Supplements vegans should take can help to balance your nutrition alongside a plant-based diet. A vegan diet has many health benefits. However, it may have the ability to leave us short of some vital nutrients. This guide shows you the essential vitamin and mineral supplements vegans should take to contribute to a healthy lifestyle.
Table of Contents:
- Why Vegans May Lack Essential Nutrients
- What is a Vegan Diet?
- What Supplements Do Vegans Need?
- Other Supplements Suitable for Vegans
- Vegan Approved Supplements from BetterYou
Why Vegans May Lack Essential Nutrients
Identifying what supplements vegans should take is important for those who adhere to this diet and lifestyle. Vegan diets exclude foods and drinks which contain animal products in their ingredients, supply chains, and processes. These food groups, including meat, fish, dairy, and eggs, contain many vital nutrients that the body needs. Excluding them from your diet may mean you don’t intake the recommended amounts of these vitamins and minerals. Vegan supplements can help to bridge the gap between the nutrients vegans need, and what they can source in their diet.
Although there are benefits of a vegan diet, by removing certain food types you may be more at risk of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Vegans may need supplements designed to provide easy ways to balance their nutrition.
What is a Vegan Diet?
A vegan diet is one which excludes animal products and any by-products of animal processing. This includes meat, fish, seafood, and foods such as dairy, eggs, and honey. Vegans may also exclude any products such as cosmetics which have been tested on animals or contain animals in their supply chains. The central idea behind it, as a diet and lifestyle, is to further the emancipation of animals from exploitation.
What Supplements Do Vegans Need?
While there are many benefits to the diet, there are vital nutrients that vegans may be lacking. Excluding certain food groups from your diet may cause an imbalance of the intake of nutrients. Supplements that vegan should take include those which provide the vitamins and minerals often missing from a vegan diet:
Our Vegan Health Oral Spray aims to provide a rounded intake of essential supplements vegans need. Always follow nutrient reference value guidelines when increasing the supplements vegans should take alongside your diet.
Iron
One supplement vegans should take is iron. This mineral is most commonly found in red meat, therefore vegans may find it easily lacking in their nutritional intake.
Recommended daily dosage:
- 8.7mg a day for men over 18.
- 14.8mg a day for women aged 19 to 50.
- 8.7mg a day for women over 50.
What is it good for? Iron benefits the blood through its role in making red blood cells, it also supports a healthy pregnancy and can promote good sleep.
If levels are low: Iron deficiency can cause a lack of energy, pale skin, and can even cause you to crave non-food items.
Iron supplements are essential supplements vegans need as they provide the benefits of iron in plant-based formulas.
Vitamin D
Another vitamin vegans should take is vitamin D. The “sunshine” vitamin is commonly found in oily fish, eggs and dairy products, and therefore may be lacking in a vegan’s diet.
Recommended daily dosage: 1000IU of vitamin D per 25kg of body weight.
What is it good for? Vitamin D benefits your immune system, bone health, and muscle function.
If levels are low: Not getting enough of the nutrient can lead to vitamin D deficiency. This can cause aching bones, weak muscles, and constant coughs and colds.
Levels can be encouraged to improve by vitamin D supplements which provide the vitamins vegans need. Our Vegan Vitamin D Oral Spray contains vitamin D which is sourced from algae, and our vegan D3 is made using a 100% non-GMO perennial plant source.
Vitamin B12
All 8 B-vitamins, and vitamin B12 are essential supplements vegans should take. This is because they are found in meat, fish and seafood, as well as eggs and dairy. Therefore, B may be essential vitamins vegans need to take to balance their nutrition.
Recommended daily dosage: Adults (aged 19 to 64) need around 1.5 micrograms a day of vitamin B12.
What is it good for? Vitamin B benefits your health by boosting your energy levels naturally, supporting your immunity, and promoting cell health.
If levels are low: Vitamin B deficiency affects your energy levels, mood, and your skin, so ensuring you get a proper intake is essential for those following a vegan diet.
Vitamin B supplements can encourage a balanced intake of this vitamin vegans need.
Vitamin K2
Vitamin K is an essential supplement for vegans. Vitamin K2 is sourced from meat, fermented foods, dairy, and eggs, and therefore a vegan diet may make you more prone to low levels.
Recommended daily dosage: 1 microgram a day of vitamin K for each kilogram of their body weight.
What is it good for? Vitamin K benefits your health by contributing to normal blood clotting, and working with vitamin D to help move calcium into the bones.
If levels are low: It is important to ensure you are not at risk of low levels or developing vitamin K deficiency. This can cause excessive bleeding, bruising, and can cause you to see blood under your nails.
Vitamin K supplements can help to encourage your intake of vitamin K2 to ensure proper levels.
Selenium
Selenium is an important mineral that vegans should take. It can be sourced in meat, dairy, and eggs, so a vegan diet may lead to low levels of this essential nutrient.
Recommended daily dosage: For adults (18+ years), the recommended intake per day is 70 μg per day. The safe upper limit is 300 μg per day.
What is it good for? Known to reduce oxidative stress, aid the immune system, and turn food into energy, selenium benefits the body in many ways.
If levels are low: This could lead to selenium deficiency, which in turn can cause fatigue, weak immunity, and even infertility.
Selenium supplements can ensure your intake meets the daily needs of the body in order to see optimal nutritional levels of the vitamins and minerals that vegans need.
Zinc
Zinc is an important mineral for vegans to include in their diet. It is found in meat, poultry, oysters, and milk, therefore a vegan may struggle to intake sufficient amounts through their food sources.
Recommended daily dosage: For adults aged 19-64, 9.5mg for men, 7mg for women.
What is it good for? Zinc benefits your health by contributing to immune function and DNA synthesis. It is important for cell growth, which means it’s essential to the whole body.
If levels are low: Zinc deficiency can result in wounds which are slow to heal, hair loss, and even impotence.
Zinc supplements are designed to help increase your nutritional levels of zinc, therefore you should include it in the supplements vegans should take.
Other Supplements Suitable for Vegans
There are many nutrients which can be sourced in a vegan diet. However, taking supplements can help to encourage your intake of essential nutrients to reach recommended levels. These other supplements suitable for vegans include:
Vitamin C
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is another of the vital supplements vegans can take for balanced nutrition. It is found in fruits and vegetables, so is possible to source naturally in a vegan diet.
Recommended daily dosage: Adults aged 19 to 64 need 40mg of vitamin C a day.
What is it good for? Vitamin C benefits the immune system, and contributes to healthy cells and skin.
If levels are low: Vitamin C deficiency, also known as scurvy, can cause weak bones, dry skin, and slow healing wounds after a cut or scratch.
Vitamin C supplements can help to ensure you have an intake which meets proper nutrient levels.
Magnesium
Magnesium is an essential mineral that is suitable for vegans to take. It can be sourced in vegan foods, however, supplementing magnesium is especially critical for those pregnant, elderly, or with certain health issues.
Recommended daily dosage: For ages 19-64 years, 300mg per day for men, 270mg per day for women.
What is it good for? Magnesium benefits your sleep by regulating your melatonin levels. It also helps your muscles recover after exercise, as well as boosting energy, and maintaining heart health.
If levels are low: Magnesium deficiency can mean you may find it difficult to sleep, are fatigued, and have heart palpitations.
Our magnesium supplements are formulated to be applied to the skin, so you do not take them orally. Transdermal magnesium is a supplement suitable for vegans to take, without the hassle.
5-HTP
5-HTP, or 5-Hydroxytryptophan, is another supplement that is suitable for vegans to take.
Recommended daily dosage: Our spray delivers 50mg of 5-Hydroxytryptophan.
What is it good for? Our 5-HTP Lights Out Oral Spray is designed to be taken before bed to prepare the body to relax in readiness for sleep. It is the perfect bedtime companion, suitable for vegans.
Turmeric
Turmeric is a supplement that is suitable for vegans to take, thanks to its active ingredient Curcumin.
Recommended daily dosage: Our oral spray delivers 1,300mg turmeric root equivalent (850mg Cyclocurmin®).
What is it good for? BetterYou’s turmeric supplements are vegan approved, and are a fast, convenient way to take your nutritional supplements that vegans may need.
Vegan Approved Supplements from BetterYou
Our supplements for vegans are The Vegetarian Society: Vegan Approved. The approval is after a stringent programme of checks which prove all the ingredients used are vegan-friendly and free from animal-testing.
Our pill-free formulations mean supplements that vegans need are simple and hassle-free to intake. Our oral spray supplements are simply sprayed into the mouth, with great-tasting natural flavours that make it easy to put your health first.
No one has to miss out on their health with BetterYou. We have vegetarian supplements to deliver the supplements vegetarians should take, as well as gluten-free supplements, for all your dietary requirements.
