In our post of March 31, Stroke in Taiwanese Vegetarians, we said, “Researchers found that the lower overall stroke risk only applied to vegetarians with adequate vitamin B12 intake.” We misinterpreted the paper and didn’t realize our error until a reader pointed it out.
In the study, higher vitamin B12 intake among vegetarians was not associated with a lower risk of stroke compared to non-vegetarians. Because vitamin B12 is a marker of animal product intake, the most likely explanation is that a higher animal product intake attenuated the benefits of a vegetarian diet (1).
