Hello my lovelies!

I wanted to share a blog post about key nutrients on a plant based diet as well as the supplements that I personally use or recommend since its a topic that can be confusing and while a plant based diet is really wholesome, just like ANY diet, there are a few key nutrients that are particularly important and may need additional supplementation if you are not getting the requirements every day.

I really am a ‘diet first’ when it comes to nutrition however I also know that life can be busy and even I myself am not always able to get all of the nutrition I need every single day.

Iron

I have written a detailed blog post on iron, so if you are interested in learning more, I recommend reading it here. For me, iron is extremely important to check regularly and supplement - especially if you are getting regular periods OR pregnant and breastfeeding. Women usually require 18mg of iron per day (compared to 9mg for men) and for pregnant women it is even higher at 27mg. In fact, iron deﬁciency is the most common nutrient deﬁciency in the world, especially among young women. And it is not always related to diet.

I personally have taken an iron supplement for years as my iron stores sat at the lower end and during my pregnancy my levels dropped quite dramatically which is very common in pregnancy since all of our iron is likely going to our developing baby. I’ve mentioned on my socials that I recently had an iron transfusion, however once I begin breastfeeding I will start using Naturopathica’s vegan iron supplement which contains 20mg of Iron as Iron II Glycinate plus 100mg of Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C) to enhance the absorption and reduce the side effect of constipation.

Why Iron II Glycinate:

Iron II Glycinate is an alternative to the other common form on Iron - ferrous sulfate because of its increased bioavailability. In equal doses, iron II glycinate chelate would be expected to have a larger effect on body iron status compared to ferrous sulfate.

Why Ascorbic Acid:

Consuming Iron with Vitamin C helps to improve the bioavailability of iron, which means more of that iron will be absorbed.

Notes:

It’s important to have regular blood tests with your GP (every three to six months) and determine if an iron supplement is necessary for you as iron toxicity (too much iron) can be dangerous, and if your levels are too low, consider an iron supplement such as the vegan iron supplement by Naturopathica.

B12

Vitamin B12 is another really important vitamin for a plant based diet. I have also shared a comprehensive blog post on this topic that you can read here

Vitamin B12 (also sometimes called cyanocobalamin or methylcobalamin) is a water soluble vitamin that we must obtain from our food. It is called an “essential nutrient” because our body cannot make it metabolically (unlike some other nutrients). It is made by some types of bacteria both aerobically (with oxygen) and anaerobically (without oxygen).

Vitamin B12 CANNOT be found in reliable quantities naturally inside plant based foods unless it has been fortified (such as Nutritional Yeast Flakes and some cereals). For this reason I would say this is the most important vitamin to supplement for those on a plant focused diet.

Early symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency include constipation, loss of appetite, and weight loss but once symptoms escalate, they can include neurological changes, such as numbness and tingling in the hands and feet. When someone has an extreme B12 deficiency, they can actually develop potentially irreversible and severe neurological disorders (damage to the nervous system and brain - such as psychosis, mania and dementia).

The recommended daily intake (RDI) for adults (>18 years old) in Australia for Vitamin B12 is 2.4 micrograms per day. Slightly more for both pregnant and lactating women (2.6 and 2.8 micrograms respectively). There is no upper limit since our bodies won’t store additional B12.

I take a vitamin B12 supplement daily and have for years. Post pregnancy I will start taking the chewable Vegan B12 or the Vegan Multivitamin (which contains B12) both from the Naturopathica Vegan range. These are the only vegan B12 supplements in Australia.

It is important to note that the body is only able to absorb a small amount of Vitamin B12 at any one time, and each individual absorbs B12 at differing rates. So its best to supplement with small amounts/daily oral doses, instead of infrequent large oral doses (5mcg). The chewable B12 by Naturopathica contains 1000 micrograms per tablet so can be taken daily.

Notes:

It’s important to have regular blood tests with your GP (every three to six months) and check your B12 levels. For those on a plant based diet, a supplement is generally necessary if you are not consuming fortified foods every day. Always consult your GP to determine which supplement is best suited for you.

Probiotics

Naturally we have trillions of bacteria living in our gut and they play a huge role in our health and wellbeing from: assisting us to digest fibre and synthesise vitamins, help prevent diseases such as: obesity, type 2 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease as well as play a vital role in neurotransmitters for our mental health.

So what are probiotics:

Probiotics are live microorganisms that are beneficial to our gut health. They occur naturally in some fermented foods, including yoghurt, sauerkraut and sourdough bread and they can also be taken as a supplement. Source: The Conversation

If you eat a healthy balanced diet including lots of fibre and probiotic rich foods, then naturally you will have good gut health including a healthy microbiome (lots of good bacteria!) so you may only need to supplement with probiotics post a round of antibiotics or falling ill with a gastro bug.

I personally am fascinated by probiotics and all of their studied health benefits hence I love boosting my gut biome in a few different ways:

taking a probiotic supplement (currently I am using Naturopathica Vegan Probiotic as it contains 3 strains and a combined 10 billion CFU) & is the first vegan certified probiotics in Australia
drinking pre + probiotics mixed into water (I have tried a few and currently loving Body Bloom by Tropeaka)
eating a fibre and probiotic rich diet (fermented foods like sourdough, sauerkraut, and yoghurt).

Note:

Taking a probiotic supplement is not essential to a plant based diet since you will likely be eating a high fibre diet which feeds your own gut bacteria however its something that I anecdotally believe has improved aspects of my health such as digestion, skin and immunity.

Omega 3 DHA

Another nutrient that I believe is important is Omega 3 DHA, an essential fatty acid.

As a rule of thumb, I live by the motto ‘less six, more three’. Yes, there are 2 types of dietary omega fatty acids: 3 and 6. These are essential, meaning we cannot make them in our body and require these from the diet. Omegas 3 and 6 compete for the same enzyme in our bodies, and omega 6 is highly available in our modern diet (processed foods, seed and vegetable oils, etc). An imbalanced ratio of omegas 6 and 3 is linked to increased heart attacks, depression, obesity, and cancer, therefore consciously decreasing our intake of omega 6 is advised. The correct ratio of omega 3 to 6 is 1:2, yet the standard Western diet that is high in processed foods is more like 1:20.

While nuts and seeds contain a higher ratio of omega 6 to 3, avoidance of these whole foods is not advised since they also contain fibre, protein and micronutrients and a handful a day has been shown to reduce your risk of heart disease. Instead, try to avoid processed foods and takeaway foods with vegetable and seed oils, and opt for healthy oils when cooking, such as avocado, olive and macadamia.

There are 3 types of Omega 3 FA’s: ALA (found in some plant based foods such as Flax and chia seeds), EPA and DHA (not found in typical plant based foods). Plant based foods such as nuts, seeds and oils mainly contain ALA. This means the body has to convert ALA to DHA and EPA and the body converts 5-10% of ALA to EPA and 2-5% ALA to DHA. Therefore about 90% of ALA is lost in digestion.

Did you know that omega-3 fatty acids (DHA) in marine/fish actually come from the micro-algae that they eat! Hence, we can really get this nutrient straight from the source. Algae is the plant- based solution to the issue and while food sources of micro-algae are less common, there is now algae DHA supplements readily available. With the seafood industry being highly unsustainable, algae may be a more sustainable option as well. The vegan Omega 3 DHA supplement I use is by Naturopathica.

Collagen + Vitamin C

Another buzz word right now is around collagen supplements for skin health. Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body, accounting for about a third of its protein composition. It's one of the major building blocks of bones, skin, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Collagen is also found in many other body parts, including blood vessels, corneas, and teeth.

Collagen works with another protein called elastin to keep our skin elastic (kind of like ropes of protein in the skin) however, as we age our bodies will begin to reduce collagen production.

So what is vitamin C’s role ?

Vitamin C regulates the synthesis of collagen and strengthens the collagen bonds. Vitamin C supplementation has many beneficial effects in combating photodamage and has been shown to stabilise collagen, thus increasing collagen protein synthesis for repair of the damaged skin.

Things you can do from the outside: reduce sun exposure, avoid smoking cigarettes and air pollution.

Things you can do from the inside: eat a healthy balanced diet, including vitamin C rich foods, keep up hydration, and supplement.

Collagen supplements are incredibly popular, however all of which come from bovine and marine sources. It’s also important to note that just because you’re taking collagen that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all going directly to your skin.

While collagen supplements all come from bovine (cow) and fish hence not being vegan, there are nutrients in our diet that can naturally boost or strengthen our own collagen including vitamin C.

I’ve recently started trialling Naturopathica’s Vegan Collagen supplement which contains rosehip extract, sea buckthorn, vitamin C, silica, and biotin - nutrients that may all play a role in collagen/skin health. As I have only just started taking this one, I’ll be sharing more info on it in the coming months - stay tuned!