4 Nutrients Vegan Diets Should Consider
When adapting to a vegan lifestyle, there often is a question of, “should I be supplementing with vitamins or minerals?”
Changing up your diet can come with a lot of questions, from yourself as well as friends and/or family members. If we start excluding certain food groups, will we become deficient in anything? It is possible to have a balanced diet on a whole food plant-based diet, but that may not be the case if you aren’t sure what to include to make it a balanced diet. I always recommend getting your levels tested before you start supplementing and PLEASE talk to your health care provider and/or registered dietitian.
1. B12
If you’re following a vegan diet, you’ll want to consider supplementing with B12. B12 is found in animal products and fortified foods such as plant milks, breakfast cereals, and nutritional yeast. While the recommended daily amount of vitamin B12 for adults is 2.4 micrograms, higher doses have been found to be safe as any excess will be passed through your urine. A common way to get B12 in your diet is adding nutritional yeast to meals. 2 tablespoons of fortified nutritional yeast can offer 7 times the recommended daily allowance (RDA). Nutritional yeasts add a cheesy, nutty flavor to savory foods. Be sure to read the back of labels as some brands may not even have any B12.
2. Vitamin D
Vitamin D is another vitamin to consider supplementing your diet with. Did you know that about 42% of the U.S population is deficient in Vitamin D? Vitamin D is not naturally found in foods therefore we have to consume foods fortified with it. This would include fortified milk and cereal. Naturally occurring food sources include some mushrooms and fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and sardines. Our skin produces vitamin D when we’re out in the sun, but when we wear sunscreen it limits how much we get. Due to the harmful effects of UV rays, I definitely recommend getting an adequate amount of vitamin D through food and supplementation versus standing out in the sun for too long without sunscreen.The safe dose of vitamin D supplementation to get most of the population to the optimal level is 50 mcg a day if you’re deficient in it. Most multivitamins that include vitamin D can have anywhere between 10-50 mcg per serving. You will find two types of Vitamin D on the shelves; D2 and D3. D3 is superior to D2 when it comes to increasing Vitamin D levels in our body. Vitamin D3 is derived from animals so make sure to look for a vegan D3 which is derived from algae and lichen.
3. Omega-3 Fatty Acids
The three main omega-3 fatty acids are alpha linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). ALA is found mainly in plant oils such as flaxseed, soybean, and canola oils. ALA is an essential fatty acid, meaning that your body can’t make it, so you must get it from what you consume. Your body can convert some ALA into EPA and then to DHA, but only in very small amounts. DHA and EPA are found in fish and other seafood. Therefore, getting EPA and DHA from foods and/supplements is a good way to increase the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in your body. There are vegan supplements on the market if you specifically want to increase your intake of EPA and DHA without consuming fish and seafood. The vegetarian source is derived from algae. Research consistently shows that vegetarians and vegans have up to 50% lower blood and tissue concentrations of EPA and DHA than omnivores. Omega-3 Fatty acids are important for brain development and the reducing inflammation. There isn’t a RDA for EPA and DHA, but some researchers suggest healthy adults take in at minimum 500mg daily of EPA and DHA combined.
4. Iron
Too little iron can lead to anemia, which presents as fatigue and decreased immune function. Iron comes in two forms, heme and nonheme iron. Heme comes from animals and is more easily absorbed and non-heme comes from plants that aren't absorbed as well. Iron- rich foods include cruciferous vegetables, beans, peas, dried fruit, nuts, and seeds. There’s also iron-fortified food such as cereal and bread that can help add more iron to your diet. Pairing foods high in vitamin C with iron rich foods will help with the absorption. The RDA is 8 mg for adult men and post-menopausal women. It increases to 18 mg per day for adult women, and pregnant women should aim for 27 mg per day . Again, please have your levels checked with a healthcare provider before supplementing.
Finding the Right Supplement
Now that you’re aware of what nutrients a vegan diet may need to supplement with, be aware of the products on the market. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t regulate the safety and effectiveness of supplements the same way drugs are monitored. Supplements that are sold in the United States are required to follow Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs), which provide for systems that assure proper design, monitoring, and control of manufacturing processes and facilities. Some manufacturers may also opt to undergo third-party testing to obtain certification from organizations like NSF International, United States Pharmacopeia (USP), ConsumerLab, Banned Substances Control Group (BSCG), Underwriters Laboratories (UL), and International Fish Oil Standards (IFOS). These organizations set strict standards for the purity and potency of supplements. These labels will often be displayed as a seal on the product. I put together a list down below of third-party tested vitamins and supplements for you and a side/by-side comparison of the nutrients discussed. Also note these multivitamins will have other nutrients included outside of the ones discussed.
