Veggie Vitamin Deficiency?

Day 319

After initially reading Dave’s column that I posted here yesterday, I thought to myself if it would perhaps be better to be a flexitarian after November 2nd.

The main reason I would go back to eating some meat was the vitamin deficiency he brought up in his piece. Vitamin B-12, selenium, vitamin D, calcium and riboflavin were the ones in particular that he mentioned.

Vitamin B-12 can be obtained from dairy products and eggs. As I am not vegan now and will certainly be eating whole eggs again after November second this is covered.

Selenium? I can also find that in nuts, cereals and eggs, so that is covered too.

Vitamin D and calcium? Again, I am not vegan so vitamin D and calcium I can get from dairy products that I still consume or even a supplement which experts say are one of the few effective vitamins to take right now. My doctor even said back in June that a vitamin D supplement would be good to take as most people are lacking it anyway.

That leaves riboflavin which can be found in almonds, milk, cheese, leafy green vegetables, kidneys, legumes, tomatoes, yeast and mushrooms that can fill that need for me.

I guess I can stay veggie and be healthy. I just have to look around for the missing vitamins I need.

Additional source not hyperlinked above:

Higdon, Jane; Victoria J. Drake (2007). "Riboflavin". Micronutrient Information Center. Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

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Some of the Food I’ve Been Eating, Part 3: Dairy (or Dairy Substitutes)

Day 69

So, dairy. Uh, yeah...dairy.

What can I possibly say about how I fulfill my daily dairy dosage? As longtime readers know, when I originally went meatless in November, it was just cutting out beef, pork, poultry, fish/seafood and whole eggs. On New Year’s Day I started to leave out dairy products too. If you want more details on this new wrinkle in my diet go here and here.

Before I cut true dairy out of my diet, I mainly got my share of it from 2% milk and the Chobani brand of Greek yogurt. Of course pomegranate was my favorite flavor of the Chobani. Whenever I bought some I tried to get as much of the pomegranate flavor as I could. Not an easy feat because some stores in my area didn’t always stock the pomegranate kind, so whenever I saw that particular variation of the brand on the shelf I bought every one in sight. Yeah, I know, “Jason, leave some pomegranate Chobani for the rest of us!” Sorry, but it is really (BLEEP)n’ good yogurt and I make no apologies whatsoever for hoarding this tantalizing treat.

So there.



When I told my family I was giving up dairy for the year they groaned. My brother-in-law told me I was going to get sick. Not so. As with meat, you can find plenty of good stand-in foods that give you the same vitamins and nutrients as the real deal.

So, on New Year’s Day I began to get my fill of dairy via substitutes such as Rice Dream, an enriched milk substitute fortified with Vitamins A, D, B12 and calcium, and calcium supplements themselves. The Rice Dream goes great in my coffee at home and whenever I buy some java in the outside world I first see if they have any non-dairy creamer. If not, then I just take it black.



There, that wasn’t so difficult, now was it?

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Day 6

Today I was having a morning cup of coffee and my 8-year old niece suggested I flavor it with M&M's.

I had put in some 2% milk and a spoonful of blackstrap unsulphured molasses (my veggie friend, Audra, tells me it is a great source of iron, calcium and potassium) and of course I wasn't going to put in M&M's.

It did get me thinking though. No wonder we are one of the most obese nations in the world. We are brought up with candy as a constant presence in our lives!

Think about it for a second.

On Halloween we are told it is tradition to dress up in a costume and come back with a sack full of candy.

For Christmas (if one celebrates it) candy fills our stockings.

For Easter (again if you celebrate it) we get a basketful of sweets!

If we are good while grocery shopping Mom and Dad may just approve of you getting candy at the check out.

And, particularly during the holidays you can't go to most offices and not encounter a bowl of holiday themed candy sitting on the reception desk just waiting to be picked over!

I have never known a child to turn down free candy. Most even spend their allowance on some. Most adults I know also just cannot walk by a candy bowl without snagging a piece to munch on.

We have so much candy shoved in our faces, it's almost like we're programmed to take it, especially when it is free.

Candy is good once in a while but not if you consume a pile of it all at once. We adult humans all have brains. We can resist overconsumption of sweets if we just stop and think. That's all it can take.

Ask yourself if it is really necessary to eat this empty calorie confection?

If I am truly hungry are there healthier alternatives around?

Why do you have to eat it all now? It will still be available tomorrow.

My niece did end up plopping a piece of Bubble Yum into my coffee. I took it out and made her chew it.

Hope you like the taste of blackstrap unsulphured molasses. Brat.