Vegan Diet, Vitamin B-12, Cardiovascular Health

[jimmylegs]

hello all, i post this new research in general discussion due to its potential relevance in the diet, natural approach, and CCSVI forums, specifically:
a) the Wahls protocol (created by a former vegetarian),
b) the recent upsurge of interest regarding long-established similarities between MS and poor B12 status, and
c) the cardiovascular connection to CCSVI.

Vegan Diet, Subnormal Vitamin B-12 Status and Cardiovascular Health
http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/6/8/3259/htm
"Vegetarian diets have been associated with atherosclerosis protection, with healthier atherosclerosis risk profiles, as well as lower prevalence of, and mortality from, ischemic heart disease and stroke. However, there are few data concerning the possible cardiovascular effects of a vegan diet (with no meat, dairy or egg products). Vitamin B-12 deficiency is highly prevalent in vegetarians; this can be partially alleviated by taking dairy/egg products in lact-ovo-vegetarians. However, metabolic vitamin B-12 deficiency is highly prevalent in vegetarians in Australia, Germany, Italy and Austria, and in vegans (80%) in Hong Kong and India, where vegans rarely take vitamin B-12 fortified food or vitamin B-12 supplements. Similar deficiencies exist in northern Chinese rural communities consuming inadequate meat, egg or dairy products due to poverty or dietary habits. Vascular studies have demonstrated impaired arterial endothelial function and increased carotid intima-media thickness as atherosclerosis surrogates in such metabolic vitamin B-12 deficient populations, but not in lactovegetarians in China. Vitamin B-12 supplementation has a favourable impact on these vascular surrogates in Hong Kong vegans and in underprivileged communities in northern rural China. Regular monitoring of vitamin B-12 status is thus potentially beneficial for early detection and treatment of metabolic vitamin B-12 deficiency in vegans, and possibly for prevention of atherosclerosis-related diseases."

could be neat if in future a single post could be 'tagged' to a selection of relevant forums without actually being manually duplicated.

Woo, K. S., Kwok, T. C., & Celermajer, D. S. (2014). Vegan Diet, Subnormal Vitamin B-12 Status and Cardiovascular Health. Nutrients, 6(8), 3259-3273.

[cheerleader]

Absolutely, JL!
That's the same info I gave in the Endothelial Health Program.
Vitamin B12 deficiency is very damaging to the endothelium.
I listed nine things that damaged the lining of the blood vessels, and low B12 is #7.

#7
Low Vitamin B12 levels

Low vitamin B12 creates high levels of homocysteine in the blood (a sulfur containing amino acid) which damages the endothelium. An unbalanced diet, a strict vegetarian diet that excludes all meat, fish, dairy and eggs diet, or a diet overly reliant on processed foods, could all lead to low vitamin B12 levels, potentially damaging the endothelium20.

other factors are transfats, no UV rays/low vitamin D, sedentary lifestyle, stress, bacterial and viral infections, sleep deprivation, and high glucose intake. All are lifestyle factors which we have control over.
http://ccsvi.org/index.php/helping-myse ... ial-health

I agree--would be nice to have one post for a variety of forums...I try to get info onto different places, but it's not an easy task
cheer

[misslux]

Most vegans in western countries are aware of the B12 issue, supplement and get tested regularly along with iron and vitamin D. I think everyone regardless of diet needs regular monitoring of B12 anyway since people that eat meat can still be deficient.

[jimmylegs]

absolutely - once upon a time i was definitely among that 'most vegans' group - aware, testing, normal results, confident that all was fine. firmly in denial when the wheels started to come off. and in the end of course, everything was not fine. so, the matter of status in vegans is particularly interesting to me.

veganism is of course one of a long-established array of potential causes for b12 deficiency (not that i would expect most people to be able to rattle off a detailed list of at-risk groups). in a perfect world, testing everyone regularly for serum holoTC (or even cobalamin) and quite a few other things would be excellent. interpreting the results properly would be great too.