Why vegans and now also vegetarians need to monitor Vitamin B12 levels

We have known for some time that vegans are at a particular risk of a vitamin B12 deficiency but new research has now shown that even vegetarians could also be at risk. A German research team who studied 174 people living in Germany and the Netherland published their findings in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition stating that 92% of the vegans they studied has a deficiency of vitamin B12. More surprising however was that two thirds of the vegetarians included in the study also had a deficiency – the difference between the diet of the two sets of participants was that the vegans had absolutely no animal products whatsoever whereas the vegetarians were having milk and eggs as their only animal products. It goes to show though that even with some animals products they were still struggling to get the required levels of B vitamins and may be something …