In years past, the vitamin B12 was quite abundant in the food that people used to eat. Typically, you do not need a lot of B12 in their diet for you to stay healthy. This vitamin is actually a type of bacteria that resides in healthy soil that has been fertilized naturally. However, over the years and with the advancements in technology, society has become too sanitized. Thus, although previously you could get the recommended small amounts of this vitamin through minute amounts of soil in fresh vegetables, this does not occur anymore. Without any dirt present in the food that you purchase from grocery stores, people who follow a vegan lifestyle have to find alternative ways to get B12. The best source would be meat but this is not an option for someone following a vegan lifestyle. Here are several sources that vegans can opt for when it comes to getting this vitamin.

Tempeh

This is one of the more common alternatives that vegans tend to opt for when it comes to getting B12 vitamins. This product staves from fermented soy. However, you cannot find the same amount of vegan B12 from one batch to the next. In addition, the tempeh tends to be stored in stainless steel vats that have a sterile environment, thus killing any bacteria (even healthy bacteria) present.

Miso

Another product vegans would look to when it comes to getting this vitamin would be miso. This is also a soy product. However, just like tempeh, the levels of the vitamin vary from batch to batch and thus cannot be a reliable source for B12 vitamins.

Sea vegetables

Sea vegetables have been known to be a good source of B12. However, these contain the analogous version of the vitamin. This is completely different from the active form of vitamin B. In this analogous form, absorption in the body could actually prove to be quite difficult. One sea vegetable that does contain vegan B12 would be Nori, which is a seaweed wrap.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are another option for B12 vitamins. This is because mushrooms are sometimes exposed to faecal matter in the soil that they are growing. However, a vegan would be required to eat a significant amount of mushrooms on a daily basis if they are to meet the recommended daily allowance of B12 vitamins.

B12 supplements

Vegans can also get the recommended B12 vitamins from taking supplements. These supplements contain methylcobalamin and one could choose the amount that they would like to take daily.