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"If you need B12 supplements, it isn't natural."
vitamin B12 is produced by bacteria, not by animals. Farmed pigs and chickens receive B12 in the vitamin premixes added to their feed, because they don't get it from plants. In cattle, B12 is produced by bacteria in the rumen, and cobalt is often added to the feed so this can happen. So much of the B12 meat eaters get also comes from supplementation, just indirectly. And "natural" is no criterion of health or morality: we use vaccines, glasses and treated water.
Short answer
B12 is produced by bacteria, not by animals. Farmed pigs and chickens receive B12 in their feed precisely because they don't get it from plants, and ruminants often receive cobalt so the bacteria in their stomachs can produce it. Much of the B12 meat eaters get also comes from supplementation, just indirectly. And "natural" isn't the criterion: we use vaccines, treated water, iodized salt and fortified flour without thinking this makes our lives wrong. Supplementing isn't a flaw in the diet; it's looking after your health, ideally with professional guidance.
For children
Vitamin B12 is made by tiny bacteria, not by animals. Farm animals also get this vitamin in their food, because plants don't have it. So people who eat meat also get the vitamin from a supplement, it just passes through the animal first. Taking the vitamin directly is simpler.
"If the animals you eat get B12 in their feed, doesn't your diet also depend on a supplement?"
Como pode aparecer
"A diet that needs pills is wrong."
"No natural diet needs supplements."
"If you need supplements, it's not meant for humans."
"Vegans live on capsules."
"Dependence on B12 shows the vegan diet is inadequate."
"It's natural to eat meat." (which is C1)
The strongest version
"A diet that needs pills is wrong. No natural diet needs supplements."
Strongest version (steelman):
- P1Vitamin B12 is essential, and lacking it causes serious harm.
- P2Vegan diets don't provide B12 without supplements or fortified foods.
- P3A diet suited to the human species should provide all nutrients without supplements.
- CSo the vegan diet isn't suited to the human species.
P1 and P2 are true: vegans need a reliable source of B12. The problem lies in P3: no scientific criterion says a healthy diet must do without supplements, and the B12 in meat also comes, in large part, from supplementation.
The argument is valid. Its soundness fails at P3.
Full answer
- a
Reconstruction and diagnosis
The argument ignores where B12 comes from:
Who Where the B12 comes from Bacteria They produce B12 Farmed pigs and poultry They receive B12 in their feed Cattle and sheep Rumen bacteria produce B12 from cobalt, which is often added to feed or mineral licks Meat eaters They get the B12 the animals received Vegans They get B12 from supplements or fortified foods, directly - b
Where the argument breaks
1. B12 comes from bacteria.
Neither plants nor animals produce B12. Animals get it from bacteria, from soil, water or their own gut flora.
2. Farmed animals receive supplements.
In modern livestock farming, pigs and poultry receive B12 in the vitamin premixes in their feed, and ruminants often receive cobalt. Part of the B12 in meat is thus a supplement that has passed through an animal.
3. "Natural" isn't a criterion.
Chapter C1 shows that natural isn't synonymous with good. We use many life-saving technologies that aren't natural.
4. Supplementing and fortifying are common in every diet.
Salt is iodized; wheat and corn flour are fortified with iron and folic acid in many countries; many milks and cereals have added vitamins; farmed animals receive vitamin and mineral premixes in their feed. And much of what we eat is already a blend of ingredients. There's nothing wrong with supplementing, as long as it's to look after health, ideally with guidance from a doctor or dietitian. No one thinks iodized salt makes everyone's diet inadequate.
5. Meat eaters also have B12 deficiency, but at a much lower rate.
An estimated 10% to 15% of people over 60 are deficient, mainly because they absorb less B12 from food; that's why supplementation is recommended for them too. Among vegetarians and vegans, the deficiency found in studies ranged from 11% to 90%, depending on the criterion, at a time when many didn't supplement. The comparison shows both things: eating meat doesn't guarantee enough B12, and those who eat no animal products run a much greater risk if they don't take the supplement.
- c
Data and sources
Source What it says Note Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2016 Well-planned vegan diets, with a reliable source of B12, are appropriate at all stages of life Official position NIH, vitamin B12, fact sheet for health professionals B12 is produced by bacteria; older people absorb less B12 from food and benefit from supplements or fortified foods Official fact sheet of the US National Institutes of Health Baik and Russell, 1999, *Annual Review of Nutrition* B12 deficiency affects about 10% to 15% of people over 60 Shows the problem also exists among meat eaters Pawlak and colleagues, 2013, *Nutrition Reviews* Across 18 studies, B12 deficiency or depletion among vegetarians and vegans ranged from 11% to 90%, depending on the criterion Recommends regular supplementation EFSA opinion on cobalt compounds in animal nutrition (2009) Pigs and poultry need preformed B12; ruminants receive cobalt so their bacteria can produce it EFSA Journal, 7(12); reference checked, full text not consulted - d
The strongest counter-reply: the risk of forgetting the supplement
The most serious version grants all this, but says depending on a supplement creates a risk: whoever forgets or doesn't know can develop serious deficiencies, while meat eaters are protected without thinking about it.
- e
Why the counter-reply doesn't reach the conclusion
The risk is solved with information.
A cheap supplement or fortified foods solve the problem.
Meat eaters can be deficient too.
Meat is no guarantee, especially in older people.
Manageable risks don't justify the harm.
The inconvenience of remembering a supplement doesn't outweigh the animals' lives.
- f
Back to the moral question
B12 is the most serious point in the nutrition debate, and it has a simple solution. If a cheap supplement is enough to make raising and slaughtering animals unnecessary, the moral question remains: what justifies their suffering?
Reasoning errors
Logical
Is the form valid?
Appeal to nature
Epistemological
Does the evidence support it?
Not knowing where B12 comes from
Moral
Is the criterion coherent?
Inconvenience as justification
Biases
Extrapolations
The principle being tested is: "a diet that needs a supplement isn't adequate".
If it applied to…Iodized saltTap to see
Almost everyone's diet would be inadequate
Iodine is added to prevent deficiency
If it applied to…Older people who eat meatTap to see
Their diet would be inadequate, since many need supplemental B12
No one concludes this
If it applied to…Farmed animalsTap to see
Their diet would be inadequate, because they receive B12
And it's the diet that supplies the meat
Contradictions
Supplemented foods are part of any diet.
The B12 in meat comes, in part, from feed.
Which aren't natural either.
What the argument gets right
What is true
B12 is the point where the argument is most right: vegans need a reliable source of this vitamin, and ignoring that can cause serious harm. Animal advocates should always say so clearly.
But
But needing a supplement doesn't make a diet wrong. The B12 in meat also comes from supplements and bacteria, and the vegan solution is simple, cheap and safe.
Connections
Usually comes before
Usually comes after
References
Nutrition
- Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Vegetarian Diets. *Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics*, 116(12).
- National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin B12: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.
- Scientific Opinion on the use of cobalt compounds as additives in animal nutrition. EFSA Journal, 7(12).