nutrients deficient in a vegan diet

[Jo96]

So I’ve been eating a plant based diet for close to year and recently I’ve been coming to the conclusion that I may have not put enough thought into this diet. 

 

Im looking for some help or advice on some key vitamins and proteins and nutrients needed to achieve this diet properly. 

[DrewNows]

Perhaps consider more raw food for a cleansing effect. Malabsorption is very common. Intermittent dry fasting will help clean the colon so you won’t experience this issue given enough time.

I like to fast through the morning, sometimes just on fresh juice or a watery piece of fruit so the body has more time to work on itself but also stay more hydrated for the cellular regeneration and cleaning out the sewer system

also you could find some good green smoothie blends to try with dark leafy greens, even celery juicing, and target any areas of concern

Edited November 27, 2019 by DrewNows

[pluto]

Mindset plays a huge role in our lives. So take that into consideration as well

[exhale]

My understanding is: 

B12 is a must

Omega 3's are a good idea

Taking a multivitamin is a good idea

Eat a diverse array of foods and limit vegan junk food

[DivineSoda]

At minimum, take a methyl b12. Also track you're macronutrients and make sure you're getting enough fat and protein. Make sure your protein is diverse and covers the complete amino acid profile properly (not necessarily in every meal, just in general).

[Aggelos Doulgerakis]

Go to cronometer.com . Enter the foods you eat in a day and see which nutrients you're lacking.

If you can't be bothered to do that (which is understandable), just follow these basic rules.

- Include Dark leafy greens, nuts/seeds (Chia seeds and Flax are really important because of the omega 3's), Legumes, Grains (Stay away from wheat but eat Brown Rice,Oats etc.) and lots of fruits. Make sure to include these all every single day, otherwise deficiencies are very easy to have.

- Take a B12 supplement or eat B12 fortified foods.

A plant based diet if done correctly is just as nutritious as any other diet, maybe even more nutritious.

However it's a lot harder to keep balanced in my experience.

But if you're serious about your health it can be very easy.

I would also like to suggest a great youtube channel to follow for this. It's called [Simnett Nutrition] and he has a lot of great recipes that are actually pretty damn tasty. And on top of that he actually explains how to get all the necessary nutrients in a vegan diet.

He was really helpful for me when I began eating plant based a few months ago.

Best of luck !

[LfcCharlie4]

@Aggelos Doulgerakis Basically what he said is spot on. 

2 things that helped me most were a HIGH dosage supplement of B12 and D3 daily, especially D3 in winter!

[Aggelos Doulgerakis]

@LfcCharlie4

Oh yeah good point on the D3. I would go as far as to say it's needed for every single type of diet out there.

Unless of course the person gets a lot of sunlight. But living in the western world, that's pretty rare

[Nickyy]

@Jo96 Its not so simple. If you really want to learn about how difficult it is to obtain nutrients you need from any diet then a good place to start is by getting to know nutrition on a deeper level than what circulating dietary propaganda is teaching is. 

A lot of things on YouTube are promotional videos aimed at changing people's minds on a mass scale, and because there is an agenda, then a lot of important information is left out and this is why a lot of people fail on a strictly wholefoods plant based diet. 

A great little resource on nutrition and an introduction into how complex this whole thing really is, is a newsletter created by Chris Masterjohn PHD. When you sign up for his newsletter he sends you a free online course on all of the essential nutrients needed from the diet and information on conditional nutrients (nutrients that your body can make that are not considered essential, but you can still be deficient in because you have a deficiency or a genetic problem).

The science on vegan diets is very very sparse and we really don't know anything about the effects it would have across massive populations . 

There is a lot to consider. I would consider the info presented by Michael Greger, but I'd also keep an open mind and fact check his claims and try to learn as much as possible about nutrition in general rather than from just one source. 

If you find yourself adhering to a dogma then you have lost the plot and have just become a recruit.

Edited December 2, 2019 by Nickyy

[Tarzan]

Get your bloodwork checked. The most common nutrients that are deficient for not very well planned plant based diets I think were calcium, iodine (if you don't use seaweed like kombu or iodized salt), vitamin D,B12 (if you don't take supplements or eat your own shit (was a study about this,

 

[Nivsch]

@Jo96 eat one spoon of flaxseeds / chia seeds every day (with at least 2 cups of water!) For omega 3.

Also take vitamin b12 in the methyl cobalamin form. One liquid dose/pill every 2-3 days. If you have below 300 in the blood check, take it every day in the first 2 months.

To consume enough iodine, buy an organic Nori/Ulva alga and take one alga pill every 2-3 days. NOT wakama which have super high iodine dose and therefore might be dangerous.

Vitamin D - Sunlight. One hour in winter and 15 minutes in summer including as much as body surface you can. You have to be at least 30-40 ng/ml.

Edited December 15, 2019 by Nivsch

[MNR Mackey]

We can't let ourselves fall into this trap of believing that eating a plant based diet will leave us deficient for nutrients just because there are little to no animal products in it. This only propogates the false belief that vegan's are unhealthy. When I told my mom I was vegan, she argued with me that it was not possible to meet my RDIs and she herself is a vegetarian. I track all of my food on Cronometer, I eat a huge variety of foods and Im well over my RDIs on every amino acid, vitamin, mineral and fiber. 

We have to educate ourselves, do our own research and not just believe what people around us are saying. I dont bother bringing up my diet to my aquaintances outside of this forum because I know it's the same mindless societally programmed garbage every time. These people that are telling you that whole food plant based diets are unhealthy and unrealistic, from my experience are overweight, have no energy and can barely run up a flight of stairs without gasping for breath. I know my diet is healthy and sustainable. It can be done. Be very careful about taking nutrition advice from those around you. Especially when they say one thing but their body composition and athletic abilities say another.

[Tarzan]

Calcium, Iodine, B12, D3 and omega 3s are the nutrients most easy to neglect.

Calcium in seeds and dark greens, or fortified almond milk

Iodine in iodized salt or seaweed

D3, B12, and omega 3 as supplements. Take D3 when the sun don't shine.