7 Nutrients Vegans May Be Missing From Their Diets
You get a thumbs-up for your plant-based diet — it's good for your health, and it's beneficial to the environment. But if you had a dollar for every time someone asked "Are you getting enough protein?", you'd be able to buy a lifetime supply of tofu! While there's no question that a vegan diet is definitely chock-full of fiber, vitamins, and minerals and low in saturated fat and cholesterol, if you're not careful, you might be missing out on these seven key nutrients.
Vitamin B12
Why it's important: Essential for maintaining a healthy nervous system and healthy blood cells
Signs of a deficiency: Weakness, fatigue, pale skin, sore tongue, easy bruising or bleeding, diarrhea, constipation
Recommended daily intake (RDI): 2.4 mcg
Vegan sources:
Calcium
Why it's important: Needed for building strong bones until you reach your mid-20s, and after that, it helps keep your bones healthy and slows down bone density loss to prevent osteoporosis later in life; may reduce PMS symptoms; may prevent certain cancers
Signs of a deficiency: Numbness or tingling of the fingers, muscle cramps, fatigue, poor appetite, osteoporosis
Recommended daily intake (RDI): 1,000 mg
Vegan sources:
Iron
Why it's important: Needed to make hemoglobin, a substance in red blood cells that enables them to carry oxygen
Signs of a deficiency: Fatigue, headaches, pale skin, brittle nails, inability to focus, difficulty maintaining body temperature, decreased immune function, anemia (low levels of healthy red blood cells)
Recommended daily intake (RDI): 18 mg
Vegan sources:
- 1 cup rolled oats: 3.4 mg
- 1/2 cup lentils: 3.3 mg
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds: 5.2 mg
- 1 cup cooked quinoa: 2.8 mg
- 3/4 cup Wheat Chex: 13.5 mg
- 1 cup cooked barley: 2.1 mg
Vitamin D
Why it's important: Essential for bone health and calcium absorption and boosts immune system
Signs of a deficiency: Fatigue, bone pain, muscle weakness
Recommended daily intake (RDI): 600 IU (15 mcg)
Vegan sources:
- Sunshine: 10 minutes a day
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk: 180 IU
- 1 cup orange juice fortified with calcium and vitamin D: 150 IU
Protein
Why it's important: Helps repair muscle tissue, used to replace the proteins that make up every cell in the body; regulates appetite to help with weight loss
Signs of a deficiency: Fogginess, weakness, thinning hair, increased susceptibility to illness, increased sugar cravings
Recommended daily intake (RDI): 10 to 35 percent of your daily calories: about 40 to 100 grams, depending on weight and activity level
Vegan sources:
- 1/2 cup kidney beans: 8 grams
- 1/2 cup shelled edamame: 8 grams
- 1/5 block of extrafirm tofu: 8 grams
- 4 ounces tempeh: 22 grams
- 3 ounces seitan: 18 grams
- 1 cup cooked quinoa: 8.1 grams
- 1/4 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein): 12 grams
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk: 7 grams
- Plant-based protein powder: 10-26 grams, depending on brand
Zinc
Why it's important: Supports a healthy immune system, stimulates almost 100 enzymes, needed for wound healing, helps maintain sense of taste and smell
Signs of a deficiency: Weak immune system, increased susceptibility to illness, impaired wound healing, fatigue
Recommended daily intake (RDI): 8 mg
Vegan sources:
Omega-3s
Why it's important: Reduces inflammation, may protect against Alzheimer's disease, improves heart health
Signs of a deficiency: Poor memory, fatigue, weak immune system, dry skin, hair loss, mood swings, reproductive issues, poor circulation
Recommended daily intake (RDI): 1.1 grams (1,100 mg)
Vegan sources:
- 1 tablespoon canola oil: 0.8 grams
- 1/4 cup walnuts: 0.63 grams
- 1.5 tablespoons flaxseed: 2.9 grams
- 1 tablespoon flaxseed oil: 7.4 grams
- 1/2 cup edamame: 0.28 grams
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds: 2.4 grams