zxcvbob wrote in message ...
Pat Meadows wrote:

On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 17:07:27 -0500, Aaron Baugher
wrote:



Main Entry: veg·an

: a strict vegetarian who consumes no animal food or dairy
products; also : one who abstains from using animal products
(as leather)

This one's consistent too, but I'd think it'd be awfully expensive to
get a balanced diet with enough protein.


No, not at all. If anything it's cheap: but it does require
cooking - usually more time-consuming cooking than a hunk of
meat.

This is the wonderful thing about meat: it's a cinch to
cook. This is why I'm not a vegetarian at the moment,
mostly.

Pat


I havn't figured out where vegans and other strict orthodox vegetarians get
their vitamin B12.

Bob

Long story. Where do cows get their B12? Bacteria (including those in
our guts) produce very large quantities of B12 compared to our needs
(excrement of most animals has large concentrations of B12). However,
B12 can be absorbed only at the top of the intestine. Things that
people intake (including alcohol and coffee) make the top of the
intestine unfriendly to such bacteria. One hypothesis is that a clean
life allow those bacteria to live higher in the intestine, where B12
can be absorbed.

Also, dirt from your garden is a significant source of B12 (think
manure and/or compost, and B12 is a very long-lived molecule). There
is a study on a iranian vegan community where B-12 deficiency was not
observed. Possible explanations included the fact that they used
"night soil" in their gardens (they composted and reused their own
waste). For the coffee-swilling vegan, there are always vitamin pills.
Or brewer's yeast.