The Kind Life
Any teen vegans?
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hi Im 18 and Im going to become vegan tomorrow!!!(I need to eat some stuff in the fridge first) i was just wondering if i have to take supplements... Is B12 the only one? I am also already a little bit anemic but i already have iron pills.
  • Evie — Jan 29, 2010
  • 17
I take B12 and vitamin D, but depending on how much you are outside, vitamin D is not a must.  If you get at least 20 minutes of bright sunlight every day, you should be good on that front.  So I would say, as long as you get a nutritious diet full of legumes, whole grains, tons of veggies and some fruits, B12 is all you need.  In terms of iron-rich foods--there's kale, chickpeas, broccoli, sea veggies, many types of beans...a fair amount of veggie foods have iron in them, luckily.  I don't like the idea of having to rely on supplements because I think if our diet is balanced, we should be getting all the nutrition we need through food.  B12, however, is from the soil and since the industrialization of agriculture and our squeaky clean way of modern living, we rarely get adequete B12 anymore unless we eat meat, hence the supplements.
if u use to eat meat do u still need to take b12
  • Evie — Jan 30, 2010
  • 19
You probably should just to be on the safe side.  If you ate a lot of meat, chances are you have B12 stored up, but eventually you would run out if you remained vegan for a while.  If you eat a medium amount of fortified vegan foods such as cereals, store-bought milks, fake meats, etc, you should be fine without the supplement.  Also, Red Star Vegetarian support formula nutritional yeast (long name!) has B12 in it.  These are just options if you don't want the supplement.  I ate meat all my life, but since I don't buy many fortified vegan products, I take the supplement.  Hope this helps.  Good luck!
thank you!
on the b12 thing yeah alot of soymilks and stuff are fortified with it but its really important to not forget about b12, its a totally essential vitamin. jusyt eat a varied diet and you shall be perfectly fine for all other nutrients, i agree with evie. make sure you get 15/20 minutes of sun a day for vitamin D a day and then you'll be sweet. i recommend the skinny bitch in the kitch cookbook as a good vegan cookbook to help get you all started. ;-)
cooli really love the title of that cookbook even though my women's studies teacher used it as a anti-feminist example in class loli was also wondering if a food label says "may contain some traces of milk or eggs" would i be cheating if i ate it?or is it such a small amount that it wouldn't matter...
as your a new vegan, if i were u i wouldnt be too concerned about that. it usually says that for people who have allergies (serious allergies) like you know those people who can die if they smell peanuts? cause they make the food with the same equipment as they make those products with milk/egs or whatever. and they dont wan to be held responsible, but its not an ingredient. so it shouldnt be a large enough amount (if theres any) to make a difference.
I generally avoid anything that says may contain traces of milk or eggs, even though it's probably just due to the fact that it's produced on the same equipment, like Melody said. It's definitely a personal choice though.
I generally avoid anything that says may contain traces of milk or eggs, even though it's probably just due to the fact that it's produced on the same equipment, like Melody said. It's definitely a personal choice though.
  • Annie — Jun 29, 2010
  • 26

i have no advice at all but just wanted to share that one of my best friends in middle school went vegan when we were 13. :) AH, such memories! i think i might have been a vegetarian at the time, along with another friend. in ten years you're going to be so proud, and definitely tall with very strong bones. :) her family had lots of health problems and issues with obesity, and her going vegan probably helped her grow into a healthy adult. without her diet it would have been totally different for her.

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