How much meat does a non-meat eater need?

October 6, 2013 11:03 AM

I don't enjoy eating meat, but I am worried about getting enough b12. I eat b12 enriched nutritional yeast a few times a week, but I don't know if that's really enough.

I am not currently vegetarian (I have been in the past), but I am very picky about eating meat and fish. If I see veins, get a piece of cartilage, or dislike the texture, I can't eat it. Eggs also gross me out, with the random blood spots and the stringy bit that looks like an umbilical cord, but I can handle them if I don't see them raw.

Is it possible to get enough b12 from eating, say, a chicken breast once a week? And maybe an egg? Or is it something that you should have every day?

posted by fruitopia to Health & Fitness (17 answers total)

do you like dairy? milk and cheese have B12.

lots of products, such as soy milk, are fortified with B12. You can also take B12 supplements.

I was a vegan, but was feeling a little too lethargic on a regular basis so I starting taking B12 supplements as well as adding some fish into my diet, and I do feel better.
posted by bearette at 11:12 AM on October 6, 2013

It is demonstrably possible to get enough B12 from a vegetarian diet as is evidenced by all the vegetarians who are not suffering from a B12 deficiency.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 11:13 AM on October 6, 2013 [5 favorites]

Millions of people all over the word are vegetarian, never eat meat, and do just fine. (And have for centuries.)

If you don't enjoy eating meat, you are hereby absolved from ever having it pass your lips.

I agree with others that you may want to make sure you have either dairy or soy in your diet, or take a supplement.
posted by Sara C. at 11:26 AM on October 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The RDA for b12 for adults is 2.4 micrograms/day. This article has a list of foods with their b12 values listed, and also discusses supplements. If you eat dairy, nutritional yeast, and occasionally meat, and don't suffer from atrophic gastritis and/or pernicious anemia, you can very easily get your requirements met that way. Fortified breakfast cereals, mentioned in the article, can also help.
posted by Ouisch at 11:28 AM on October 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

(Here's another little article that discusses more risk factors for not getting enough, like celiac and Crohn's disease, and though it emphasizes animal sources, it also has some helpful info on supplementation and points out that vitamin b12 can be stored for years by the body.)
posted by Ouisch at 11:38 AM on October 6, 2013

You can get your b12 level checked if you are really curious.
You can also get b12 supplements over the counter (sublingual).
posted by maryrussell at 11:39 AM on October 6, 2013

Best answer: Have you tried this stuff? I drink it a couple of times a week, just a teaspoon or two. I also tend to the low iron / B-vitamin side, and this stuff does wonders. This book is also a fabulous dietary reference and will tell you 1) how much you need daily 2) what non-meat sources have what quantities. I'd type it out for you myself, but I lost my copy years ago.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:23 PM on October 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

I wouldn't assume that all vegetarian diets supply enough B12. Everybody's diet is actually different and so are their bodies. It's hard to say what would constitute "enough" meat a week because it's depends on all the sources of your B12 too. You can take a B-Complex, or a Multi and then I don't think you would have to worry about getting it from your diet at all. Also, I think B vitamins need to be supplied every day since I'm pretty sure all of them are water soluble (not stored in the fat cells in your body).
posted by Blitz at 1:02 PM on October 6, 2013 [3 favorites]

It is demonstrably possible to get enough B12 from a vegetarian diet as is evidenced by all the vegetarians who are not suffering from a B12 deficiency.

But a lot do. I know it's been an ongoing problem in some areas of India where the population is mostly vegetarian and becoming more affluent and they still have very high rates of malnutrition. I'm on my phone but if you google it you can find a lot of scholary and news articles. There are also various genetic disorders that can affect B12 uptake and retention.

OP- The best thing is to go to the doctor and get tested for anemia, iron, B12 etc and see how you're doing then meet with a nutritionist to get and idea of how much of the various nutrients a serving of various kinds of meat/ fish/ dairy provides and come up with a diet, then retest in 6 months or a year. Normally I'd say research it yourself but there is far too much BS regarding dietary things on the internet to make that do-able unless you want to spend forever on it.
posted by fshgrl at 1:45 PM on October 6, 2013 [3 favorites]

This is purely anecdata, but: one of my sisters has been a vegetarian for something like 45 years now, and is possibly the healthiest of my siblings --- if the human body *did* require meat, I'm quite positive that by now, my sister would have showed any possible ill effects caused by a(n otherwise-balanced) meatless diet.
posted by easily confused at 2:53 PM on October 6, 2013

Best answer: Personally, I find raw salmon easier to deal with than raw chicken (in terms of ew factor) -- salmon also happens to be an excellent source of B12 (raw chicken is actually quite low). Can you saute up a salmon filet once per week? Throw in some yogurt, cheese, etc. throughout the week to supplement. How about pate? Spread that on some toasts with a nice cheese or pickled radishes, or even mix it into a sauce - you won't even notice it. You can also make some aioli for a veggie sandwich or steamed artichoke -- if you just crack the eggs into a blender/food processor w/ a bit of oil, vinegar, lemon, garlic, and salt and blend away then you don't really have to look at the eggs. Eggs, anchovies, black pepper, and lemon basically equals caesar dressing (and a double-dose of B12). If you saute ground beef, then regrind it in a food processor, you'll break up all of the remaining clumps, then cook into a tomato sauce for adding to pasta/casseroles (make a big batch and refrigerate/freeze so you only have to look at the raw beef once).

Cereals and soy are B12 fortified usually, so you can just have that as well.
posted by melissasaurus at 3:56 PM on October 6, 2013

but there is far too much BS regarding dietary things on the internet to make that do-able

One of the biggest pieces of BS regarding dietary things on the internet is that vegetarian and vegan diets are freaky, risky lifestyles that require extra doctor's visits and careful planning.

Look at the nutrition label on your nutritional yeast. Mine has 130% of my recommended daily value of B12. Eating that a couple of times a week? You're fine.
posted by orangejenny at 5:15 PM on October 6, 2013 [2 favorites]

Just take a supplement.

I eat meat only a couple of times a week, and whenever I stop taking a multivitamin, I test as B12 deficient. So I take a multivitamin. (It usually takes a couple of months for my levels to recover so if you actually have symptoms of B12 deficiency, see a doctor in case you need shots.)
posted by lollusc at 6:17 PM on October 6, 2013

I find liver sausage (standard American braunschweiger) to be quite nutrient-dense.

One of the biggest pieces of BS regarding dietary things on the internet is that vegetarian and vegan diets are freaky, risky lifestyles that require extra doctor's visits and careful planning.

Maybe not that far, but unless someone does their research, they may well end up deficient in some nutrients. There is a difference between a vegetarian culture that has cultivated a diet that works for them over the generations, and someone who just stops eating animal products.
posted by gjc at 7:30 PM on October 6, 2013

I think that it does make sense to be concerned about nutrients, but not just because one is a vegetarian. I think there's a lot of consensus now that a vegetarian diet has potential to be more healthy that the healthiest meat based diet ( I think those that would strongly disagree with this do so from very specific theories), but that doesn't mean that because a lot of vegetarians are healthy you can be assured of health just because you aren't eating meat. However, in terms of B12 I agree with the posters above that as long as you take a supplement or eat a lot of fortified foods there's no need to add any meat to your diet if you don't want to.
posted by Blitz at 7:46 PM on October 6, 2013

Being a well nourished vegetarian or vegan takes exactly as much planning as being a well nourished omnivore. I know plenty of malnourished omnivores who live on pizza, chips and cigarettes who could benefit from some nutritional planning. Honestly, I've eated better and been more effectively nourished as a vegie who pays attention to my body than my younger sister, who just eats "normally" and is often anemic.

It sounds like your yeast is covering your requirements just fine, but honestly, if it's worrying you just knock back a multivite every day. Consider it your medicine against fear.
posted by Jilder at 11:31 PM on October 6, 2013

Lots of foods (like cereals) are fortified with B12. You can even eat this tofu! I have read that the B-12 in eggs isn't bioavailable, there seems to be some support for that. So if you hate eggs, I don't think eating them is worth it.

You can also just take a supplement.
posted by inertia at 10:14 AM on October 7, 2013