'Prevent
and Reverse Heart Disease', by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn of
the Cleveland Clinic, is a great book for people who may have cardiovascular
disease, heart attack or stroke, and provides recipes and research about how and
why a plant-based diet can reverse these diseases.
Improving
your diet is the number one most important thing that most people can do for
better health.
A whole-food, plant-based diet is a powerful tool in helping you meet your
health goals, feel better and live life richly.
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For millions of years the herbivores man, and other herbivores species, survived
without
B12
concerns because of the plants we ate.
B12
was in abundance in the natural foods we ate, coming through the micro-organisms
in the soil.
But with increasing use of pesticides and industrial farming, they have all been
wiped out, leaving us hugely deprived.
With additional washing to wipe of traces of chemicals, and our insecurely
boosted sense of cleanliness and hygiene, we have destroyed these nutrients.
A few nutrients are either difficult or impossible to get in adequate
amounts from plant foods alone. That’s why it’s very important to be aware them
and supplement your diet to maintain health or physical performance.
Here are 7 nutrients commonly lacking in vegetarian and vegan diets.
Nori seaweed is considered the most suitable source of biologically available
vitamin B12 for vegans, though it doesn’t provide a sufficient amount on its own
(23).
Keep in mind that raw or freeze-dried nori may be better than conventionally
dried types. This is because some of the vitamin B12 is destroyed during the
drying process (19, 24, 25).
However, those are not considered to be sufficient sources of dietary vitamin
B12 and do not provide the daily need.
Another plant food often claimed to contain vitamin B12 is spirulina.
However, spirulina offers only pseudovitamin B12, which is not biologically
available (meaning it can’t be absorbed by the body). For this reason, it’s
unsuitable as a source of this vitamin (26).
If you want to boost your vitamin B12 intake, you can buy vegan-friendly
supplements locally or online.
SUMMARY
Vitamin B12 is only found in animal and fortified foods, as well as in
small amounts in certain types of seaweed. People following a vegan diet
should supplement with a vegan vitamin B12 supplement.
Creatine is a molecule found in animal foods. Most of it is stored in your
muscles but significant amounts are also concentrated in your brain.
It functions as an easily accessible energy reserve for muscle cells, giving
them greater strength and endurance (27).
For this reason, it’s one of the world’s most popular supplements for muscle
building. Studies show that creatine supplements can increase both muscle
mass and strength (28).
Creatine is not essential in your diet, since it can be produced by your
liver. However, studies have shown that vegetarians tend to have lower amounts
of creatine in their muscles (29).
One study placed people on a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet for 26 days and found
that doing so caused a significant decrease in their muscle creatine levels (30).
Because creatine is naturally found in meat or fish tissue, vegetarians and vegans can get it only
from supplements.
For vegetarians, creatine supplements may have significant benefits,
including:
improvements in brain function, such as memory (31, 32)
Some of these effects are stronger in people on a vegetarian diet than in
meat eaters. For instance, vegetarians taking creatine supplements may
experience significant improvements in brain function while people who eat meat
see no difference (31).
This may be attributed to the meat eaters already having higher levels of
creatine in their muscles as a result of their diet.
You can purchase vegan-friendly creatine supplements locally or online.
SUMMARY
Creatine is a bioactive compound that’s lacking in plant-based diets. It
plays an important role in brain and muscle function.
Carnosine is an antioxidant that’s
concentrated in the muscles and brain of humans and animals (33, 34).
It’s very important for muscle function, and high levels of carnosine in
muscles are linked to reduced muscle fatigue and improved performance (35, 36, 37, 38).
Carnosine is only found in animal-based foods. However, it’s considered
nonessential, since your body can form it from the amino acids histidine and
beta-alanine.
Dietary sources of beta-alanine may
contribute significantly to muscle levels of carnosine, but the main dietary
sources — meat, poultry, and fish — are
nonvegetarian.
Studies have shown that vegetarians have less carnosine in their muscles than
meat eaters (39, 40).
Supplementing with beta-alanine is a great way to increase the levels of
carnosine in your muscles, improving endurance and increasing muscle mass (35, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45).
There are multiple vegan beta-alanine supplements available online.
SUMMARY
Carnosine is a nutrient found only in animal-derived foods. It’s important
for muscle function. Beta-alanine supplements increase the levels of carnosine
in muscles.
Vitamin D is an essential nutrient with many important functions. Also
called the sunshine vitamin, it doesn’t have to come from your diet.
Your skin can produce vitamin D when it’s exposed to sunlight. However, if
your sunlight exposure is limited or you live far from the equator, you must get
it from food or supplements.
There are two types of dietary vitamin D:
ergocalciferol (D2), found in plants
cholecalciferol (D3), found in animal-based foods
Of these types, cholecalciferol (D3) increases blood levels of absorbable
vitamin D much more efficiently than ergocalciferol (D2) (57, 58, 59).
The best sources of vitamin D3 are fatty fish
and egg yolks. Other sources include supplements, cod liver oil, or enriched
foods like milk or cereals (60).
Since the main dietary sources of vitamin D3 are not plant-based, vegetarians
and vegans may be at a higher risk of deficiency, especially during the winter
in countries north or south of the equator.
Deficiency in vitamin D is linked to an increased risk of various adverse
conditions, including:
osteoporosis, with an increased risk of fractures in older adults (46)
muscle wasting and reduced strength, especially in older adults (53, 54, 55, 56)
Vegan vitamin D3 supplements made from lichen are also available (61).
SUMMARY
Cholecalciferol (D3) is a type of vitamin D found in animal-sourced foods,
especially fatty fish, and it’s more effective at raising blood levels of
vitamin D than the plant form of vitamin D (D2). Vegan vitamin D3 supplements
can be purchased online.
DHA is an essential omega-3 fatty acid
that’s important for normal brain development and function (62).
Deficiency in DHA can have adverse effects on mental health and brain
function, especially in children (63, 64). In
addition, inadequate DHA intake in pregnant women may adversely affect fetal
brain development (65).
It’s mainly found in fatty fish, fish
oil, and certain types of microalgae.
In your body, DHA can also be made from the omega-3 fatty acid ALA, which is
found in high amounts in flaxseeds, chia
seeds, and walnuts (66, 67, 68).
However, the conversion of ALA to DHA is very inefficient and may not
increase blood levels of DHA sufficiently (69, 70). For this
reason, vegetarians and vegans often have lower levels of DHA than meat eaters (71, 72, 73).
Vegans can get this important fatty acid by taking supplements in the form of
algal oil, which is made from certain microalgae (74, 75, 76).
These supplements are available in specialty stores and online.
SUMMARY
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an essential omega-3 fatty acid found in
fatty fish and fish oil. It’s also present in microalgae, which are a suitable
dietary source for vegetarians and vegans.
Heme iron is a type of iron found only in meat, especially red
meat. It’s much better absorbed than non-heme iron, which is commonly found
in plant foods (77).
Heme iron also improves your absorption of non-heme iron from plant foods.
This phenomenon is not entirely understood but is called the meat factor.
Non-heme iron is poorly absorbed. Its absorption can be limited
further by anti-nutrients also present in plant foods, such as phytic
acid.
Unlike non-heme iron, the absorption of heme iron is not affected by the
presence of antinutrients.
For this reason, vegetarians and vegans — especially females and people on
raw food diets — are more prone to anemia
than meat eaters (5, 78).
However, iron deficiency is easy to avoid on a well-planned vegan diet that
contains plenty
of non-heme iron.
SUMMARY
Meat, especially red meat, contains a type of iron called heme iron, which
is much better absorbed than non-heme iron from plant foods.
Taurine is a sulfur compound found in various body tissues, including your
brain, heart, and kidneys (79).
While its bodily function is not entirely clear, it appears to play a role in
muscle function, bile salt formation, and antioxidant defenses (80, 81, 82, 83).
Taurine is found only in animal-sourced foods, such as
fish, seafood, meat, poultry, and dairy
products (84).
Subsequently, studies have shown that vegans have lower levels of taurine
than meat eaters (85, 86).
Taurine isn’t considered essential in the diet, since your body produces
small amounts. Still, dietary taurine may play a role in maintaining your body’s
taurine levels.
Synthetic taurine supplements are widely
available and suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
SUMMARY
Taurine is a sulfur compound that has several functions in your body. It’s
found naturally in only animal-based foods but is also available in synthetic
supplement form.
Well-planned vegetarian and vegan diets are very
healthy. Unfortunately, a few nutrients are impossible or difficult to get
from commonly consumed plant foods.
If you plan to eliminate animal-sourced foods from your diet, make sure to
keep those nutrients in mind, and take dietary
supplements to make sure that you’re getting everything your body needs.
