Nancy Gay, Medical Reporter
Vegetarians and vegans may have certain health benefits because their diets are plant-based.
But, they may be missing from very important nutrients. News 13's Medical reporter Nancy Gay tells us what these two diets require for optimal health.
There are many similarities between vegans and vegetarians. Both eat a plant based diet consisting of no meat. But vegans take things a step further by eliminating anything that comes from an animal.
"No fish, no eggs, no dairy, anything, even honey," said Lauressa Nelson, of Whole Foods Market.
While these diets are rich in antioxidants they can be lacking other essential nutrients such as calcium, B-12, zinc, and iron.
“Certain vegetables that vegetarians eat can block the absorption of iron, so it's really important to take the iron at the right time and it's best to combine it with vitamin C," Nelson said.
Supplements are one way to go, but you can also get iron from green leafy vegetables, lentils and nuts, including almonds, pumpkin seeds and cashews.
Another nutrient vegans and vegetarians may be lacking is omega 3 fatty acid. They get a lot of omega 6 from plant based food, but the two should balance each other. Good sources of omega 3 fatty acids include walnuts, flax seed oil supplements and hemp seed oil supplements.
“When vegetarians are considering what supplements they want to take, they do want to be aware that a lot of them come in gelatin capsules or other non-vegetarian ingredients,” Nelson said.
Contrary to popular belief you can get enough protein from a plant-based diet. Nelson recommends legumes, grains and meat substitutes.