Because the body uses vitamin B 12 very slowly, and because most people have considerable stores in their livers, it usually takes at least three to five years of a strict vegan diet for a B 12 deficiency to appear. So check with your doctor if you are a vegetarian and are currently breastfeeding. And that's a fairly accurate description of the diets of some people who end up with anemia caused by a shortage of folate . Instead, they become large, egg-shaped cells that just can't do their jobs right, Dr. Stander says. The liver's supply is used up within two to four months, so symptoms of folate -related anemia can occur much more quickly than symptoms of vitamin B 12 deficiency.
Blood tests can determine which vitamin is in short supply.
So check with your doctor before taking folic acid as a supplement. People found deficient are given 1,000 micrograms of supplemental folic acid a day to replenish their tissues' supplies. Pregnant women may need as much as 2,000 to 3,000 micrograms, Dr. Stander says. Those amounts are much more than you can get from even the best food sources. Good food sources of folate include spinach, kidney beans, wheat germ and asparagus.