Vegans don’t get natural B12,
which is why they should eat meat, dairy and eggs.
Well, that’s according to the animal farming levy group, the AHDB,
who in their new 2022 “We Eat Balanced” campaign said:
[“Did you know that beef, pork, lamb and dairy]
[are natural sources of vitamin B12,]
[an essential vitamin not naturally present in a vegan diet?”]
“Meat and dairy naturally contain vitamin B12,
which helps us get energy from food and stay healthy.”
- “Wow!”
[So, should we not be vegan]
[because of vitamin B12?]
B12 is a vitamin that is produced by microbes,
such as bacteria.
Humans can produce B12 in their gut.
However, this B12 doesn’t get absorbed by our bodies.
It is instead excreted,
meaning it doesn’t help us meet our daily B12 needs.
Well, we could absorb it after it’s excreted.
But that would mean practicing coprophagy.
- Yes, that is what that means.
And no, please don’t google it.
“You eat pieces of sh*t for breakfast?”
- “No.”
But I think, a more appealing alternative
is just to seek out an external source instead.
So, enter the animal farming industry to save the day,
[Right?]
Well, let’s dig into the details.
In theory, the animals we farm could get or produce B12 naturally,
if they lived in an environment
with soil that either contained the right microbes
or was contaminated with feaces.
However, the vast majority of them are confined in factory farms
where there is no soil,
meaning that in practice, most of the animals we farm for food
are supplemented with – wait for it -
[Unnatural B12 supplements].
However, there is a caveat to this,
and that’s ruminants like cattle and sheep who are raised on pastures,
because unlike us,
these animals can produce and absorb B12 without an external dietary source,
using bacteria in their digestive tract.
That being said,
they do need a mineral called [Cobalt] to do so.
And the only way they can get that is from their diet.
In theory, cobalt is found in soils,
but in practice, this isn’t necessarily a given,
as [cobalt deficient soils] have become a problem.
In fact, according to a Scottish government-funded advisory group,
over 15% of Scottish soils
are at moderate risk of cobalt deficiency.
And over 62% are at a high risk.
And to quote them:
“[Most farms use intraruminal boluses]”
- which in English means [supplements for ruminant animals],
which contain “cobalt or drenches”.
“[Vitamin B12 injections are also available.]”
In other words, both intensively raised animals and outdoor-raised animals
are for the most part [unnaturally supplemented to get B12].
So, for most of us,
whether we are getting B12 from a supplement or animal products,
it will be just as unnatural.
The only difference is whether that supplement
is filtered through an animal or not.
Not to mention that B12 is far from being a vegan-only problem,
as studies have shown that up to 40% of people in Western countries
have “[low or marginal B12 status]”,
regardless of their dietary choices.
So, the AHDB’s recommendation to get natural B12
is not even practical for most people anyway.
But there’s actually a way bigger flaw to what they’re saying.
If you think about it,
by saying that B12 can only be found naturally in animal products,
they are basically saying:
“This is the good way to get B12
because it’s natural,
while the vegan way to get B12 is bad
because it’s unnatural.”
In other words, they are making the assumption
that natural things are good and unnatural things are bad.
But this is an irrational assumption,
which we don’t even hold consistently.
For example, anthrax, earthquakes and wiping with a leaf
are natural, but we consider them bad,
while the antibiotics we use to treat anthrax,
the seismographs we use to detect earthquakes
and the toilet paper we use to wipe
are unnatural, but we consider them good.
In other words,
we consider things to be good or bad
not based on how natural they are
but on how they cause or reduce suffering.
So, the relevant question is not
“How do we get B12 naturally?”,
but “Does this way of getting B12 cause or reduce suffering?”
And in this case, we have a choice
between getting it from foods that involve exploiting and killing animals
in a system that is one of the major drivers of the climate crisis
or getting it from a supplement with no direct victims.
Yeah, as it turns out,
we don’t need to kill animals
to be healthy and thrive
- a point the AHDB even admit themselves on their website,
where they state: “[If you’re cutting out meat, fish, dairy and eggs]
[you can get vitamin B12 from]” “[Fortified Foods]” and “[Supplements]”
(rhythmic electronic background music)