You can get a high level of B12 from Spirolina, sold worldwide in tablet or liquid form ;-)

My understanding is that B12 comes from bacteria that can grow in our stomach linings naturally.

Did people in previous centuries have to know about all this pharmaceutical propaganda in order to have a good health?It's well known that they make billions of dollars profit per year,selling vitamins and other unnecessary drugs,that often cause more harm than the diseases![Some anti-cancer drugs make all your hair fall!]
People are so much influenced by TV/press ads,and rush to buy the latest products.
Everything is contained in vegetables,nuts and milk products[best is organic],and the proof is that vegetarians are healthier than meat-eaters!
Now,the chemical industry is poisoning our food with so much insecticides and chemical fertilisers,that our health is worse,and the prediction is that there will be more and more huge quantity of foodstuffs,but they will be poisoned!
Even life-giving water is being poisoned by different factories,now in poorer countries,as Europe and USA have heavy conditions against pollution of rivers and sea.Fortunately,Indians are reacting to this death threat,by closing these factories ,but still plenty are active.
Srila Prabhupada's instructions:grow own food and get cows protected-for milk!

From vegsource.com

Vitamin B12

The adult recommended intake for vitamin B12 is very low. Vitamin B12 comes primarily from animal-derived foods. A diet containing dairy products or eggs provides adequate vitamin B12. Fortified foods, such as Nutri-Grain, some brands of nutritional yeast, or some soy analogs, are good non-animal sources. Check labels to discover other products that are fortified with vitamin B12. Tempeh and sea vegetables may contain vitamin B12, but their content varies and may be unreliable.

There is a natural antibiotics with wide range effects which doesn't destroy stomach microflora: grapefruit seed extract.
Google it. Recommended.

One of the most comprehensive resources on B12: http://www.veganhealth.org/b12

What about eating dried cow dung or cow urine? will that give b-12? Of course the scientists will be revolted, but it is quite an easy thing to take a little dried cow dung. But even getting good cow dung in cities is difficult.

I started taking b-12 supplements because I found my symptoms were being described. I took the patch for 2 weeks and I think it does help. A bit expensive though.

Above suggestions are good. The problem is if devotees are taking vitamins or foods which list B12 as an ingredient: the (a) likely source of this B12 would be from the liver of slaughtered animals. This would be something to look into more deeply if your intake includes these.

Hari Bol everyone

I am a vegan, I have studied this b12 issue in detail. The link Veda gives above is the best B12 is made by bacteria. That is how animals get it, from bacteria. A recent (and the second) 10 year study of human nutrition shows that a plant based diet provides ALL your nutritional needs. The British government have suggested a plant based diet to assist with Global Warming. The Lancet and a few other international medical, peer reviewed, journals have published reports sauing humans do not need animal products in their diet at all.

If you eat dairy you have no problems at all. But of you are 'older' you should be tested for all biological needs as the body breaks down more rapidly in older people.

Deficiency is not the actual diagnosis for people with b12 issues, it is malabsorption. B12 is in the environment but you cannot absorb it. It is said that to be deficient in protein, calcium and b12 and all other basic required nutrients you would have to stop eating. I know a few people who have had this and they are all meat eaters. Some peoples bodies have that difficulty and it cannot be taken lightly.

There are as you can see many sources of b12. Be sure to use vegetarian sources. Some are made from processed animal parts.

At the moment propaganda from the animal industry is teling us to eat fish or fish oil for omega fatty acids. The fish get it from eating plants which contain it!

This is called the medicalization of food. Do not be deceived by it. All packaging and advertising for food has only one purpose and one purpose alone, to get you to part with your money.

great discussion so far

Hare Krishna.

The scientists create all kinds of jargons for processes and requirements in the body. many of which they prop up for their own benefit and then link these to products that have to be obtained from their manufactured products or those of associated industries that aid them. B12 may be obtained from many sources, why only animal types procurred via butchery? And even if it is supposed for argument's sake that a vegetarian diet lacks in B12, so what ? Meat-eating presents high risks for an umpteen number of health problems which a vegetarian diet helps reduce or eliminate. So, in the overall estimation, should I forgo B12 and get all the other benefits or should I invite a carcass-driven B12 component into my body at the risk of a multitude of much more serious health woes?

The choice is obvious. We'd trust a whole lot of collapsable human "expertise" but we will not trust the Lord and His pure devotees when they present us with information on what's good and what's not. This is our misfortune, i.e. too much faith in faulty pratyaksha (sensory perception and even that secondary in nature through some "scientific expertise"), a little faith in anumana (conjecture based on "scientific and neutral" research) and no faith in shabda (spiritual teachings coming from shastra). And when our bodies go old and are finished, no B12 theory will save us.


Your servant,
jai

I didn't read through all the posts so please forgive me if this has already been said.
Vitamin B12 can be found in a number a vegetable such as broccoli. [Don't buy into the not-washing veggies and fruits though!]
Fortified Soy milk also provides a decent amount of B12.

haribol!

Vitamin B12 is found in foods that come from animals, including fish and shellfish, meat (especially liver), poultry, eggs, MILK, and MILK PRODUCTS.[29]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B12#Foods