The Supplementation Myth

Do you think you need to supplement if you are raw/vegan?  Do you take supplements because you're raw/vegan?  Dr. Morse is excited to share Hilde Larsen's latest article with you all, read on if you think you need to supplement your raw/vegan diet!

"We have no idea about a lot of things because we lost our ways by trying to think it into truth."

The Lack of B-12, Anemia, and a Raw Vegan Diet

by Hilde Larsen

I know this is a hot and controversial topic in the world of health and it needs to be addressed. The lack and the supplementation. The fear and the confusion.
 
The more information we have access to the more frustrating it can be to navigate and take it all in. Different belief systems, so many diet plans, methods, and health-regimes. I went through all of them. One by one. I studied, even got my diploma from Integrative Nutrition. Lived most of them myself, and believe me, it was confusing, to say the least. High carb, low carb, keto, raw, cooked. I mean, what the heck? Do we need to study what to eat?
 
We need to use our intellect and read science to find out what is good for us? What happened to our instincts, our intuition, our gut feeling and common sense?
 
The day we turned away from nature we messed up. BIG time.
 
And we are harvesting the downsides as we speak. Our pain, suffering, diagnosis, I mean, look around. Obesity, allergies, diabetes, inflammation, and cancer so common it should scare the shit out of all of us.
 
Me, I stepped away and took the narrow road, the less travelled one and said: Well, this is not working for me, I have been diagnosed with severe seropositive RA, Lyme disease, ulcer, anxiety, to name a few, and my life is pretty much mapped out by medications, deformities, wheelchair, stay-at-home life vibes and I am NOT going for it. Too sad. Too painful.
 
So, I studied, and I experimented. I changed everything fearlessly. My motivation was through the roof. I was saving my life. I needed to regenerate my entire body and I needed to do what cannot be done. Not the best odds, I know, but what the heck, I had nothing to lose. Or so I thought.
 
I studied nutrition. Seriously studied, and followed so of course, I learned about lack. About vitamins and minerals, about supplementation and adding. About trying to put into the body what it was obviously missing. Vitality and health. Like it would come from another pill. Changing the focus from drugs to vitamins, but you see, the mindset was STILL on the adding frequency. Adding something to fix health. Supplementing what nature was lacking, not even considering there might be another reason behind the imbalance. The real cause.
 
So, let us get to the topic of this article. The very popular and interesting B-12 and hemoglobin discussion. As I stepped away from eating anything that came from an animal, going 100% plant-based I was immediately recommended to start supplementing with B-12. Going raw made the pressure even bigger. "We need B-12", I was told. So here was me, believing with all of my being that we are designed to eat plants, mainly fruits, trying to grab why God, or our creator would make this terrible mistake. That somehow, we were designed to need a shot or take a pill to thrive. To me that sounded like absolute nonsense. First of all, B-12 is not a vitamin, it’s a bacteria produced by a microbe in our gut. The body takes care of the rest. How interesting is THAT? Perfectly aligned with the magnificent creation that we are.
 
I have long had a feeling that common sense was passing us by on this topic. Why would the industry that produces the B-12 supplement even bother producing this supplement, if lack was a vegan problem only? As of today, around 3.5% of Americans are vegans. That’s it! The truth is that close to 95% of those who lack B-12 are meat eaters. Why do they lack B-12, if they are already consuming it, right? I could never see how that point would be missed, how we would miss that meat eaters were lacking all the same. We all were. Independent of diet.
 
This point brought on an interesting discussion with the Doctor I had to chat with to take my blood tests. Yes, I did test my blood, and I never do. If you know my story you can see why, but I thought, ok, so I have been vegan for 11 years, eating fruits for the last 5. I thought it was time. I wanted to know what was going on. All of it. Let's have it.
 
The doctor wanted to know why I wanted my blood tested. Me, still uncomfortable discussing my health in a doctor's office told her I was doing research for an article. Which is also the truth. When she heard I wanted the B-12 to be included she asked me straight off if I had excluded anything from my diet. I told her I had. She explained to me how I needed animal products in my diet to get my B-12, and if not, I needed to supplement.
 
I decided to challenge this statement:

• So, are you saying that you never have meat, fish and dairy eaters come to you lacking B-12?
• Oh, she did. Most of her patients were in that category. Not many were vegans.
• Oh, so why would they lack?
•  Well, some of them have a bowel disease.
• They all do?
• No, very few actually.
• So, if they are not sick, and they are eating their B-12, then why would they be lacking? 

Doctor woman is quiet. Thinking.
Asking me:

• Why do YOU think they would be lacking?
• Well, they have an imbalanced digestive system. The gut flora is out of whack.

She looked at me.

Me again;

• So, why do you think I need to supplement when we can agree from your experience that the lack of B-12 is not a diet issue after all?
• Or is it?

She had no idea.

The point of this story is this:
We have no idea about a lot of things because we lost our ways by trying to think it into truth. We lost logic and trust.

I took my tests, the electrolytes, the kidneys, lymphocytes, the hemoglobin, ferritin, full blood count, the D3, you name it and it ALL came back with flying colors. In fact, my B-12 is higher than most, and my hemoglobin is higher than it has been my whole life. On fruits alone.

We are walking into a new paradigm, out of fear and into trust. I am not a doctor giving any medical advice or telling you what to do, but I want to challenge your belief system. Inspire you to look towards a new and simpler way of finding real health. Looking beyond the obvious lack, towards the real cause.

What is B-12?

Vitamin B-12 is manufactured by bacteria in our intestinal flora, by bacteria that can be found in the organic soil, and in lakes and oceans. The interesting thing is that pesticide, herbicide and fungicide-laden soil does not have this property. All killed.

This B-12 bacteria eats away on decaying dead matter and leaves B-12 in the soil or water. The B-12 and other nutrients are then absorbed by the plant.  So, you see, unwashed organic vegetables contain much higher amounts of B-12 because of their surface in addition to the B-12 already inside the fruit or vegetable. Also, like most people are aware, you will find the bacteria in meat, milk, and eggs. Being produced in our perfectly designed body.

What we need is a healthy gut that will produce the bacteria, and that means a healthy gut. Supporting this by eating organic food, stay away from stress, produce adequate amounts of stomach acids and heal any stomach ulcers, which depletes B-12. As the liver stores around 60% of your B-12, a healthy liver is also important.

What kills your B-12 mojo?

Nothing will kill it off like antibiotics, pesticides, low hydrochloric acids, pharmaceutical drugs, low calcium, as it is needed to absorb B-12 and many other processes. The bottom line is that a healthy body doesn't need supplementation. It’s a hoax and in a focus in the wrong direction.

All we need to focus on is to create health and the body will take care of the rest. I am living proof and have seen miracles happen through trusting nature. Thinking that we will need to add anything but the food we were designed to eat is based on fear and lack of experience with raw natural foods. We are merely seeing the beginning of what the lifestyle of natural eating and living can do for our health.

During my journey of being sicker than I can hardly remember, I was always anemic. Told to supplement with iron. Being one of those who gets constipated from the supplement, I went to the natural sources, buying different plant-based iron drinks, juicing beets like there were no tomorrow, again, feeding the lack. Feeding the body what it was missing thinking it would create balance. It never will. Any isolate will create an imbalance and never address the root cause or what created it. Being borderline blood-transfusion-anemic for several years, understanding that inflammation feeds on iron, seeing the liver’s involvement and the complete systems and organs as one unit, I focused on health and healing, just to find that my hemoglobin now is the highest I have ever experienced. On fruits alone.

Yes, on a 100% fruit diet.

Not focusing on nutrients, on vitamins and minerals, caloric intake or what most would call a balanced meal plan. I have focused on health. On digestion, absorption, utilization, and regeneration. Leading to hydration and real balance.

Nature’s kind.

The balance not created from the mind, but from following the laws of nature.

And THIS is what fuels me to inspire and coach others. Not only my story walking from hell to Inspired, but the experiences that keep me in awe of nature. Spirit who guides me and shows me how to walk forward in trust and faith. Let me tell you, breaking free from the norm is never easy, but it can show us a new world of possibilities.

A new paradigm.

So, when someone tells me I need to supplement with B-12 or anything else for that matter, because I "only" eat God’s given food, raw, fresh, highly electrically charged and nutritious, I know from experience we got this.

The body is created perfect.

What it needs is true healing,
from the cause of any imbalance.
Not a supplement.

Hilde Larsen
health/Mindset Coach/Detox Specialist/Author/Speaker/Life Enthusiast.