I agree--you are absolutely right--from another vegan!

Paul M. Fleiss,M.D.

On Sun, 2 Jul 1995, DEBORAH M BOEHLE wrote:

>    I was very disappointed to look in Lawrences 94 edition
> and see that she has perpetuated the incorrect myth that
> vegans must use complimentary proteins at a single meal.
> This is very out-dated info, and as a vegan myself, I get
> really tired of hearing it.  I can tell you that if you
> start preaching this stuff to a well-read vegan mom, you
> will lose a lot of credibility.  When I was at the LLLI
> Lactation Specialist Workshop this year, I was thrilled to
> hear the speaker say that this myth was debunked by the
> American Dietetic Assn several years ago.
>    About B-12...a mom really only needs to worry about this
> if she has absolutely no animal products at all for several
> years, since B-12 is stored for years in the body, and we
> don't need very much of it.  As a vegan myself, I doubt that
> I ever go more than a few months without any animal products
> at all, because I do find myself in the unfortunate position
> sometimes of either eating cheese or nothing at all.  Also,
> tempeh (fermented soybeans) contain B-12, and many vegans
> eat this.
>    To educate yourself on this topic, I'd suggest two
> well-written and wonderfully referenced books:  May All Be
> Fed by John Robbins (also contains a chapter on artifical
> feeding of babies that will make you cheer loudly!) or The
> McDougall Program by John McDougall, MD.  Both of these
> books contain accurate up-to-date info on vegan diets.
> BTW, if you want to sound really credible when talking about
> these things, be sure to pronouce vegan correctly (it's
> vee'-gun).
>   I hope it doesn't sound like I'm on a soap-box, because I
> try to limit myself to presentations on breastfeeding.
> :)  Hope this info helps.          Debby Boehle, IBCLC
>