Conella promotes a more plant-based diet. Hence, we have always thought it appropriate to address the accumulative research that suggests there are still some key nutrients one should consider supplementing whilst on a more plant-based or vegan diet.
It’s great news to see that the average vegan diet delivers sufficient levels of many key vitamins and minerals, although there are still some concerns over levels of Vitamin B-12 and, Iodine, and we are unsure if they haveconsidered Choline as a key nutrient in their research, as well as remembering that many of us in the UK struggle to obtain optimal levels of Magnesium on a daily basis.
The common perception that vegan diets are deficient in key nutrients has now been dispelled by German food safety authorities.
In an analysis of vegan diets that included observational data it began collecting in 2017, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) found no widespread deficiencies in Calcium, Zinc, Selenium or Iron among those pursuing plant-based diets in a sample of about 60 Berlin residents.
While vegan test subjects had lower values than the mixed-food group for the minerals Zinc, Selenium and Calcium the deficit was not considered to be substantial, similarly for Iron.
(BfR noted that while the sample was small it did "provide initial indications as to which nutrients require action.") Iodine and B12 deficiencies
While they stated that a vegan diet did not have a ‘ubiquitous deficiency’ in nutrients, the BfR did identify some evidence of select deficiencies with two specific nutrients: Iodine and B12, though they pointed out that Iodine deficiency was sometimes also a problem for meat-eaters.
A third of those surveyed in the sample had lower iodine levels than 20 micrograms per litre (µg/L), which the World Health Organisation (WHO) defines as a severe Iodine deficiency. The key reason for this appears to be the absence of Iodised table salt, commonly found in dairy and meat products, in the vegan diet.
As a result, the BfR recommended that vegans should consider getting a third party opinion on the efficacy of taking Iodine as a food supplement to solve this deficiency.
They also identified an issue with Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) which is rarely found in a vegan diet. The survey showed that nearly all of the vegans added B-12 supplements to their diet. In fact, the evidence suggests that vegans can have higher levels of Cyanocobalamin in their system than meat-eaters, thanks to supplementation. The report recommended that, as long as those on a vegan diet kept the importance of Cyanocobalamin supplement in mind, they should not suffer any significant B12 deficiency.
Costs and Benefits
Among the other benefits to the vegan diet shown by the survey was a lower LDL cholesterol level as well as greater levels of Vitamins K, E and C, and fibre. On the other side of the equation, meat-eaters typically have higher levels of Niacin, Nicotinamide, Nicotinamide Riboside, Zine, Riboflavin and Vitamin D in their system.
According to the report’s co-writer, Dr Cornelia Weikert, this showed that one diet should not necessarily be considered superior to the other from a nutritional point of view. But she went on to say that there were known health benefits from the vegan diet, as long as those practising it made the right choices in food and ensured a balanced and regular supply of vitamins and macronutrients.
interesting reading:
Vegan and plant-based diets: some key facts and cautions you might like to know.
should vegans and those on a mainly plant-based diet consider supplementing choline
