As promised earlier this month, I’m going to dive into the topic of how to create a ‘well-designed’ diet as a vegetarian or vegan. There are five nutrients that vegetarians and vegans must always be thinking about when creating their meals. These are protein, calcium, iron, zinc, and Vitamin B12. Despite what many people think it is actually quite easy to fit these into your diet.

Protein: If you didn’t already know, protein is essential to your body’s growth and maintenance. To some people’s surprise, you can get plenty of protein from plant based foods. Beans, nuts, and soy products are all excellent sources of protein for individuals that don’t eat meat. Although these food provide adequate amounts of protein, they are not complete or ‘high- quality proteins.’ Complete proteins are protein sources that provide all of the 9 essential amino acids. Amino acids are classified as essential if they cannot be made within the body and must be obtained by eating certain foods. Some examples of plant-based complete proteins are quinoa and edamame. Other options to ensure you are getting all of the essential amino acids is to try and mix up the protein foods you choose.  All plant-based protein sources have different combinations of amino acids, so eating a variety of foods will ensure that you don’t miss any. A classic combination of foods that creates a complete protein is rice and beans.

Calcium: Calcium is essential for bone and teeth health along with tissue maintenance. The majority of calcium obtained from the diet comes from dairy products. For vegetarians that consume dairy, this is still an excellent source. For individuals who do not consume dairy, other sources of calcium include orange juice, fortified soy milk, some tofu, and dark leafy greens like collard greens and bok choy. If you do not consume milk products it is important to remember that the amount of calcium your body absorbs from each of these is different. Despite this, it is still possible to meet the daily calcium recommendations through non-dairy sources, it just requires thoughtful meal planning. In some cases supplements may be beneficial to ensure that needs are being met.

Iron: This mineral is essential in the production of blood. Most of the iron in your body is found in red blood cells and muscles and is responsible for transporting oxygen from your lungs to surrounding tissue. Iron is found is food in two forms, heme and non-heme. Heme iron is more readily available for the body to absorb and is found in animal foods such as meat, fish, and poultry. Iron can be an issue for some vegetarians because the plant-based products contain only non-heme iron. As a result, the recommended daily allowance (RDA)
is almost double for non-meat eaters than meat eaters. Non-meat eaters need approximately 16 mg for males and 36 mg for females compared to 8 mg and 18 mg for meat eaters. To make sure you’re meeting your iron needs include foods like spinach, lentils, kidney beans, whole wheat bread, and fortified cereals in your diet. To give your iron absorption an extra boast pair these foods with a glass of orange juice. Vitamin C enhances iron absorption.

 Zinc: Some of the many roles zinc has in the body are wound healing and helping your immune system function properly. Typically zinc is obtained through red
meat and poultry but there are lots of plant-based sources as well. Good sources of
zinc include fortified breakfast cereals, baked beans (and many other beans), cashews, wheat germ, and pumpkin seeds.

Vitamin B12: This B-vitamin is necessary for blood cell formation, proper neurological function, and DNA synthesis. Vitamin B12 is only present naturally in animal products. If you don’t consume any animal products (Vegan) you can get this vitamin from fortified foods such as nutritional yeast, veggie burgers, soy milk, and breakfast cereals. Vegetarians can also use milk and eggs as sources for vitamin B12.

Choosing to remove animal products from your diet does require you to put more thought into each meal but the challenge to get all of these nutrients can lead to trying exciting new foods and meals. It is possible to get all of your nutrients from an animal- free diet if you are willing to open yourself up to the variety of food choices out there.

Resources:

“Hemoglobin and Functions of Iron.” UCSF Medical Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2015. <http://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/hemoglobin_and_functions_of_iron/>.

“Iron.” Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: — Health Professional Fact Sheet. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2015. <https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/>.

“Tips for Vegetarians.” ChooseMyPlate.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 July 2015. <http://www.choosemyplate.gov/healthy-eating-tips/tips-for-vegetarian.html>.

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