This guy pushes dangerous advice when he does not fully disclose the risks: Four things a doctor who’s written best-selling books about aging does daily in the hope of living longer (msn.com)
One of his books was the only book I’d read about vegetarian eating. He mentions issues with b12 deficiency in a couple of sentences on pages 276 and 277. This information should have been in chapter 1 – but instead, chapter 1 was devoted to bashing BigFood and BigPharma as a cause of most health problems.
I was an accidental vegetarian who gradually stopped eating most meat; if asked, I would not have called myself a vegetarian.
Over the past 2 years, I began having frequent visual migraines (visual auras). In the last six months, I began having 5 to 10 scotomas or blind spots in my vision every day.
I was dealing with chronic fatigue, headaches and dizziness and loss of muscle mass, plus hair shedding. I also had odd memory problems. I have since learned that the memory problems are a B12 deficiency symptom, and the scotomas were likely optic neuropathy caused by vitamin b12 deficiency.
In fact, all of the health problems were caused by a b12 deficiency and health began improving within days of taking b12. I am now over a month free of all symptoms – symptoms I had for two years.
My b12 deficiency crept up slowly, likely due to vegetarian eating, and possibly related to having hepatitis during this period. There is evidence that a b12 deficiency can cause hepatitis and evidence that a b12 deficiency may be caused by hepatitis (can go either way). B12 is normally stored in the liver but can be depleted by having hepatitis.
If you choose to pursue vegetarian eating
- You must mention this to your doctor
- You must consult with a registered dietician
- You will need check lists, a spreadsheet or an app to track your nutrients (or the random food items recommended by the author of the book, above).
- You must plan to take vitamin supplements
- You must have your blood levels for b12 and other nutrients tested at least annually. This is critical if you are a child or an older adult, or have certain diseases, such as celiac disease, which can affect nutrient absorption.
Vegetarian eating is not something you start doing on a casual basis. You must get expert advice. The above author did not wish to give prominent attention to the risks because he is a religious evangelist for eating vegetarian. Like many promoters, he gives much attention to alleged benefits without adequately disclosing the harms.
The most important take-away: you can not just stop eating meat and maintain your health over the long term. You need to track your nutrients and take vitamin supplements or you will eventually crash, as I did.
I have no medical training nor nutrition training and none of the above is medical advice. It is based on my real world, lived experience.
