What nutrients do vegans lack most often, and how to supplement them?
Vegan and vegetarian diets are gaining in popularity, but the choice of purely plant food sources, combined with a lack of knowledge about nutrition, can cause a deficiency of some vital nutrients. Find out which are the most risky nutrients and substances that vegans most often lack and how to avoid this deficiency.
What nutrients do vegans most often lack?
Despite the fact that a plant-based diet is really healthy, there is a certain group of nutrients that you simply cannot get without eating animal products. Or if so, in small quantities. See what substances you should supplement if you are a vegan.
Vitamin B12
The first and very often deficient nutrient is vitamin B12, ie cobalamin, which occurs naturally in meat, fish, but also in eggs, milk or liver. No wonder you can't find it in the vegan diet so easily. At the same time, this B vitamin has truly beneficial effects on the body. It is important for many bodily processes, including protein metabolism and the production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells in the body. It also plays a crucial role in the health of the nervous system and is also needed for proper immune function.
Too little vitamin B12 in the body can lead to:
to anemia,
to damage the nervous system,
to infertility
to bone or heart disease.
Symptoms of deficiency include fatigue, weakness, constipation, loss of appetite and weight loss. Signs of vitamin B12 deficiency can also include tingling in the arms and legs, depression, confusion, or memory or balance problems.
The recommended daily intake of vitamin B12 is 2.4 μg for adults, 2.6 μg during pregnancy and 2.8 μg during breast-feeding. The only scientifically proven way for vegans to reach these levels is to eat foods rich in vitamin B12. These are vegetable milks, soy products, breakfast cereals, spirulina, chlorella and nutritional yeast. However, it should be added that you would have to take a really high amount of these foods a day to reach the desired values. Therefore, the most effective way is to supplement vitamin B12. You can choose from the separately sold vitamin B12, but you will also find cobalamin in the B-complex. Thanks to it, you get all kinds of B vitamins into your body at once in their optimal daily dose.
Zinc
Zinc is a mineral that our body, unfortunately, cannot make on its own. Its supplementation through diet or supplements is therefore very much needed. Zinc is essential for the activity of more than 300 enzymes that affect metabolism, immune function and the repair of body cells. It is also extremely essential for skin health, DNA synthesis and protein production. However, his insufficient intake can cause serious damage to the body. It can lead to:
developmental problem,
hair loss
Diarrhea
delayed wound healing.
Most zinc is found in animal foods such as mussels, meat, fish and eggs. However, few plant foods contain high amounts of zinc. In addition, the absorption of zinc from some plants is limited due to their content of plant compounds - phytates. You can therefore draw zinc from legumes, whole grains, mushrooms, seeds and nuts.
To achieve the optimal dose of zinc, you should take 8 mg (women) or 11 mg of zinc (men) daily. The dose is increased to 11 to 12 mg in pregnant women and to 12 to 13 mg in breast-feeding women. To reach these values as a woman and vegan, you would need to eat at least 800 g of lentils a day. It contains only 1 mg of zinc per 100 g. For comparison, 100 g of mussels contain up to 61 mg of zinc, which is more than 700% above the level of the optimal daily dose.
A recent review of 26 studies showed that vegans have lower zinc intake and lower levels of zinc in the body than omnivores. To maximize your intake, you should focus on a wide variety of zinc-rich foods. In many cases, despite your best efforts, this will be insufficient, so it is recommended for vegans to supplement zinc levels with nutritional supplements.
Iron
Iron is a mineral whose main purpose is to carry oxygen in the hemoglobin of red blood cells so that the cells can produce energy. Too little iron in the body can lead to anemia and its accompanying symptoms, such as fatigue and decreased immune function. Although iron is commonly available in food, some groups of people may suffer from its acute deficiency. These include young children, adolescent girls and pregnant or breastfeeding women. The main reason why iron deficiency affects the fairer sex is the menstrual cycle. Along with the blood and waste products, a good dose of iron gets out of the body. In children, increased iron intake is needed due to the development of brain functions.
Another vulnerable group that may suffer from iron deficiency is vegans. The body is able to absorb two to three times more iron from animal sources than from plant sources.
Vegans with a low iron intake should try to eat more foods rich in iron, such as leafy vegetables, beans, peas, dried fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains or bread and bread. Iron supplementation itself is also an effective aid. However, you should check with your doctor for a lack of iron in your blood. It is possible that your body is able to absorb a sufficient amount from the resources you offer it. Excess iron in the body can do more harm than good. Extremely high levels can damage cells, prevent the absorption of other minerals, cause convulsions or even lead to organ failure.
Omega-3 fatty acids
Omega-3 is a group of essential fatty acids that play an important role in the body and can provide many health benefits. The most important types of omega-3 are ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). However, the body cannot make these acids on its own, so they must be taken in through diet. The most common sources are fatty fish, which boast truly unique amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. However, we have long known that omega-3 fatty acids are not only found in the animal diet. Chia seeds, walnuts, algae, flax seeds and soybeans are also rich sources.
But why should you make sure you have enough omega-3s in your body? These fatty acids, especially DHA, are vital for the brain, heart and eye health. They are especially beneficial for pregnant and breastfeeding women, as enough DHA can affect a child's health and proper development. Although these theories need to be further explored, several studies suggest that omega-3 fatty acids may protect against a variety of diseases, including breast cancer, depression, ADHD, and various inflammatory diseases.
But how is it possible that despite the wide range of plant sources of omega-3s, vegans may lack them? Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA, are found only in animal sources. On the contrary, ALA is just abundant in plant foods. Although the body is able to produce small amounts of DHA and EPA with ALA, but according to research from 2017, the human body still has only a limited capacity to convert ALA to DHA or EPA. However, there is also a solution to this problem for vegans, which is the supplementation of algae oils, which are also a source of EPA and DHA due to the presence of fish in the sea and rivers.
Vitamin D
The most effective and best source of vitamin D is the sun. Several experts claim that a 10- to 15-minute stay in direct sunlight is enough to get enough vitamin D into your body, which is extremely important because:
maintains bone health,
strengthens the immune system
helps regulate mood
helps absorb other nutrients such as calcium and phosphorus.
But what if you live in a country with limited sunny days, or it's autumn and winter? You can also find vitamin D in mushrooms or soy milk. But there are woefully few of him there. For example, 100 g of salmon contains 526 IU of vitamin D, while some species of mushrooms can provide only 130 to 450 IU of vitamin D per 100 g. The recommended daily dose of vitamin D is in the range from 600 to 800 IU. Taking vitamin D supplements is therefore really important for vegans.
Calcium
Calcium is a mineral that is essential for building, maintaining and proper bone development. Its best source is undoubtedly dairy products, which, however, do not appear in the vegan diet. Vegans must find other sources, such as cabbage, kale, broccoli, soybeans, chickpeas, black beans, almonds or vegetable milks. However, plant sources of calcium are not absorbed as well in the body as animals, which can lead to a lack of calcium. Low calcium can increase the risk of weak bone and osteoporosis over time.
Several studies agree that most vegans do not have enough calcium in their bodies. However, vegans are often deprived of the fact that they do not use this mineral to neutralize the acidity caused by a diet rich in meat, so they do not need it to the same extent as omnivores. However, there are very few relevant sources to support this claim. However, evidence suggests that vegans who consume less than 525 mg of calcium per day tend to have an increased risk of bone fractures.
The recommended daily calcium intake is set at 1,000 mg per day for most adults and increases to 1,200 mg per day for adults over 50 years of age. So if you are a vegan and want to ensure the health of your bones, your daily calcium intake should be more than 525 mg. [15] Such 100 g of chia seeds contain 631 mg of calcium, which would solve the problem of its deficiency. Hand on heart, who among you consumes up to 100 g of chia seeds a day? If you are unable to supplement your diet with calcium, you should consider supplementing it.
Creatine, carnosine and beta-alanine
The best molecule for building muscle mass and increasing strength is clearly creatine. It is usually stored in the muscles, but a significant amount of creatine is also concentrated in the brain. It is therefore beneficial not only to increase physical strength, but also to strengthen brain functions such as memory.
However, the only food source for creatine supplementation is animal feed. Although creatine is naturally formed in the liver, many studies suggest that without a proper animal diet rich in creatine, you will not have enough of it in your body. The only way vegans get enough creatine is to supplement it.
Vegetarians or vegans taking creatine supplements have also been shown to be able to take advantage of its effects more than edible meats that do not supplement creatine. Therefore, vegans on creatine supplements may experience a significant improvement in brain function and an increase in strength.
The antioxidant carnosine is the same case. It is very important for muscle function and its high levels in the muscles are associated with a reduction in muscle fatigue and improved performance. Carnosine is obtained through animal diet or supplementation, but the most effective way is to make it by taking beta-alanine.
Food sources of beta-alanine can significantly contribute to higher muscle levels of carnosine, but its main food sources are meat, poultry and fish, which are certainly not vegan. Beta-alanine supplementation is therefore a great way to increase muscle carnosine levels, improve endurance and increase muscle mass.
However, there are only two solutions to getting these nutrients into the body. The first is to prepare a detailed vegan menu in advance, in which you will focus on ensuring that you get enough of each nutrient. The second, and undoubtedly more convenient, is to take the individual ingredients through certified nutritional supplements. However, which path you choose is up to you.
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