What Vitamins Should a Vegetarian Take?
Getting all the vitamins and minerals you need through a healthy, balanced diet can be a challenge for anyone – but especially for people with dietary restrictions. Meats and fatty fish provide an abundance of nutrients that your body needs. While these vitamins and minerals may also be found in plants, meats often contain them in a form that can be easily absorbed and used by the body. Here, we will review what vitamins a vegetarian should take.
Vitamins D3, B12, A (retinol), and heme iron are nutrients most abundantly found in meat.
1. Vitamin D3
Vitamin D, colloquially known as the ‘sunshine vitamin,’ is a fat-soluble nutrient we eat and a hormone the body creates when you get enough sunlight. Ergo, people living in colder, cloudier regions should pay more attention to their vitamin D3 levels. It is well known for helping the body absorb calcium and maintains adequate levels of other minerals essential for proper functioning. Vitamin D3 also plays a vital role in brain and heart functioning, immune health, and mental health.
Very few foods are naturally rich in vitamin D3, and the ones that do are almost exclusively meat-based. The best sources are fatty fish, egg yolks, cheese, beef liver, and fish liver oil.
Vitamin D3 deficiency is a widespread and worldwide problem. Symptoms include muscle weakness, bone pain, fatigue, and mood-related disorders/changes.
There are some methods vegetarians can use to up their vitamin D levels. The most straightforward approach is sunshine: the National Institutes of Health recommends exposing your legs, arms, or back to the sun twice a week for 5-30 minutes without sunscreen. Secondly, certain mushrooms have the unique ability to produce vitamin D when exposed to UV light. Granted, many mushrooms sold in grocery stores are grown in the dark. Be sure to check for labels indicating vitamin D content or check a health food store for wildly grown mushrooms. Perhaps the easiest way to ensure you have ample vitamin D3 in your system is to eat fortified nut-based milk and foods or take supplements.
2. Vitamin B12
Like D3, vitamin B12 is found in animal-based foods such as fish, meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products. Vitamin B12 plays an essential role in the formulation of red blood cells and DNA and the development of brain and nerve cells. Vitamin B12 binds to the proteins in foods we eat and is then digested in the small intestine. Ergo, it can be difficult for people with dietary restrictions, vegans, and vegetarians to get enough through diet alone.
Deficiency can result in low red and white blood cell levels and platelets. Physical symptoms can include fatigue, pale skin, dementia, weight loss, infertility, and numbness in the hands or feet.
While there is certainly a more limited list of foods containing vitamin B12 for vegetarians, several good options can be used to increase intake of this essential nutrient, including consumption of eggs (if diet allows for it) and dairy products such as cheese and milk. In addition, nutritional yeast, nori, and shitake mushrooms also contain vitamin B12, albeit in minimal amounts.
If you suspect vitamin B12 deficiency or the above methods are not suitable for you, talk to a registered dietitian and consider browsing KOSI’s energy-boosting Vitamin B12 supplement.
3. Vitamin A (Retinol)
Vitamin A deficiency is a lesser-known concern for vegetarians but just as important as the others. The nutrient is a powerful antioxidant essential to vision, cell division, reproduction, and immunity.
Eggs, for example, are rich in vitamin A retinol. The vitamin is ‘bioavailable’ – meaning it can be readily broken down and used by the body when consumed through foods. However, the body cannot break down vitamin A found in plants as effectively. So, a diet that excludes all animal products may lead to vitamin A deficiency.
Among the most common foods that contain vitamin A is liver (beef, goose, cod, and lamb), salmon, mackerel, bluefin tuna, goat cheese, butter, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, whole milk, eggs, clams, and oysters.
However, a variety of vegetables contain vitamin A, and eating lots of them may increase your vitamin A levels to the recommended amounts. Those vegetables include sweet potato, butternut squash, kale, collard greens, carrots, sweet red pepper, spinach, and romaine lettuce.
4. Heme Iron
Iron deficiency is a common problem that vegetarians should consider when planning their diets. The mineral is essential to numerous bodily functions, and not having enough of it can lead to fatigue and low energy levels, shortness of breath, headaches, irritability, or anemia.
Iron is found in two forms: heme and non-heme. Heme iron is only found in animal products, and non-heme iron is only found in plants. Non-heme iron is an option for vegetarians. However, it is much harder for the body to absorb it. In fact, the Recommended Dietary Allowance is 1.8 times higher for vegans and vegetarians. Therefore, taking iron supplements may be a good solution for people with dietary restrictions.
That said, many plant-based foods can boost your iron levels to an extent. Among those foods are tofu, soybeans, lentils, many nuts and seeds, leafy greens, tomato paste, potatoes, mushrooms, olives, mulberries, oats, and quinoa.
There are also many strategies used by vegetarians to maximize absorption of iron from plant-based foods. For one, consuming vitamin C with iron-rich foods can vastly increase iron absorption. Avoiding coffee or tea with meals is also best for maximum absorption.
Summary
Whether it’s based on health, environmental, or animal rights concerns, more and more people are adopting vegan and vegetarian diets. There are a variety of health benefits. But vegetarians must be thoughtful about how they’re getting all of the essential nutrients. While getting all the vitamins and minerals your body needs can be challenging, a well-planned diet is a great way to offset concerns about potential deficiencies.
For more information on vitamins and minerals, check out more articles from the KOSI Wellness blog!
