Your Guide to Vegetarian and Vegan Nutrition and Possible Deficiencies

If you’re interested in starting a strict, plant-based diet (vegetarian or vegan) or currently follow one, please take the time to read through the information on this page.

Most people assume that a vegetarian or vegan diet is a healthy one. And it can be if you get enough zinc, vitamin B12, omega-3 DHA, and omega EPA, which is more complicated on a strict, plant-based diet.

Zinc Deficiency

Zinc is an essential trace mineral. Your body needs it to grow, develop, and heal wounds. Your immune and reproduction systems, neurological function, and sense of taste also rely on it. Unfortunately, only red meat and shellfish have sufficient amounts.

Most multivitamin and mineral supplements have all the zinc you need. If you don’t take a multi, there are zinc supplements. Another option is to eat foods that are fortified with it.

How much zinc do you need?

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is 8 mg. a day for women and 11 mg. a day for men. But for strict vegetarians, the daily requirement is 50% higher. ¹

That’s because vegetarians eat a lot of fiber, grains, and legumes. These foods have phytic acid, and phytic acid interferes with zinc absorption. ²

Tip: The enzymatic action of yeast reduces the level of phytic acid in foods. So, leavened, whole grain bread has more bioavailable zinc (zinc that your body can use) than unleavened, whole grain bread.

There are some techniques you can use to increase the amount of zinc your body absorbs by using the following methods: ³

• Sprouting (to germinate lentils, mung beans, seeds, nuts, or grains)
• Soaking ( to prepare for cooking)
• Yeasting ( to make bread)
• Fermenting (to make sourdough bread and tempeh)
• Roasting (to toast nuts)

Best sources of vegan and vegetarian zinc

You can get small amounts of zinc from plant foods. These are the best sources:

Crimini mushrooms (5 oz.)	1.56 mg
Spinach (1 cup)	1.37 mg
Pumpkin seeds (1/4 cup)	2.57 mg
Sesame seeds (1/4 cup)	2.8 mg
Cashews, dry roasted (1 ounce)	1.6 mg
Bran Flakes (1 cup)	2.0 mg
Wheat Germ (2 tablespoons)	2.7 mg
Adzuki Beans	2 mg
Lentils	1.3 mg
Tahini	1.4 mg

Potential Vitamin B12 deficiency for Vegans and Vegetarians

Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin. It’s needed to make DNA and RNA and to maintain healthy nerve cells. B-12 also works with other B vitamins to make red blood cells and produce S-adenosylmethionine (SAM-e). Your body needs SAM-e for a healthy immune system and mood).

How much B-12 do you need?

The only good sources of vitamin B12 are meat and fish. So vegetarians and vegans have to rely on fortified foods and supplements. Studies show that both do an excellent job in preventing deficiencies.⁴

The RDA is only 2.9 mcg (1 mcg, or microgram = 1,000 mg) for adults over 19. If pregnant, 2.6 mcg, or lactating, 2.8 mcg. The Daily Value (DV) is 6 mcg.

Keep in mind that there are absorption issues with B-12. The older you get, the less your body can absorb. If you have digestive problems, they can also interfere with absorption.

Why You Need 1.8% More Iron Than Meat Eaters

Iron is an essential mineral needed to carry oxygen throughout the body. Your body also needs it for cognitive development, temperature regulation, immune health, and energy metabolism.

For non-vegetarians/vegans, the recommended Daily Value (DV) is 18 mg. The RDA is 8 mg for men and women over 50. And 18 mg for women who are between 19 and 50 years old.

Iron is not as easily absorbed from plant sources as it is from animal sources. So, the recommended amount for vegetarians and vegans is 1.8 times higher.

What are the best sources of iron?

The best sources are animal proteins, but you can get some iron from cooked soybeans, lentils, oatmeal, cooked spinach, and whole-grain bread and pasta.

To stay healthy on a vegan or vegetarian diet, focus on a well-balanced diet that compensates for the potential lack of nutrients covered in this article. If, for any reason, this is difficult for you, consider a plant-based diet that includes some animal protein.

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References

1 Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements, Jennifer J. Otten, Jennifer Pitzi Hellwig, Linda D. Meyers, Editors, National Academy of Sciences

2 Prasad, A. S. (2003), “Zinc deficiency”, British Medical Journal 326 (7386): 409, doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7386.409, PMC 1125304, PMID 12595353

3 Brenda Davis, Vesanto Melina, Becoming Vegan: the complete guide to adopting a healthy plant-based diet.

4 Katherine L Tucker, Sharron Rich, Irwin Rosenberg, Paul Jacques, Gerard Dallal, Peter WF Wilson and Jacob Selhub, “Plasma vitamin B12 concentrations relate to intake source in the Framingham Offspring Study,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 71, No. 2, 514-522, February 2000.

Other Sources

Linus Pauling Institute at Ohio State University, Micronutrient Information Center

The World’s Healthiest Foods, Fact Sheet: Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Goyens PLL, Spilker ME, Zock PL, et al., “Conversion of α-linolenic acid in humans is influenced by the absolute amounts of α-linolenic acid and linoleic acid in the diet and not by their ratio,” Am. J. Clin. Nutr. , 2006

Burdge GC, Calder PC, “Conversion of α-linolenic acid to longer-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in human adults,” Reprod. Nutr. Dev.

Burdge GC, Wootton SA., “Conversion of α-linolenic acid to eicosapentaenoic, docosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids in young women, ” Br. J. Nutr., 2002. Nutr. , 2006

NIH Clinical Center website

Paul Pitchford, Healing with Whole Foods; Asian traditions and modern nutrition.

Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements

Brent Agin and Sharon Perkins, Healthy Aging for Dummies

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