Tomato

To worry about B12 deficiency is to mindlessly accept all the propaganding that industry has done in order to sell its products. One of the things that the animal products industries did in its attempts to counter the burgeoning popularity of vegetarianism was to identify the nutrients that are found in animal products in huge (excessive) quantities, that are either 'not found' in plant foods or not in abundant quantity. B12 was one of those, along with calcium, protein and a few others. Well, vegans fell for it, hook, line and sinker, just like everyone else. It apparently did not occur to anyone that the nutrients that are found in large quantities in foods that are not suited to our digestive faculties are not ones that we NEED in large quantities. Why have we allowed the animal products industry to dictate that the nutrient quantities present in animal foods is the gold standard? Everything on earth is made up of the same elemental components, some of which are food for us and others which are not. Why are we looking at the chemical constituents of objects that are NOT food for us (i.e., animal products), and trying to make sure that we get those constituents into our diets somehow? Humans have been making the enormous mistake of eating animal products for a long time now, and suffering the consequences. If human beings had been making the mistake of eating tree bark and there were huge industries built up around harvesting and processing tree bark, the tree bark industry would have found something that they claim is only acquirable by eating tree bark, and we'd be discussing that substance right now. Instead, we're talking about B12. (...)

Is there anyone who still thinks that we need to eat animal products to get 'enough' calcium and protein? Even mainstream nutritionists are finally starting to accept reality with regard to these two nutrients (although there are plenty who haven't, but that doesn't mean anything). B12 represents the same kind of non-issue as calcium and protein and it has the SAME origins. These ideas have been wildly successful for the meat and dairy industries. How many millions of people who might have been inclined to try vegetarianism instead continued to eat meat and dairy products because they feared not getting enough of these nutrients? Probably as many as do it out of sheer addiction and 'enjoyment'. The 'nutrient' marketing ploys have done exactly what their inventors hoped they would, and much more.

It is the duty of industry to sell, not to look out for our health interests. That is OUR duty, and part of it necessitates recognizing when we are being manipulated by industry for financial purposes. It is the interests of industry (meat, dairy, supplements) that are being served by the frustratingly unending debate over B12. Countless suffering raw fooders ignore the 500 mistakes they make everyday which account for their symptoms, and either go back to eating animal products or start supplementing. In so doing, they keep making their mistakes and regardless of whether their symptoms go away or continue, the causes remain intact. It is exactly the same as taking a remedy of any sort, and we all know how that works.

(from Raw School forum)

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