Vegan Nutrition with Dina Aronson, M.S. R.D.

Dina Aronson, MS, RD is a vegan dietitian whose specialties include chronic disease prevention, vegetarian/vegan nutrition, and lifestyle management. She is the founder and director of VeganRD.com, a nutrition consulting company. Active in many vegetarian nutrition organizations, Dina was the recipient of the American Dietetic Association's Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year Award in 2002.

Please clarify how much vit B12 to give my 10 month old if I can only buy 500 or 1000mcg supplement pills. (1/4 tab per week) I was told once that from a 1000mcg pill I would only absorb maybe 3 or 4 mcg... I do sprinkle red star nutritional yeast on my son's lunch and supper, but i'm not sure if this is enough B12 for him by itself. 狢 have read your other B12 articles but haven't found my answer there. Thanks

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At 10 months (and up to at least 12 months and beyond), your baby should be taking breastmilk or formula, both of which have B12, so a supplement for the baby may not be necessary. However, if you're nursing to optimize the B12 in your milk, you need to be taking a supplement, either 3+ mcg per day from fortified foods, 10 mcg per day from a supplement, or 2000 mcg per week from a supplement. This is very important; the scientific literature reports B12 deficiencies in breastfed infants of moms with low B12 intakes.

If your baby is weaning, B12 supplementation is indeed be a good idea from fortified foods, supplements, or both. Choose a nondairy milk fortified with B12 (as well as calcium and vitamin D) during weaning. Red Star Nutritional Yeast Vegetarian Support Formula provides about 8 micrograms for every 1.5 tablespoons, or just under 2 micrograms per teaspoon, so keep on sprinkling!

Babies up to 6 months old need minimum 0.4 micrograms daily, and 7-12 month-olds need a half of a microgram. It's OK to provide a bit more; these are minimum values to shoot for. However, little is known about giving too much B12, so provide no more than 50 micrograms to your baby at any one time, and then wait a day before giving more. Your best option is to look for infant drops containing vitamin B12. They are specially formulated to deliver the right amount for babies.

As far as absorption (for adults): a 5-microgram dose is theoretically absorbed well; if more is taken in, absorption rate will decrease to 1 to 1.5%. So, if you take 1000 micrograms at once, expect to absorb 10-15 micrograms, which is more than you need (about 3 micrograms/day). The reason it is OK to take a B12 supplement weekly is because it is stored in the body over time, unlike other vitamins, which need to be replenished more regularly. People who are found to be clinically deficient in B12 should take it daily until levels are normal (after which daily supplementation may continue, or weekly doses may begin).

Disclaimer: The advice given here is for eductional purposes only. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.

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