Sixty-Six Vegans, and the B12 Gap Supplements Did Not Close
Sixty six Australian vegans kept eight days of weighed food diaries. Fifty seven percent of the women came up short on vitamin B12 from food alone. Among the women who also took supplements, thirty one percent were still short.
That second number is why this is on the shelf. We sell a supplement containing B12, and this study is a clean reminder that owning a supplement and closing a gap are two different things.
THE STUDY
- Title: Nutrient and Discretionary Food Intake in Vegan Adult Australians: A Cross-Sectional Study
- Journal: Nutrition Bulletin, 2026, volume 51, issue 3, pages 366 to 378
- Authors: Smillie L, Minehan M, Knight-Agarwal CR, of the University of Canberra
- Design: Cross sectional observational study, four day semi weighed food records collected on two separate occasions, compared against Australian Nutrient Reference Values using the cut point method
- Read it: PubMed 42581765
WHO WAS IN IT
Sixty six healthy Australian adults who had eaten a vegan diet for at least twelve months. Fifty three were women and thirteen were men. Median age was 35 and median body mass index was 23.5.
They were recruited through Australian vegan Facebook groups, which shapes who turned up: all were non smokers, and 77 percent held a bachelor's degree or higher. Anyone pregnant or lactating was excluded, as was anyone with a medical condition requiring a change to dietary protein. In total 466 days of dietary data were analysed after screening for under reporting.
This is a well educated, health engaged, self selected group. If anything, that makes the shortfalls below more striking rather than less.
WHAT THEY TOOK
Nothing was assigned. This is an observational study of what people were already eating and already supplementing.
77 percent of participants took some dietary supplement. The most common were multivitamins at 39.4 percent, protein powder at 37.9 percent, vitamin B12 at 33.3 percent, and iron at 27.3 percent. So two thirds of this vegan sample were not taking a B12 supplement at all. The authors note that other studies of vegan populations have reported B12 supplement use between 68 and 92 percent, well above what they found here.
WHAT THEY FOUND
- Women, food alone: 57.7 percent fell below the Estimated Average Requirement for vitamin B12
- Women, food plus supplements: still 30.8 percent below
- Men, food alone: 38.5 percent below. With supplements counted, 23.1 percent
- Median B12 intake from food alone was 1.8 micrograms a day for women and 2.7 for men
- B12 was not alone. Calcium, iodine, selenium, zinc and omega 3 fatty acids were also commonly short, and participants fell below the requirement for an average of 3.5 nutrients each
- Only four of the sixty six participants met the requirement for every nutrient measured
- The authors' summary: "Supplementation did not fully resolve under-consumption."
WHAT IT DOES NOT SHOW
- Nobody's blood was tested. This is the big one. The authors state plainly that "biochemical markers were not used in this study due to the associated cost and participant burden" and that they "can assess estimated intake but make no assessment of the nutritional status of our sample." Intake below a requirement is not the same as a deficiency, and this study cannot tell you how many of these people actually had low B12
- Sixty six people, thirteen of them men. The authors flag this themselves: "our sample is small, especially for males, which increases uncertainty in this subgroup." The male percentages above rest on thirteen people
- Food diaries are self reported. The authors checked for under reporting and found their energy intake ratio acceptable in 88.3 percent of cases, which is reassuring but not the same as measured
- The paper disagrees with itself on one number. Its results table heads the female column as 53 participants, a second table heads the same column as 52, and the 57.7 percent figure in the text only works if the denominator is 52. We cannot reconcile that from the published record, so we are showing you the figures as printed and telling you the discrepancy exists
- Cross sectional, not causal. This is a snapshot of intake. It cannot tell you what happens to anyone over time, and it was never designed to test whether any supplement works
- Vegans in Australia are not a general population. Fortification rules differ by country, and the authors say so. These numbers do not transfer to a reader eating a different diet in a different food supply
- This study tested no product, ours included. It is a record of what a group of people happened to be eating
- Funding and conflicts: under funding the authors state they have "nothing to report," and they declare no conflicts of interest
WHY IT IS ON THIS SHELF
Because a supplement company could tell a very easy story about this study, and the easy story is wrong. The easy story is that vegans are short on B12 and should buy something. The actual finding is more interesting and more useful: a third of the women who were already supplementing were still below the requirement. Buying it is not the same as taking enough of it, consistently, in a form that counts.
Each four gummy serving of Vybrance Labs creatine gummies carries 120mcg of vitamin B12 as methylcobalamin, alongside 5g of creatine monohydrate and 500mg of taurine. The formula is vegan, and 120 gummies is 30 servings. That is a real answer to part of what this paper describes, and here is the part it is not an answer to: this study measured intake, not blood levels, and it did not test our product or anyone else's. If you eat plant based and you want to know where your B12 actually sits, the study on this page points at a blood test and a conversation with your doctor, not at a shopping decision.
It also pairs with the fortification entry already on this shelf, which makes the neighbouring point from the other direction: what is on the label and what reaches you are two different quantities.
The Lab has the practical version in how to read a label.
see you in the wild!
-Lawrence
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Nothing on this page is medical advice. Reference: PMID 42581765, DOI 10.1111/nbu.70065.
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