study shows plants *can* be a source of B12

[Guest guest]

OK, this may be hard to swallow for many NT/WAPers, but apparently, plants

fertilized with raw manure can be a source of vitamin B12. And, while it's

not present in great quantity when using raw manure alone, there is the

possibility that the combination of raw manure PLUS high fertility soil

*might* result in quantities sufficient enough to meet one's needs without

having to eat truckloads of plant foods.

We were discussing this issue on the brix-talk list when I did a search on

B12 in soil and came across an article on the beyondveg site in which a

researcher named Mozafar found that, when using raw cow manure, 2 of the

plant species in the study DID take up b12 (pretty amazing since it's a

fairly large molecule) in signficantly higher quantities than the plants in

the untreated control group. Of course the caveat is, you'd have to eat

impractically high amounts of the plants studied in order to get adequate

amounts of B12.

But perhaps more of it could be absorbed by the plants if the soil fertility

were high (and especially high in cobalt) in addition to having adequate raw

manure? That seems to be the argument from the high brix camp, and I believe

they may be on to something.

The other caveat in the study, however, is they used *raw* manure (the

source of the b12 for the plants), which is rarely used commercially. This

suggests it *can* be done to some extent, but may not be a commercially

viable option for most farmers. Which means that, for all intents and

purposes, most folks cannot rely on plants as a sole source of B12 (or a

source at all, I'd imagine, for much of the available produce in the U.S.).

Nonetheless, it seems that, if done right, with the right soil and

fertilizer, it may be possible to get reasonable amounts of B12 into the

plants. As the author of the article states, it would be helpful for someone

else to try and replicate the study and see if they get results that confirm

this. It would be even better if they replicated it using high brix plants.

Another caveat is that there could potentially be many B12 analogs also

present in the plants, which may interfere with absorption of true B12.

However, until high brix plants grown with raw manure are studied, I don't

think any conclusions can be drawn about this.

In any case, it's also one more reminder that the state of our health is

tied directly to the health of our soil.

Vitamin B-12: Rhetoric and Reality

<http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/comp-anat/comp-anat-7d.shtml>

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

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“The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times.” --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

<http://www.thincs.org>

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