Vitamin B12: the vanishing vitamin

B12 is mostly found in animal foods like meat, eggs and fish. Yet one of the richest sources is tempeh, a traditional Indonesian food made from fermented soy beans. This is because vitamin B12 is produced by bacteria.

A 100g serving of traditional tempeh can contain up to 15 micrograms of B12 – much higher than most meat products.

When tempeh was introduced to the US in the 1970’s, it was made by small cottage industries. These still contained about 4mcg of B12 per serving – double the daily recommended allowance of just 2mcg.

Today, US tempeh is made mainly in big factories with high standards of hygiene. Most of this has zero B12, unless the manufacturer puts it back in.

The same as happened with modern miso, soy sauce, yoghurt, pickles, beer and other fermented foods. Even meat products nowadays have low levels of B12, because farm animals are regularly given antibiotics, which kill bacteria.

We need very little of this rare vitamin. Our liver can store about five year’s supply. But deficiency ca cause weakness, anemia and fatigue as well as nervous, mental and emotional disturbances, and brain damage.

You need not worry about vitamin B12 deficiency if you eat a bit of fish, meat or eggs. But too much meat in the diet can block the body’s absorption of B12.

Vegans or pure vegetarians can get enough B12 from eating fermented foods that have been produced naturally, under not so hygienic conditions.

That is, from eating bacteria!