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.
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
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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
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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
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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)
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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
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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
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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)
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