Nutrition for a Vegan

Do Vegans get enough nutrients
from their diets?

Nutrition for a vegan may not contain all the essential micro nutrients that are needed to fight off oxidation and maintain an optimum healthy life.

Because a vegan eliminates many foods from their diets that contain valuable nutrients, it is very important that they really make sure they get the proper nutrients through some other forms.

The only other form for certain nutrients would be through supplementation. The nutrition for a vegan should definitely contain some type of supplementation.

Supplementation is the key for a vegan not only because they are eliminating so many foods that provide good nutrients, but also because food these days such as fruits and vegetables do not contain the same ratios of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants as they once did.

An orange only contains 15% of the nutrients it contained only a decade ago, and broccoli only contains 50% of the calcium it had 50 years ago. This happens because the soil is constantly getting turned over and there are so many more preservatives in our foods.

Thousands of Americans have been surveyed and not one person has obtained 100% of the essential nutrients such as magnesium, vitamin E, and zinc. Some of these people that were surveyed were vegans and even they did not obtain proper ratios of nutrients through their diets.
Nutrition for a vegan is much better then the ordinary person's diet but it still requires supplementation.

To receive an optimal amount of vitamin E which is a very powerful in fighting off oxidative stress, you would need to eat:

• 33 pounds of spinach
• 1.2 pounds of sunflower seeds
• 5.2 wheat germ
• 2.2 pounds of almonds
• 1 quart of safflower oil

I know a few vegans, and trust me, none of them eat that amount of those foods, it's almost impossible.

The protein nutrition for a vegan comes from nuts, whole grains and Soy products. Many vegans supplement their protein through Soy protein shakes.

Again it is important for vegans who supplement their protein through Soy shakes to make sure they are consuming high quality products.

Excluding meat, eggs and dairy products eliminates a majority of the options to get good protein into the body. Soy protein shakes should be of the highest quality.

Vegans need to make sure their protein source is consumed through extremely high quality products.

More reasons why supplementation and nutrition for a vegan is so important is because of the calcium, vitamins, and omega 3 fatty acids that are not being consumed.

Omega 3 vitamins are so important to your health, but they are only found in deep sea fish or natural fish oil supplements.

When it comes to calcium, the majority of people get it through dairy products and eggs.

Some people argue that vegans can get enough calcium through plants but there are also many experts that would disagree.

Calcium supplementation is crucial for any woman over the age of 50 and people who are lactose intolerant. Half of women over the age of 50 are expected to experience some sort of bone fracture do to osteoporosis.

I feel that the nutrition for a vegan should also be supplemented with calcium tablets, especially if the vegan is a woman.

So vegans are better off when it comes to avoiding fatty meals and other harmful ingredients found in the types of food they exclude from their diets, but they still are not getting proper ratios of essential nutrients from their own diets.

Find out more about the breakdown of nutrition and why supplementation is needed to fight off free radicals!