In case you haven’t seen them, here are a couple of blog posts from the past week that struck me as worth sharing. One is Jack’s discussion of the safety of cyanocobalamin, a cyanide-containing B12 supplement. Some vegans are choosing to seek out supplements that provide methylcobalamin due to fears about consuming too much cyanide. Jack’s post provides some perspective on this. The bottom line is that there isn’t enough cyanide in these supplements to be worrisome.

Also, take a look at this comment from TheVeganScientist, and you’ll see that if you want to be scared of something, it should be flaxseeds, not cyanocobalamin. (I don’t think you should be scared of either, though.)

The other important issue is that methylcobalamin appears to be less stable than cyanocobalamin, so it may not be as reliable a source of the vitamin. If you choose to use it, you may need much, much more than the 25 micrograms of cyanocobalamin that I recommend. Some are advocating use of methylcobalamin without pointing out this important difference in dosage requirements.  

The other blog post that caught my eye this past week is from Gena Hamshaw. It asks important questions about how we market veganism, and looks at the potential downside of campaigns that employ simplistic, unsupported, and sometimes hurtful messages. It’s a long post, but well worth reading.   

Finally, I’ve posted an updated speaking schedule for the Vegan for Life team (that would be Jack and me). If it’s convenient for you, I hope you’ll try to attend one of these talks. (Jack’s presentation on what the science says about vegan nutrition is probably the single best overview of this topic.) We’ll be updating the schedule as needed.