Re: Gabriel Cousens' B-12 material

Mark Hovila <[log in to unmask]>:
>Well, I wouldn't say it's necessarily persuasive, but what he was saying
>seemed reasonable to me.  He doesn't just make assertions without giving
>some kind of citation or basis to back it up.  He cited a number of studies
>suggesting that dietary B12 deficiency is rare among healthy vegans and all
>other types of vegetarians.  He says that low serum levels, without
>neurological, hematological or any other clinical evidence of B12
>deficiency, is not necessarily an accurate way to diagnose B12 deficiency.

Tom:
He cites the Immerman [1981] review paper which claims that earlier
studies
that allege B-12 deficiency on veg diets, are inconclusive. In the
Beyond Veg section on B-12, I critique Immerman's paper and show
how his (Immerman's) review criteria were flawed and logically
invalid:

http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/comp-anat/comp-anat-7b.shtml

So far, most of the claims that one can show low levels of B-12
without
symptoms are traced to old work by Baker (late 70's, early 80's).
I have tracked some of these refs down, only to find that the
topic is mentioned in passing (maybe 1-2 lines in the ref),
with no supporting data/discussion. It *appears*  to  me that such
claims
are based on limited evidence. However, I did not cover this
claim in the Beyond Veg section as I wanted to do more searching
of Baker's work, before commenting on the website on the topic.

>He says research shows that between 23.7% to 96.4% of B12 is destroyed by
>boiling or baking, depending on the food type and the length of heat
>processing.  He goes into the causes of B12 deficiency, signs of B12
>deficiency, and he has recommendations for what to do when you have it.
>There's lots more, but maybe that gives you a basic idea.

Loss of B-12 in cooking is dicussed at:

http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/comp-anat/comp-anat-7c.shtml

The data on cooking loss of B-12 are limited and not very convincing
either way, at present.

>Yeah, I'm considering supplementation as well.  I've avoided it in the past
>because I was under the impression that all B12 pills came from dessicated
>beef livers or sewage sludge from porta-potties.  But I understand that
>Hallelujah Acres is selling a vegetarian B12 pill now.

It is my understanding that B-12 pills are made using bacterial
cultures. All (or nearly all) B-12 pills are vegetarian, so long
as they don't contain fillers or stabilizers made from animal
products.

Tom Billings