian with lots of raw, omni with lots of raw, etc. Natural Hygiene is more about health rather than a specific diet. What they all have in common in their understanding of toxins and the effect of toxins on health.

I think you are better off getting advice on veganism from the American Dietetic Association, which endorses vegan diets for all life stages, rather than any Natural Hygiene website.

Yes raw vegan diets can be adequate, depending on your choices. I supplement for B12 and D2.

You can get long-chain omega3 from algae. If you'd rather kill a fish to get what the fish are eating to make their long-chain omega3 (algae), kill a fish. I don't think it's necessary.

You can get B12 from bacteria. If you'd rather kill a fish to get what bacteria made in the fish's gut, kill a fish. I don't think it's necessary.

Supplements exploit natural processes but avoid the killing.