dietary supplements

We talked at book club yesterday about a part of the China Study that said there are three things (we remembered two at the time) that our bodies need that aren't found in plant food. First is cholesterol, but that's not a problem because our body makes its own and is harmed when we consume it from outside sources. Second is Vitamin D, which our body makes on its own with 10-20 minutes of exposure to direct sunlight (i.e. without any barrier like sunscreen or windows). It is probably wise for most people, particularly in our part of the world, to take a Vitamin D supplement. Third is Vitamin B-12. I mentioned at book club that I'd heard that nutritional yeast was a source of B-12. I looked more into that and found that nutritional yeast is not a natural source of B-12, but that some brands are fortified with it. I'm not sure the nutritional yeast at Broulims is fortified with B-12, but I learned that B-12 is killed when exposed to light, and Broulims' nutritional yeast is sold in clear bins, so the B-12 would not be active by the time someone buys it. I also learned that the B-12 found in meat may be killed when the meat is cooked, so a B-12 supplement would probably be wise for most people in our modern culture who aren't eating organic soil with their vegetables.