If you are a vegan and looking for some ways to incorporate vitamin B12 into your diet here are four vegan-friendly food options:
1. Fortified foods
Fortified foods are foods that have vitamins or minerals added to them that they normally do not contain. Food manufacturers and government agencies like the Food and Drug Administration work together to fortify foods as a way to address nutrient deficiencies within populations.
Some examples of vegan-friendly foods fortified with vitamin B-12 include:
Advertisement
Breakfast cereal, like Kellogg's All-Bran: one serving contains 11.7 mcg of vitamin B12 or about 480% of your daily value.
Fortified soy milk, chocolate: 1.7 mcg of B12, or about 70% of your daily value
Fortified coconut milk: one cup contains 3 mcg of vitamin B12, or about 125% of your daily value.
2. Nori
Nori is an edible form of seaweed, most commonly found in Japanese dishes. One sheet of nori contains 1.9 mcg of vitamin B12, or about 80% of your daily value.
Studies are mixed as to whether or not the B12 in nori is beneficial to humans. "Some [studies] showed nori containing the active vitamin B12, while others found nori containing exclusively pseudo-B12, which are not active in humans," says Roman M Pawlak, PhD, RDN, an associate professor at East Carolina University.
Pawlak says vegans should incorporate a variety of foods in their diet to reach their daily B12 requirements. So, while you shouldn't write nori off, don't rely on it for all your B12 needs.
Nori can be easy to incorporate into your diet. Jeff Gilis, MFN, RDN, NCSF-CPT, a lecturer in the department of nutrition and dietetics at the University of North Carolina says some vegan-friendly meals and snacks with nori include:
Vegan sushi rolls such as avocado, cucumber, or sweet potato rolls
Substitute dried seaweed packets in place of chips or pretzels
Add dried nori flakes to vegan poke bowls or rice
3. Nutritional yeast
Nutritional yeast is a member of the fungus kingdom and is vegan-friendly. It's a form of deactivated yeast — meaning it's similar to the yeast used in bread baking but it is no longer alive — says Pawlak. It can be found in most grocery stores in either powder, granule, or flake format.
"[It] has a cheesy flavor, most closely resembling parmesan cheese, so using it with Italian dishes works quite well. It can also be used in making plant-based "cheese" sauces to provide more of the cheesy-type of flavor that you typically look for," says Gillis.
4. Shiitake mushrooms
One hundred grams of shiitake mushrooms contain an average of 5.6 mcg (230% DV) of vitamin B12, making it a good option for both vegans and vegetarians.
"These are easily incorporated into various dishes, depending on the person's preferences," says Gillis.
Some meals that can be enhanced by shiitake mushrooms' umami flavor include:
NewsletterSIMPLY PUT - where we join the dots to inform and inspire you. Sign up for a weekly brief collating many news items into one untangled thought delivered straight to your mailbox.