With all the junk nutritional science among vegan circles, I figured I'd make an attempt to help in this area by discussing some of the nutrients important to look at on a very basic level and provide links to more information. In Vegan For Life by Norris and Messina, they tried to make a point that if you eat a varied diet, you should be fairly well off. Most people who have major problems with their health were on a stricter diets, such as raw food or low-fat diet. Also, craving likely have some meaning. But its likely for nutrients, not for an actual food. So if you crave eggs, you might need arachidonic acid, choline, DHA, or cholesterol (which is discussed below).
Disclaimer: I am no expert in the area and what each person needs varies.Or not. Who am I to tell you what to do?
The order is not based on importance.
B12- can only be obtained through fortified foods of supplements.1 2
Calcium- Vegans, on average, have lower intakes. You may want to supplement. Vegan need just as much as non-vegans, despite the claims otherwise. 1 2
Vitamin D- D2 is not as effective as D3, and D3 is normally animal derived. If you are not outside during the day, you will likely need to supplement. D3 supplements are more expensive, so you may want to stick with D2 unless you are having problems. And if you need D3 and cannot afford vegan ones. 1 2
Choline- The amount you need depends on other nutrients you get. Nonetheless, some believe it may be hard to get enough in a vegan diet. 1 2 3
Cysteine- "Dietary cysteine directly affects how much glutathione you generate. If
you don’t know what glutathione is, learn today. It’s vital." 1
2 3
Vitamin K2- This nutrient is in natto and possibly some brands of sauerkraut. But otherwise basically absent in plants. Some people will be able to convert enough K1 to K2 and others may not be able to. One thing that effects your K1 absorption is fat intake- fat helps you absorb K1. You may need supplement K2 if you cannot convert enough. 1 2
Omega 3- The Omega 3: Omega 6 ratio matters. And you should supplement DHA, as it is harder to make, but can easily be made into EPA if needed. 1 2
Protein- Lysine is one protein amino acid the is relatively low in many plant foods. It is found highest in legumes, quinoa and pistachios. According to Norris, if you meet your requirements for this, you will have gotten plenty of protein. However according to NoMeatAthelete, if you get most of your protein from soy, you may need to make sure you are getting enough methionine. 1
2
Taurine- "What I understand about taurine is that we synthesize it from cysteine,
methionine and B6 in our diets. This synthesis assumes you have the
enzyme Cysteine dioxygenase. I only found one study on vegans, which
reveled that they have very low levels of taurine."
"Taurine is not found in plant foods. Non-vegetarians typically eat 40 - 70 mg of taurine per day.
Vegans have been shown to have lower blood levels of taurine. It is not known whether this compromises
health in any way, but very few vegans supplement with taurine, including healthy teenagers who have been vegan from birth."
If you get enough protein, then chances are you have enough taurine.
But, if you have problems converting as effectively as the average
person, you may need to supplement directly. Synthetic taurine is out there, and I think it is even in Monster's energy drink. 1 2
Fats- You need to get enough fats in your diet, including saturated fats. Fats help with absorption of nutrients. Don't try to eliminate all fats. 1
Cholesterol- Some people have genetic predispositions for high cholesterol. Some have the opposite problem, which may cause problems such as depression, reduced ability to make vitamin D from from sunlight, cancer, or heart disease. This has not been officially supported by Norris or Messina and is based on Quasi-vegan, who admits that there is not enough information. Anyways, cholesterol is only found in animal products and there is no synthetic supplements that I know of. Does this mean if you have a problem with low cholesterol, you must eat animal products? Not necessarily. From Norris, "Back when it was thought that eating cholesterol caused an increase in
blood cholesterol, people with high cholesterol or heart disease were
warned away from eggs. But then it was found that while some people’s
cholesterol levels rise significantly from eating cholesterol, most
people’s do not. " So other factors, such as saturated fat intake have an effect on your body's production of cholesterol. If you need a dietary source of cholesterol, try bivalves (particularly oysters) because they lack a central nervous system and therefore are similar to plants as far as ethics are concerned. According to Cox, "Since so many oysters are farmed, there's little danger of overfishing.
No forests are cleared for oysters, no fertilizer is needed, and no
grain goes to waste to feed them—they have a diet of plankton, which is
about as close to the bottom of the food chain as you can get. Oyster
cultivation also avoids many of the negative side effects of plant
agriculture: There are no bees needed
to pollinate oysters, no pesticides required to kill off other insects,
and for the most part, oyster farms operate without the collateral damage
of accidentally killing other animals during harvesting. (Relatedly,
although it's possible to collect wild oysters sustainably, the same
cannot be said for other bivalves like clams and mussels. These are
often dredged from the seabed, disrupting an entire ecosystem. For that
reason, it's best to avoid them.)" So oysters are environmentally friendly and harm less animals than most plant food. Even if you don't need them for nutrition, eat them if you want. It shows the diet is less restricting than many think. 1
2 3
Jack Norris recommends getting tested for B12, D, Calcium, Omega 3s, Iron, and Iodine 1
Phytic acid- I couldn't find much info on Norris or Messina's vegan nutrition page, but it is discussed in their book Vegan For Life (which I do not have access to at this time) including how to reduce intake. So this is based on reading from the book a few months ago. This reduces the absorption of minerals such as iron and zinc. You can reduce it by preparing your food certain ways, such as soaking nuts. Some people take phytase, a digestive enzyme, to reduce phytic acid.
For more info:
http://quasi-vegan.blogspot.com/
http://www.vegan-supplement-checklist.com/
http://jacknorrisrd.com/
http://www.veganhealth.org/
http://www.theveganrd.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment