vegan nutrition tips

some nutrition-related info that we’ve learned along the way!

protein, iron, calcium, omega-3 fats, and other vitamins

Quick note: These are general tips that we’ve learned throughout our journey of plant-based eating. Your journey or needs may be different, so we’ve tried to include as many resources in the final section that might have more specific information related to what you need!

 

Protein

  • If you’re a mildly to moderately active adult, aim to get around 1g of protein per kg of body weight (ex. 150lb = 68g protein)

  • If you’re doing more intense exercise, including weight lifting, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, your protein needs may be different (see references below)

  • Target 3 servings of legumes per day, examples:

    • 1/2 cup cooked beans, lentils, or chickpeas

    • 1/2 cup tofu or tempeh

    • 3oz fake veggie meat

    • 1 cup so milk or pea milk

    • 1/4 cup peanuts

    • 2 Tbsp peanut butter

Iron

  • Plant-based foods have plenty of iron, and you can boost your body’s uptake of iron using a few simple strategies!

  • Focus on lower-calcium foods for your iron sources, such as:

    • any type of beans / lentils

    • whole grains

    • leafy veggies (see note below on spinach + chard)

  • When eating iron-rich foods, add in some Vitamin C rich foods to help with absorption, such as:

    • citrus fruits / juices

    • mango

    • pineapples

    • strawberries

    • peppers

    • tomatoes

  • Oxalates are substances that bind to the iron, so your body cannot absorb it as well. Vitamin C helps reduce this effect, but some plants like spinach and chard still have high amounts of oxalates. It is best to cook these greens when you eat them, to further break down the oxalates.

Calcium

  • Over 40% of all US adults (including non-vegetarians/vegans) are calcium deficient

  • Adults typically need around 1000mg of calcium per day

  • Aim to get a total of 3 cups of the following per day:

    • COOKED (if raw, double amount) cabbage, turnip greens, collards, mustard greens, bok choy, kale, broccoli

    • tofu w/ calcium sulfate as only other ingredient

    • plant milks / juices with fortified calcium

  • PLUS, aim to get a few servings of:

    • beans

    • almonds / almond butter

    • sweet potatoes

    • navel oranges

    • corn tortillas

Vitamin B12

  • B12 is essential for many reasons, but especially for nerve function

  • This is the MOST IMPORTANT VITAMIN for vegans to pay attention to, because you cannot get B12 from a plant-based diet and therefore need to supplement OR from fortified foods like cereal, plant-based milks, or nutritional yeast (see vegan.com reference below for more info on how much to supplement)

Vitamin D

  • This is another example of where 40% of US adults are deficient

  • Although you can get 100% of your daily value of vitamin D from 10-20 minutes of strong sun exposure on more than just your hands and face, that’s pretty uncommon for most people.

  • Vitamin D is also harder for people with more melanin to produce, putting them at higher risk for deficiency - couple that with winter and you can see why taking a supplement might be a good idea for many people (see vegan.com reference for more info on that)

Vitamin A

  • This vitamin is important for vision, healthy cell growth, reproduction, and immunity

  • You can get sufficient amounts of vitamin A from eating:

    • dark leafy greens

    • deep orange veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, winter squash)

  • Oils, avocados, and tahini also help with vitamin A uptake

Iodine

  • Iodine is really important for your thyroid, and the US added iodine to table salt back in the day to ensure people get enough (it’s really only naturally found in seaweed/algae, which many Americans don’t consume regularly)

  • Most people who eat food made with iodized salt get sufficient iodine. If you tend to cook with sea salt, remember to either mix in a little iodized table salt as well, or purchase iodized sea salt.

Omega-3 Fats

  • Try to get enough omega-3’s every day! There’s still a lot of research going on around these fatty acids, but the general conclusion is that they’re definitely not bad for you. See the vegan.com reference below for more info.

  • You can get sufficient amounts of ALA (a type of fatty acid) from

    • 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed

    • 1 1/2 tsp chia seeds

    • 1/2 Tbsp hemp seeds

    • 1 Tbsp walnut or canola oil

    • 1/2 Tbsp chopped walnuts

  • Unfortunately, DHA/EPA fats (from fish oil) are not easily available in vegan form, so the best source is a vegan supplement that extracts the oils from algae, which is where fish get them from in the first place! (see vegan.com reference for DHA/EPA supplement info)

References

  1. Vegan.com - a basic primer on plant-based diets, with lots of helpful nutritional info

  2. No Meat Athlete (nomeatathlete.com) - lots of really helpful info for people trying to do sports and be vegan.

  3. Plant Based Juniors, PBJ (plantbasedjuniors.com) - This blog is written by dietitians and is a great resource for new parents, and they also have some info for pregnant people

  4. Delish Knowledge (delishknowledge.com) - written by one of the PBJ authors, this focuses more on general plant-based recipes

  5. Cookie + Kate (cookieandkate.com) - vegetarian and whole foods blog, with a lot of good vegan recipes