Vitamin B12-Containing Plant Food Sources for Vegetarians
Open accessAbstract
The usual dietary sources of Vitamin B12 are animal-derived foods, although a few plant-based foods contain substantial amounts of Vitamin B12. To prevent Vitamin B12 deficiency in high-risk populations such as vegetarians, it is necessary to identify plant-derived foods that contain high levels of Vitamin B12. A survey of naturally occurring plant-derived food sources with high Vitamin B12 contents suggested that dried purple laver (nori) is the most suitable Vitamin B12 source presently available for vegetarians. Furthermore, dried purple laver also contains high levels of other nutrients that are lacking in vegetarian diets, such as iron and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Dried purple laver is a natural plant product and it is suitable for most people in various vegetarian groups.
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Naturally occurring bioactive forms of vitamin B12 are not found in plant foods, though some algae and fungi species contain small quantities of vitamin B12.
“Moreover, naturally occurring bioactive forms of vitamin B12 are not found in plant foods (though some algae and fungi species do contain small quantities of vitamin B12 [234]), demonstrating the increased risk of deficiency in vegetarians and vegans”
From Nutritional Considerations for the Vegan Athlete (2023) · cites this paper as [234]
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“A clear caveat, however, is that vegan diets consumed spontaneously may induce suboptimal intakes of key nutrients, most notably quantity and/or quality of dietary protein and specific micronutrients (eg, iron, calcium, vitamin B12, and vitamin D).”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- Watanabe, F., Yabuta, Y., Bito, T., & Teng, F.
- Affiliations
- Tottori University (JP)
- Corresponding author
- Watanabe, Fumio
- Venue
- Nutrients
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2014-05-05
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1861-1873
- ISSN
- 2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4042564
- OpenAlex
- W1969971768
- Cited by
- 270
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 1.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (25450168)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Folate and B Vitamins Research
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food and Agricultural Sciences
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Porphyrin Metabolism and Disorders
- Keywords
- vitamin B12, plant-based foods, vegetarians, vitamin B12 deficiency, nori, iron, omega-3 fatty acids, vegetarian diet
- MeSH terms
- Agaricales, Humans, Nutritional Status, Seaweed, Vegetables, Diet, Vegetarian, Vitamin B 12, Fatty Acids, Omega-3, Iron, Dietary
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