On Mon, 1 Jan 2001 00:39:29 -0700, Lorenzo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Some vegans have had problems-  See New England Journal
>
>
>http://www.nejm.org/content/2000/0343/0008/0585.asp

Looks as if the cases mentioned in this text suffered from several severe
malnutritions - due tosome believe system they followed.
They were even malnutritioned in items that are usually very well supplied
in vegan eaters.

("Remarkably, both of the patients described in these reports were deficient
in folate, despite the fact that numerous studies have found that both
 vegan and nonvegan vegetarians tend to have higher intakes of folate and
higher plasma levels of folate than do omnivores. These findings are
not surprising, considering that leafy green vegetables, legumes, and
several fruits are among the richest sources of folate. The patient
described by Milea et al. was also said to be deficient in vitamins C and E,
both of which are derived primarily from plant sources. ")

Give this facts these poor people just didn't get enough of anything.
Maybe they didn't recognise the about 8kg of fruit *or* 400g of nuts
per day as necessary.

I used to attribute (only) a vitamin b12 defficiency as a possible danger
for vegans. Now it looks to me as would the most amount b12 beeing
compensated by a high intake of folate, in addition to  vitamin b12 which is
made from intestinal bacteria.
And can be absorbed in some small amount though this was denied by some
studies.

I'll report from my b12 supplementation experiment a time later
(if more time has shown a little more).

Cheers, Amadeus