Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Lobsteriffic- if you're good about taking the multi every day and it has at least 25 micrograms of b-12 in it (preferably as cyanocobalamin) you should be fine.

Hello all ...

This one caught my eye as a vegan pharmacist ... so I had to chime in.

Depending on what works for your day to day routines ... I have found a weekly B12 sub-lingual lozenge (2,000 mcg - 2,500 mcg) to be the most practical to keep my B12 levels within range - If I forget one week - so what ... I take it the next time around and get in 4 tabs/month.

I always have my B12 level (blood work) checked during my annual physical and have been @ the top of the limits. Therefore, this is keeping my B12 stores satisfactory and I have noticed improvements in my other related labs as well - and I have decreased the amount I supplement as well ...

I always suggest that all vegetarians, esp. vegans get annual blood work and then tailor their supplements accordingly ... otherwise you are wasting your money and/or driving blind. I recently found that my Vitamin D stores were critically low and have added a Vitamin D2 supplement 2,400 IU/day to resolve that issue ... esp with the risk of bone fractures as a body builder, IMPORTANT!

Watch out for D3 ... this one is derived from animal sources! Most multivitamins utilize D3 - heads up!

So overall ... ask your physician to run a folate, B12, Vitamin D, Tranferrin saturation, Iron and whatever else they deem appropriate ... and then tailor your supplements accordingly ... You may not need anything if your diet is consistent and your are within normal limits.

As far as the D2 goes, you should be aware it's an unnatural form of vitamin D. It's not normally found in the body and is not as effective as D3 in raising 25(OH)D levels. We know about how much D3 the skin produces, and we know about how much D3 that equates to in supplement form. We know D2 is not natural, not as effective-- about all it has going is that it's vegan. So my recommendation would be to use a tanning bed that specifically emits the UV wavelengths that produce vitamin D. here's a link to a google site search of Vitamin D Council:
http://www.google.ca/search?q=d2+site%3 ... e=off&tbs=

Whoa whoa whoa there. A tanning bed instead of D2?! That doesn't sound like a good idea at all.

D2 is the form the original rickets studies showed effective. While D3 has been shown more effective recently at keeping blood levels elevated, D2 hasn't been shown ineffective or dangerous.

UV on the other hand is dangerous. Not to the point we have to hide under rocks all day, but D2 supplementation just seems more sensible than tanning beds.

Notice I didn't say D2 is ineffective and dangerous, just that it's not natural (which seems like a philosophical contradiction given most people here eat a vegan diet at least partially for this reason) and less effective than D3.

Regarding your point on UV being dangerous: I could link you to studies on sun exposure vs sun avoidance, discuss the relative merits of high serum 25(OH)D3 over UV avoidance, discuss sunscreen, specify the (rather small) amount of UV exposure necessary for D3 production, mention the opinions of various dermatologists, talk about optical isomers of D3 that boost mood and are produced from UV exposure but not supplementation--- but, suffice to say, the whole of human (and most species') evolution would argue against UV being "dangerous"... just sayin'.

edit: I guess I would concede that UV is dangerous. I mean, theoretically, you can kill yourself by drinking water, so this does make water "dangerous" in that it has the possibility to create danger to one's health.

I'm taking berocca as my b vitamin.each tablet has 8.6 μg b12

Is this a good source/enough b12?

I also take a multi vitamin, liquid iron supplement(that has added b12, calcium).

Only started supplementing this year though after 3 years of thinking i wouldnt need to.But now im more cautious and want the best progress.