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“Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.”— Attributed to Hippocrates🌿“Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can heal the patient with food.”— Attributed to Hippocrates🌿“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.”— Thomas A. Edison🌿“No illness which can be treated by diet should be treated by any other means.”— Maimonides (commonly attributed)🌿“When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use; when diet is correct, medicine is of no need.”— Ayurvedic proverb🌿“Medicine and food share a common origin.”— Traditional Chinese medicine saying🌿“Food is medicine is not only an idea whose time has come; it is absolutely essential.”— Dr Dariush Mozaffarian🌿“Nature is the true healer. The physician is only nature's assistant.”— Attributed to Hippocrates🌿“All that man needs for health and healing has been provided in nature; the challenge of science is to find it.”— Attributed to Paracelsus🌿“Vitality and beauty are gifts of Nature for those who live according to its laws.”— Leonardo da Vinci🌿“The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.”— Attributed to Voltaire🌿“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”— Benjamin Franklin🌿“If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise — not too little and not too much — we would have found the safest way to health.”— Attributed to Hippocrates🌿“Eating alone will not keep a man well; he must also take exercise.”— Hippocrates, On Regimen🌿“Health is created and lived by people within the settings of their everyday life.”— WHO Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion🌿“The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.”— Sir William Osler🌿“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being — not merely the absence of disease.”— WHO Constitution🌿“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.”— Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin🌿“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”— Michael Pollan🌿“Do not eat anything your great-grandmother would not recognise as food.”— Michael Pollan🌿“Diet-related diseases produce crushing health and economic burdens.”— Dr Dariush Mozaffarian🌿“One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine.”— Sir William Osler🌿“Good food is a right, not a privilege.”— Alice Waters🌿“Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.”— Attributed to Hippocrates🌿“Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can heal the patient with food.”— Attributed to Hippocrates🌿“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.”— Thomas A. Edison🌿“No illness which can be treated by diet should be treated by any other means.”— Maimonides (commonly attributed)🌿“When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use; when diet is correct, medicine is of no need.”— Ayurvedic proverb🌿“Medicine and food share a common origin.”— Traditional Chinese medicine saying🌿“Food is medicine is not only an idea whose time has come; it is absolutely essential.”— Dr Dariush Mozaffarian🌿“Nature is the true healer. The physician is only nature's assistant.”— Attributed to Hippocrates🌿“All that man needs for health and healing has been provided in nature; the challenge of science is to find it.”— Attributed to Paracelsus🌿“Vitality and beauty are gifts of Nature for those who live according to its laws.”— Leonardo da Vinci🌿“The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.”— Attributed to Voltaire🌿“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”— Benjamin Franklin🌿“If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise — not too little and not too much — we would have found the safest way to health.”— Attributed to Hippocrates🌿“Eating alone will not keep a man well; he must also take exercise.”— Hippocrates, On Regimen🌿“Health is created and lived by people within the settings of their everyday life.”— WHO Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion🌿“The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.”— Sir William Osler🌿“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being — not merely the absence of disease.”— WHO Constitution🌿“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.”— Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin🌿“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”— Michael Pollan🌿“Do not eat anything your great-grandmother would not recognise as food.”— Michael Pollan🌿“Diet-related diseases produce crushing health and economic burdens.”— Dr Dariush Mozaffarian🌿“One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine.”— Sir William Osler🌿“Good food is a right, not a privilege.”— Alice Waters🌿
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Farmicine Healthcare
Home remedy · Nutrition & Blood

Vitamin B12 Support for Vegetarians (dietary, adjunct)

For: a nutrient many strict vegetarians and vegans run low in over time; low levels can show as tiredness, a pale look, breathlessness, a sore smooth tongue, or pins-and-needles and poor balance if it goes on

Well-studied
See a doctor if: Numbness or pins-and-needles in the hands or feet, unsteadiness, memory or mood changes, a very sore tongue, or marked breathlessness and pallor - see a doctor for testing; nerve damage from long-standing deficiency can become lasting.

Kitchen remedies

Include the reliable everyday B12 foods: milk, curd, paneer and cheese; eggs (for those who take them); and B12-fortified foods such as fortified breakfast cereals or plant milks. Fermented foods add small amounts. Note that spirulina and most plant foods are NOT a dependable B12 source, so strict vegans usually need a fortified food or a supplement as advised.

Featured herbs

Milk & milk products (dahi, paneer), Eggs (for ovo-vegetarians), B12-fortified cereals / plant milk, Nutritional yeast (fortified), a doctor-advised B12 supplement where diet is not enough

How to prepare

Build one or two dependable B12 foods into each day - a glass of milk or a bowl of curd, an egg if you take them, or a fortified cereal. Long-term strict vegans, older adults, people on long-term metformin or acidity medicines, and anyone after stomach surgery are more likely to run low and should ask their doctor for a simple blood test.

Cautions

B12 is stored for a long time, so a shortfall builds up slowly - but a genuine deficiency can harm the nerves, and food alone may not be enough for strict vegans, so a blood test and, if needed, a supplement or injection should be arranged through a doctor. Do not rely on spirulina or fermented foods as your only source.

Related remedies

Iron & Blood Building (dietary, traditional)Vitamin D / Sunshine Deficiency Support (bone, muscle & mood nutrition)Everyday Protein Nutrition for Vegetarians (supportive)Folate / Folic-Acid-Rich Eating (preconception & general, supportive)Zinc-Rich Nutrition for Skin, Hair & Immunity (supportive)Magnesium-Rich Nutrition for Muscles, Nerves & Sleep (supportive)Omega-3 / Good-Fats Nutrition for Heart & Brain (supportive)Healthy Weight Gain for the Underweight (supportive)
When to see a doctor. Home remedies are for minor, self-limiting complaints in adults. They are not a substitute for medical care, and herbs can interact with medicines. Not for children under the ages stated, in pregnancy, or with chronic conditions without a doctor's advice.