Hello! Please tell me, I’m 34 years old, I’m a vegan, I bought cyanocobalamin b12 lozenges 1000 mcg. The package says to take 1000 mcg once a day, but is that too much? This raises the question, how many times per day and in what quantity should a vegan take Cyanocobalamin 1000 mcg lozenges?
Alexander,
You can follow one of the listed regimens in the table above that is covered by 1,000 µg (in other words, a regimen for 500 µg is covered by 1,000 µg so you could follow one for 500 µg). You can also cut 1,000 µg in half and follow a 500 µg regimen.
I am 54 and plant based. I take a 1000 mcg twice a week of cyanocobalamin…tablets that you swallow. After reading the article I just want to make sure….can I chew these tablets? And if yes, then this would be better absorbed?
I just discovered your site. I can’t wait to read all the articles!
To help manage my BP without medication, I take two tablespoons of ground flax and two of ground chia daily.This, along with virtually no-salt, a vegan diet and increased aerobics has been working fairly well for me. I also take an algae derived DHA/EPA supplement on most days. Is the added DHA/EPA overkill? Am I overdoing the seeds? I feel great and don’t bleed or bruise.
Bob,
This is something you should talk to your doctor about. Your regimen doesn’t strike me as obviously dangerous (it could depend on how much of the EPA/DHA you’re taking). But, this site isn’t for providing people with advice for treating a medical condition, it’s merely for general nutrition recommendations.
Is this also true for pregnant women? -> “If you haven’t had a regular source of B12 for more than a few months, take 2,000 µg once a day for 2 weeks to replenish your stores. While there’s no definite cutoff for when B12 starts to become unsafe, because people often ask, we’ll somewhat arbitrarily say not to take more than 1,000 µg per day over the long-term without guidance from a physician. Large doses of B12 can trigger acne-like symptoms in a small percentage of people”
When a pregnant vegan woman isn’t taking a regular or sufficient B12 supplement, and / or her serum B12 status appears to be (too) low, is it then also recommended to up B12 (cyanocobalamin) intake to 2000 mcg per day for 2 weeks? And after that 10 – 250 mcg / day?
Here are the choline recommendations from our article on Choline:
Based on the limited research, 300 mg per day of choline [which should be typical of a vegan diet] may be adequate for most adults. But given the uncertainty, we recommend intakes that come closer to meeting the AI for this nutrient, especially for pregnant and nursing women. Many prenatal vitamins contain low amounts of choline and it may be necessary to supplement with additional choline in order to meet the DRI.
Judy,
There isn’t enough evidence that vegans need creatine or collagen, beyond what our bodies make, to warrant making recommendations for increasing levels or supplementing.
Donna,
It’s fine to eat vegetables other than dark leafy greens, but I’m not aware of any that are low in oxalate and contain enough calcium to be considered a good source of calcium.
Hi, you said, “Too much omega-3 can result in bleeding and bruising.” I was wondering how much is too much? My main source of fat these days has been walnuts and ground flax seeds, so I’ve been consuming about 7 – 13 g of ALA per day. Should I be worried?
No one knows how much ALA is too much. I use the appearance of bleeding and bruising to gauge whether someone is eating too much ALA for their own situation. However, what you’re eating is much more than most people, even those who supplement, especially on the higher end. If it were me, I’d stick with the lower end of what you’re eating.
What is the current DHA recommendation (supplementation) for pregnant women? I’ve heard it’s advised for vegan pregnant women to supplement 500 mg DHA / day. Is this correct? Thank you!
Our omega-3 recommendations (which include DHA) for pregnant women are listed above under omega-3s. We don’t consider there to be enough evidence that pregnant women require a dietary source of DHA if they’re meeting the recommendations for ALA. The International Society
for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL) has a different opinion and recommends at least 200 mg (up to 1,000 mg) of DHA per day for pregnant and breastfeeding women (see paragraph #2 under “Conclusions and recommendations”).
You say to take calcium supplements with meals. You also say not to take calcium supplements with meals because it interferes with iron absorption. I am a bit confused. Thank you.
> You say to take calcium supplements with meals. You also say not to take calcium supplements with meals because it interferes with iron absorption.
Yes, that’s confusing. Calcium supplements should ideally be taken with food. But if you have low iron stores, it’s best to avoid them at your highest iron-containing meals. If you have low iron stores and also want to take a calcium supplement, I’d recommend taking the supplement with a small snack so that you aren’t interfering much with iron absorption. If you don’t have low iron stores, then you don’t need to worry about the effect of calcium on iron absorption (see Effect of calcium supplementation on daily nonheme-iron absorption and long-term iron status).
Hello! Throughout my years as a vegan, this website has been incredibly helpful to me, as it has helped me easy to understand and straightforward information about vegan diets. Not only is my diet very balanced now, but I understand some nutrition basics which also help when nosy non-vegans try to tell me eating vegan will kill me (lol).
I was wondering though, are there plans to have the website translated into other languages? While I am fluent in English, it is not my mother tongue, and some of my family/friends/colleagues/acquaintances can’t speak English at a high level or at all, so I cannot link them to this site even when I think it’s probably the best resource to recommend in many cases.
Thank you for all your work!
M Diaz,
Thank you for your kind words—I’m glad the site has helped you. Unfortunately, we don’t have plans to translate the site. We’ve tried that in the past but there are so many languages and the site changes constantly—it’s too much to keep on top of. I’m hoping that Google translate does an adequate job of translating it for people who need to read it in a different language. Have you tried that to see what it looks like in your native language?
Hello! The recommendation for flax oil is to consume cold because otherwise it oxidizes and the omega 3 is lost. Does the same thing happen with ground flax seeds? Or could they be added to hot dishes without the loss being relevant? thank you!
Parsley is a good source of vitamin A, you might want to add it; foods like taboule contain a large amount of parsley and are a tasty way to get Vitamin A
Sarah,
According to Food Central, 2 tablespoons of parsley has 32 RAE of vitamin A which is only 5% of the RDA for women of 700 RAE and doesn’t reach the 10% threshold for being a “good source”. I’m not sure if 2 tablespoons is a typical serving size and I couldn’t figure out how much parsley is typically in a serving of tabouli to know if tabouli is a good source.
Hi!
In your recommendations for calcium, all the amounts for low-oxalate greens are for cooked greens. However, I rarely eat cooked greens and don’t feel I have time to cook the greens I eat at lunch. How would those amounts translate into amounts for raw greens?
Thank you!
Sean,
I’m not aware of any data on calcium absorption from raw greens, so I wouldn’t recommend relying on raw greens for calcium. Raw greens might be better, the same, or worse—I have no way of knowing.
The paper below states in its conclusion: “Cooking did not significantly affect intestinal
calcium bioavailability in the selected GLVs.” (GLVs are green leafy vegetables.) However, I haven’t had a chance to look up the scientific names of the greens listed and see if there’s any overlap with the greens listed on this page.
Hi there!
What are your thoughts on meal replacement shakes? It seems like they’re able to meet the “numbers requirements” (i.e. macro/micro -nutrient dietary reference intakes) however I’m unsure if there are certain important things that one would be missing out on. To be clear, I’m only considering replacing breakfast, continuing to take my current vitamins/supplements, and continuing to eat a varied diet for everything else I eat throughout the day (lunch, dinner, smoothie, and snack). For reference, I was lightly looking at queal’s vegan shakes: https://queal.com/bootstrap-pages/images/Queal%20Steady%205.0%20Vegan%20Recipes.pdf
Thanks for all your great work!
— Sean
Thanks for the response! So just to clarify: you don’t have any qualms with a limited usage of meal replacement shakes (eg to replace just breakfast) as long as they are covering the dietary recommendations above?
Again, thanks so much for all your work! It’s been a huge help in my journey with veganism!
Hi Sean,
That’s not quite what I meant. I wasn’t commenting on the wisdom of using a meal replacement shake for your overall health—I am neither for nor against meal replacement shakes. I was merely saying that for obtaining the nutrients we list on this page that are important for vegans to be aware of, I wouldn’t treat their delivery by way of a meal replacement shake any differently than any other typical food. I hope that clarifies.
Rafael
Thank you for this great website and resources. For those of us who get the Omega 3s from vegan microalgae, what amount of DHA/EPA is recommended for children of different ages? Thank you!
Rafael,
You should make sure the children are meeting the ALA requirements listed above in Part One: Meet the DRI. Under Part Two: For Extra Caution, the recommendations for children are the same as for adults. While I wouldn’t be worried about doing both options under Part Two for adults, I’d only opt for one of the options under Part Two for children.
I currently take a multi which contains (amongst other things) calcium and iron. I know I struggle to hit my iron quota from the foods I eat anyway so want to ensure the iron from my multi is being absorbed. Will the calcium in the multi be interfering with the iron absorption? Should I take a separate iron supplement another time of day?
Thanks
I’m not aware of any research on whether calcium in a multivitamin can significantly reduce iron absorption. In general, adding vitamin C to meals increases iron absorption more than does adding iron beyond the amount of iron in the food that makes up most vegan diets. It’s best to talk to your doctor about steps you need to take for your specific situation.
Joe
Do you think a 2,500 µg B12 supplement once per week should be sufficient as suggested by Dr. Michael Greger? Or should I split the pills in half and take one half twice a week?
The absorption model provided to me by Stephen Walsh of the UK, who modeled the data based on the largest absorption dataset we’re aware of, predicts you would absorb 14 µg per week which should be plenty (our lower limit on what should be absorbed is 8.4 µg per week).
Thanks for compiling this list, I have found it extremely helpful. I was wondering if you had any insight about how necessary intake levels vary based on height and/or body weight.
These recommendations are set by the U.S. government and vary by age and sex, not by height or weight. They are meant to cover the needs of the majority of healthy people, but a small portion of people may have needs below or above the recommendations.
Would you mind sharing the research you feel supports – there is no need for vegans to supplement with EPA if there ALA intake is close to the recommendations of 2g/d. Finally, how do you define or what are the criteria for EPA & DHA deficiency?
> Would you mind sharing the research you feel supports – there is no need for vegans to supplement with EPA if there ALA intake is close to the recommendations of 2g/d.
> Finally, how do you define or what are the criteria for EPA & DHA deficiency?
It’s not currently known what levels of EPA and DHA in the blood are healthy or even if they reflect amounts in tissues in any strong way. In the article linked above, we cover the impact of lower omega-3 levels of vegetarians in “Effects of Low EPA and DHA on Vegetarians.” There isn’t much data and what we cover is mixed, but one thing to be aware of is that the participants in those studies were generally not meeting our ALA recommendations, especially for extra ALA.
I’m a bit confused about the recommendations for Omega-3, especially DHA. At this ‘Daily Needs’ pages, it’s suggested to eat the RDI for ALA + 2000 mg extra ALA or a 200 – 300 mg DHA supplement everyday. At jacknorrisrd.com (http://jacknorrisrd.com/omega-3s-in-vegetarian-diets/) it’s advised to take a 200 – 300 mg DHA supplement 2 – 3 x per week. Which one is correct? And are these extra recommendations (2000 mg ALA extra / 200 – 300 mg DHA supplement daily) the same for all stages of life?
Hi Lieke – The information on VeganHealth.org is more recent and is based on more recent research. We advise sticking with the recommendations presented here.
The Institute of Medicine, which establishes recommended intakes in the United States, does not have specific recommendations for DHA. For birth to 12 months, the IOM recommends 0.5 grams of TOTAL omega-3s. For children 1-3 years, they recommend 0.7 grams of ALA; for 4-8 years, they recommend 0.9 grams ALA.
This is very helpful! There are a number of new vitamins on the market that are made for those on a plant-based diet. I recently started taking holier – http://www.holierlife.com. It seems to be working well for me. Has anyone else tried others?
Just noticed a little typo in Omega-3 Fats: “Part Two – For Extra Caution.” At the beginning of the sentence after the bullet points I believe “ALA” is mistakenly referred to as “EPA.” Thanks for the great resource by the way!
Luke,
It’s supposed to say ALA. Our bodies can convert ALA into EPA and evidence indicates there’s no need for vegans who meet the RDA for ALA to supplement with EPA.
But that’s very inefficient, no? My notes of your review from about a year ago (can’t find the studies on the new site) say that conversion rate varies between 0.3% and 21%, and as far as I remember, N was low but standard deviation was quite high.
We believe the evidence suggests that if a vegan is meeting the RDA for ALA, they should not suffer from EPA deficiency. DHA is less straightforward and anyone who is concerned may choose to take a DHA supplement.
Maria
Hi, thanks for the great article. I’m breastfeeding and taking 1000ug twice per week. Why it says that weekly doses are not applicable for breastfeeding? Should I change to daily dose? Thanks
Thanks for the reply. Where I live (Uruguay) I only have access to a 500ug supplements and I got a 1000ug supplement in US from a friend, but having a very hard time to find a low dose supplement. Any recommendation?
Maria,
Break your supplements into smaller pieces. Aiming for anywhere from 50 to 250 µg per day will work.
Andrea Harper
Hi,
I have been vegan for a few years now and I seem to be having some issues (which I am reviewing with my doctor). That said, in attempting to look at nutrition requirements a little more, I am not surprised because it seems like a person has to eat an insane amount of food just to get everything in. I am simply not capable of eating as many servings as seems required. I am a small person and I have always eaten small amounts and my mom is the same, but it’s catching up with me nutritionally & physically and I just want to know how to stay vegan while eating how I eat and not having all my hair fall out, as a fun example. Is it a matter of just supplementing? How can I do this on small amounts of food and not suffer malnutrition? Am I wrong? It seems like a crazy amount of food I’m supposed to eat.
I’m struggling with this too. I’m not a vegan yet, but I’m slowly trying to cut out meat and wish to be either vegan or almost vegan by January. When I look at nutrition labels, it seems like all of the vegan foods have fewer calories than the foods that contain animal products. Vegan burgers have fewer calories than beef or turkey burgers, for instance. When I look up a serving of tofu, half a cup is only 94 calories with 10 grams of protein; but a 4-ounce serving of grilled chicken breast is 187 calories with 25 grams of protein. I’m kind of broke and can’t afford to buy much more food, so I’m not sure how I’m going to manage this yet. My BMI is about 18.5, and I really can’t afford to lose weight. I have executive function issues, so counting up calories and all my nutrients is a bit overwhelming for me when I’m used to not thinking about it. Anyhow, I have an appointment with an RD next week, so I’m hoping she can give me some tips.
I’m replying to my own comment again because I can’t figure out how to reply to yours. Thank you for the additional resources! I already tend to use frozen fruits and veggies because they’re cheaper, so I don’t mind that. Meeting with the RD should help too, and I’m hoping she can give me some tips for meal prep and managing my time and energy. Thanks, again!
Steve
Hi Meredith,
Here is a link to a UK Chef, Jack Monroe. The link should take you straight to her vegan recipe section. Many recipes are less than $1 per portion. https://cookingonabootstrap.com/?s=vegan
I hope that helps!
Gill
I have been thinking this – but then I took a closer look at the portion sizes. I cup is really not very much at all!
(I know this is rather a late response, it’s more for anyone else reading and wondering the same thing.)
Dear Jack Norris,
Thank you for your wonderful overview! I have a quick question: Is ALA destroyed in walnuts/ground flaxseeds if they are heated (inside a muffin, for instance)?
Thank you for your time!
Best regards,
Martin Madsen
Martin,
The Flax Council of Canada reports that, “ALA in whole and milled flaxseed also appears to be stable to heat equal or greater than the
temperatures involved in baking batters and doughs such as muffins and yeast bread.” You can read more about this and the evidence supporting this statement at https://flaxcouncil.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/stor.pdf
Hello
I have a doubt about the ingest of Calcium for people in their 19 to 50 years old, acording to the US DRI the ingest should be 1000 mg, but you recommend 2 cups of mixed greens so that´s about 200 mg, or a supplement of 300 mg. Is that enough or should I put more rich calcium food in my diet?
Thank you
Our recommendations assume vegans are getting 400–500 mg of calcium from other sources—most plant foods have some calcium. It’s probably best not to take more from a supplement because of concerns with heart disease and high amounts of calcium supplements, but adding more greens to your diet is a great idea.
Hello
I am a 68 year old vegan, have been since age 40
since becoming vegan, I have always had a multivitamin a day
Now your website says I should take 500-1000 ug b 12 and 600 ug D per day
Both these figures are way over the quantities supplied by my multivitamin
Which is b12 (9 ug )and D (5 ug) per tablet
Can you please explain what you base your extremely figures on figures on?
Thank you
Michael
That said, if you believe your health is fine on your current regimen, then I can understand sticking with it. You might produce vitamin D from sun and absorb vitamin B12 better than your average person.
the absorbtion of Vitamin B12 works with two mechanisms: diffusion (about 1% of the intake) and the so called Intrinsic Factor (IF) (about 1-2mcg per intake). If you take B12 over the day (like meateaters or with fortified foods), your IF can “recover” in the meanwhile so you can absorb more out of even small dosages (bigger than 1-2mcg).
Daily need: ~3mcg
With daily supplement: 3mcg= 1mcg (per IF) + 2mcg (per diffusion) -> you should not take less than 200mcg per supplement to be safe*
I took the lowest numbers for absorption. In the list above 25-100mcg is given. Might as well be fine.
If you want to supplement even less (weekly or so), then the dosages getting even bigger, since now the part of the IF vanishes in comparison to the part you’ll get via diffusion.
The numbers sound like a lot (hundreds/thousands of your daily need) but 1. the real absorbed amount is way smaller if it is not splitted in many intakes 2. Vit. B12 is watersoluable and if you take in too much then it will just leave your body via your bladder.
Of course some people are/will be non-deficient on lower dosages, because of multiple factors of absorption, but i would suggest to be safe. A blood test to check your bio-active B12 levels is the blood test for Holo-TC, which i highly recommend you!
I’m a 66 year old woman and have been on a WFPB diet the last 12 months. I take 1000 iu (25 mcg) of Vitamin D twice a day and 1000 µg of B12 once a week (both sublingual). It’s my understanding that because sublingual supplements are absorbed in the mouth, we don’t need to take the doses recommended above. Does anyone know whether that is true?
78 thoughts on “Daily Needs”
Hello! Please tell me, I’m 34 years old, I’m a vegan, I bought cyanocobalamin b12 lozenges 1000 mcg. The package says to take 1000 mcg once a day, but is that too much? This raises the question, how many times per day and in what quantity should a vegan take Cyanocobalamin 1000 mcg lozenges?
Alexander,
You can follow one of the listed regimens in the table above that is covered by 1,000 µg (in other words, a regimen for 500 µg is covered by 1,000 µg so you could follow one for 500 µg). You can also cut 1,000 µg in half and follow a 500 µg regimen.
I am 54 and plant based. I take a 1000 mcg twice a week of cyanocobalamin…tablets that you swallow. After reading the article I just want to make sure….can I chew these tablets? And if yes, then this would be better absorbed?
I just discovered your site. I can’t wait to read all the articles!
Thank you!
Sandy,
Most people digest B12 tablets without needing to chew them, but it isn’t harmful to chew them.
To help manage my BP without medication, I take two tablespoons of ground flax and two of ground chia daily.This, along with virtually no-salt, a vegan diet and increased aerobics has been working fairly well for me. I also take an algae derived DHA/EPA supplement on most days. Is the added DHA/EPA overkill? Am I overdoing the seeds? I feel great and don’t bleed or bruise.
Bob,
This is something you should talk to your doctor about. Your regimen doesn’t strike me as obviously dangerous (it could depend on how much of the EPA/DHA you’re taking). But, this site isn’t for providing people with advice for treating a medical condition, it’s merely for general nutrition recommendations.
Is this also true for pregnant women? -> “If you haven’t had a regular source of B12 for more than a few months, take 2,000 µg once a day for 2 weeks to replenish your stores. While there’s no definite cutoff for when B12 starts to become unsafe, because people often ask, we’ll somewhat arbitrarily say not to take more than 1,000 µg per day over the long-term without guidance from a physician. Large doses of B12 can trigger acne-like symptoms in a small percentage of people”
Lieke,
The answers to your questions are “yes” and “yes”.
When a pregnant vegan woman isn’t taking a regular or sufficient B12 supplement, and / or her serum B12 status appears to be (too) low, is it then also recommended to up B12 (cyanocobalamin) intake to 2000 mcg per day for 2 weeks? And after that 10 – 250 mcg / day?
This resource is so helpful! Is there any consensus on getting adequate choline while on a vegan diet? Indication for supplementation?
Jordan,
Here are the choline recommendations from our article on Choline:
Based on the limited research, 300 mg per day of choline [which should be typical of a vegan diet] may be adequate for most adults. But given the uncertainty, we recommend intakes that come closer to meeting the AI for this nutrient, especially for pregnant and nursing women. Many prenatal vitamins contain low amounts of choline and it may be necessary to supplement with additional choline in order to meet the DRI.
I have questions about creatine and collegen for kids. How do I make sure my kids have enough or where to get it.
Judy,
There isn’t enough evidence that vegans need creatine or collagen, beyond what our bodies make, to warrant making recommendations for increasing levels or supplementing.
What about other vegetable that are low in oxalates, other than dark leafy greens, so that we can get a variety of colors?
Donna,
It’s fine to eat vegetables other than dark leafy greens, but I’m not aware of any that are low in oxalate and contain enough calcium to be considered a good source of calcium.
Hi, you said, “Too much omega-3 can result in bleeding and bruising.” I was wondering how much is too much? My main source of fat these days has been walnuts and ground flax seeds, so I’ve been consuming about 7 – 13 g of ALA per day. Should I be worried?
> Should I be worried?
No one knows how much ALA is too much. I use the appearance of bleeding and bruising to gauge whether someone is eating too much ALA for their own situation. However, what you’re eating is much more than most people, even those who supplement, especially on the higher end. If it were me, I’d stick with the lower end of what you’re eating.
What is the current DHA recommendation (supplementation) for pregnant women? I’ve heard it’s advised for vegan pregnant women to supplement 500 mg DHA / day. Is this correct? Thank you!
Lieke,
Our omega-3 recommendations (which include DHA) for pregnant women are listed above under omega-3s. We don’t consider there to be enough evidence that pregnant women require a dietary source of DHA if they’re meeting the recommendations for ALA. The International Society
for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL) has a different opinion and recommends at least 200 mg (up to 1,000 mg) of DHA per day for pregnant and breastfeeding women (see paragraph #2 under “Conclusions and recommendations”).
You say to take calcium supplements with meals. You also say not to take calcium supplements with meals because it interferes with iron absorption. I am a bit confused. Thank you.
Laura,
> You say to take calcium supplements with meals. You also say not to take calcium supplements with meals because it interferes with iron absorption.
Yes, that’s confusing. Calcium supplements should ideally be taken with food. But if you have low iron stores, it’s best to avoid them at your highest iron-containing meals. If you have low iron stores and also want to take a calcium supplement, I’d recommend taking the supplement with a small snack so that you aren’t interfering much with iron absorption. If you don’t have low iron stores, then you don’t need to worry about the effect of calcium on iron absorption (see Effect of calcium supplementation on daily nonheme-iron absorption and long-term iron status).
I’ve now made some edits to the page which I hope makes it less confusing.
What would be the recommended daily / weekly dose of vitamine B12 for someone following a plant based diet after having bariatric surgery? Thanks!
Lieke,
I’ve added these recommendations to answer your question.
Hello! Throughout my years as a vegan, this website has been incredibly helpful to me, as it has helped me easy to understand and straightforward information about vegan diets. Not only is my diet very balanced now, but I understand some nutrition basics which also help when nosy non-vegans try to tell me eating vegan will kill me (lol).
I was wondering though, are there plans to have the website translated into other languages? While I am fluent in English, it is not my mother tongue, and some of my family/friends/colleagues/acquaintances can’t speak English at a high level or at all, so I cannot link them to this site even when I think it’s probably the best resource to recommend in many cases.
Thank you for all your work!
M Diaz,
Thank you for your kind words—I’m glad the site has helped you. Unfortunately, we don’t have plans to translate the site. We’ve tried that in the past but there are so many languages and the site changes constantly—it’s too much to keep on top of. I’m hoping that Google translate does an adequate job of translating it for people who need to read it in a different language. Have you tried that to see what it looks like in your native language?
Hello! The recommendation for flax oil is to consume cold because otherwise it oxidizes and the omega 3 is lost. Does the same thing happen with ground flax seeds? Or could they be added to hot dishes without the loss being relevant? thank you!
Marta,
Sprinkling ground flaxseeds on hot food shouldn’t damage the omega-3s.
Parsley is a good source of vitamin A, you might want to add it; foods like taboule contain a large amount of parsley and are a tasty way to get Vitamin A
Sarah,
According to Food Central, 2 tablespoons of parsley has 32 RAE of vitamin A which is only 5% of the RDA for women of 700 RAE and doesn’t reach the 10% threshold for being a “good source”. I’m not sure if 2 tablespoons is a typical serving size and I couldn’t figure out how much parsley is typically in a serving of tabouli to know if tabouli is a good source.
Hi!
In your recommendations for calcium, all the amounts for low-oxalate greens are for cooked greens. However, I rarely eat cooked greens and don’t feel I have time to cook the greens I eat at lunch. How would those amounts translate into amounts for raw greens?
Thank you!
Sean,
I’m not aware of any data on calcium absorption from raw greens, so I wouldn’t recommend relying on raw greens for calcium. Raw greens might be better, the same, or worse—I have no way of knowing.
The paper below states in its conclusion: “Cooking did not significantly affect intestinal
calcium bioavailability in the selected GLVs.” (GLVs are green leafy vegetables.) However, I haven’t had a chance to look up the scientific names of the greens listed and see if there’s any overlap with the greens listed on this page.
http://pkdiet.com/pdf/CalciumRawCooked%20Vegetables.pdf
Hi there!
What are your thoughts on meal replacement shakes? It seems like they’re able to meet the “numbers requirements” (i.e. macro/micro -nutrient dietary reference intakes) however I’m unsure if there are certain important things that one would be missing out on. To be clear, I’m only considering replacing breakfast, continuing to take my current vitamins/supplements, and continuing to eat a varied diet for everything else I eat throughout the day (lunch, dinner, smoothie, and snack). For reference, I was lightly looking at queal’s vegan shakes: https://queal.com/bootstrap-pages/images/Queal%20Steady%205.0%20Vegan%20Recipes.pdf
Thanks for all your great work!
— Sean
Sean,
I wouldn’t treat a shake any differently than any other source for the nutrients we discuss on this page.
Thanks for the response! So just to clarify: you don’t have any qualms with a limited usage of meal replacement shakes (eg to replace just breakfast) as long as they are covering the dietary recommendations above?
Again, thanks so much for all your work! It’s been a huge help in my journey with veganism!
Hi Sean,
That’s not quite what I meant. I wasn’t commenting on the wisdom of using a meal replacement shake for your overall health—I am neither for nor against meal replacement shakes. I was merely saying that for obtaining the nutrients we list on this page that are important for vegans to be aware of, I wouldn’t treat their delivery by way of a meal replacement shake any differently than any other typical food. I hope that clarifies.
Thank you for this great website and resources. For those of us who get the Omega 3s from vegan microalgae, what amount of DHA/EPA is recommended for children of different ages? Thank you!
Rafael,
You should make sure the children are meeting the ALA requirements listed above in Part One: Meet the DRI. Under Part Two: For Extra Caution, the recommendations for children are the same as for adults. While I wouldn’t be worried about doing both options under Part Two for adults, I’d only opt for one of the options under Part Two for children.
HI there
I currently take a multi which contains (amongst other things) calcium and iron. I know I struggle to hit my iron quota from the foods I eat anyway so want to ensure the iron from my multi is being absorbed. Will the calcium in the multi be interfering with the iron absorption? Should I take a separate iron supplement another time of day?
Thanks
Hi Sophie,
I’m not aware of any research on whether calcium in a multivitamin can significantly reduce iron absorption. In general, adding vitamin C to meals increases iron absorption more than does adding iron beyond the amount of iron in the food that makes up most vegan diets. It’s best to talk to your doctor about steps you need to take for your specific situation.
Do you think a 2,500 µg B12 supplement once per week should be sufficient as suggested by Dr. Michael Greger? Or should I split the pills in half and take one half twice a week?
The absorption model provided to me by Stephen Walsh of the UK, who modeled the data based on the largest absorption dataset we’re aware of, predicts you would absorb 14 µg per week which should be plenty (our lower limit on what should be absorbed is 8.4 µg per week).
Thanks for compiling this list, I have found it extremely helpful. I was wondering if you had any insight about how necessary intake levels vary based on height and/or body weight.
These recommendations are set by the U.S. government and vary by age and sex, not by height or weight. They are meant to cover the needs of the majority of healthy people, but a small portion of people may have needs below or above the recommendations.
Hi
Would you mind sharing the research you feel supports – there is no need for vegans to supplement with EPA if there ALA intake is close to the recommendations of 2g/d. Finally, how do you define or what are the criteria for EPA & DHA deficiency?
Great job on the page.
Thank you.
Colin,
> Would you mind sharing the research you feel supports – there is no need for vegans to supplement with EPA if there ALA intake is close to the recommendations of 2g/d.
We lay out our thinking here: https://veganhealth.org/omega-3s-part-2/
> Finally, how do you define or what are the criteria for EPA & DHA deficiency?
It’s not currently known what levels of EPA and DHA in the blood are healthy or even if they reflect amounts in tissues in any strong way. In the article linked above, we cover the impact of lower omega-3 levels of vegetarians in “Effects of Low EPA and DHA on Vegetarians.” There isn’t much data and what we cover is mixed, but one thing to be aware of is that the participants in those studies were generally not meeting our ALA recommendations, especially for extra ALA.
We definitely need more research in this area.
I’m a bit confused about the recommendations for Omega-3, especially DHA. At this ‘Daily Needs’ pages, it’s suggested to eat the RDI for ALA + 2000 mg extra ALA or a 200 – 300 mg DHA supplement everyday. At jacknorrisrd.com (http://jacknorrisrd.com/omega-3s-in-vegetarian-diets/) it’s advised to take a 200 – 300 mg DHA supplement 2 – 3 x per week. Which one is correct? And are these extra recommendations (2000 mg ALA extra / 200 – 300 mg DHA supplement daily) the same for all stages of life?
Hi Lieke – The information on VeganHealth.org is more recent and is based on more recent research. We advise sticking with the recommendations presented here.
Thanks! Can you tell me the recommended daily amount of DHA for children?
The Institute of Medicine, which establishes recommended intakes in the United States, does not have specific recommendations for DHA. For birth to 12 months, the IOM recommends 0.5 grams of TOTAL omega-3s. For children 1-3 years, they recommend 0.7 grams of ALA; for 4-8 years, they recommend 0.9 grams ALA.
Our section on vegan children has additional resources you may find helpful: https://veganhealth.org/pregnancy-infants-and-children/#children
This is very helpful! There are a number of new vitamins on the market that are made for those on a plant-based diet. I recently started taking holier – http://www.holierlife.com. It seems to be working well for me. Has anyone else tried others?
Hi,
Just noticed a little typo in Omega-3 Fats: “Part Two – For Extra Caution.” At the beginning of the sentence after the bullet points I believe “ALA” is mistakenly referred to as “EPA.” Thanks for the great resource by the way!
Cheers,
Luke
Luke,
It’s supposed to say ALA. Our bodies can convert ALA into EPA and evidence indicates there’s no need for vegans who meet the RDA for ALA to supplement with EPA.
> Our bodies can convert ALA into EPA
But that’s very inefficient, no? My notes of your review from about a year ago (can’t find the studies on the new site) say that conversion rate varies between 0.3% and 21%, and as far as I remember, N was low but standard deviation was quite high.
We believe the evidence suggests that if a vegan is meeting the RDA for ALA, they should not suffer from EPA deficiency. DHA is less straightforward and anyone who is concerned may choose to take a DHA supplement.
Hi, thanks for the great article. I’m breastfeeding and taking 1000ug twice per week. Why it says that weekly doses are not applicable for breastfeeding? Should I change to daily dose? Thanks
Maria,
It’s most prudent to stick with daily supplementation.
Thanks for the reply. Where I live (Uruguay) I only have access to a 500ug supplements and I got a 1000ug supplement in US from a friend, but having a very hard time to find a low dose supplement. Any recommendation?
Maria,
Break your supplements into smaller pieces. Aiming for anywhere from 50 to 250 µg per day will work.
Hi,
I have been vegan for a few years now and I seem to be having some issues (which I am reviewing with my doctor). That said, in attempting to look at nutrition requirements a little more, I am not surprised because it seems like a person has to eat an insane amount of food just to get everything in. I am simply not capable of eating as many servings as seems required. I am a small person and I have always eaten small amounts and my mom is the same, but it’s catching up with me nutritionally & physically and I just want to know how to stay vegan while eating how I eat and not having all my hair fall out, as a fun example. Is it a matter of just supplementing? How can I do this on small amounts of food and not suffer malnutrition? Am I wrong? It seems like a crazy amount of food I’m supposed to eat.
Andrea,
Here’s a page about hair loss:
https://veganhealth.org/hair-loss/
Why do you think you have to eat an insane amount of food—that leads me to think you’re not understanding something about our recommendations.
I’m struggling with this too. I’m not a vegan yet, but I’m slowly trying to cut out meat and wish to be either vegan or almost vegan by January. When I look at nutrition labels, it seems like all of the vegan foods have fewer calories than the foods that contain animal products. Vegan burgers have fewer calories than beef or turkey burgers, for instance. When I look up a serving of tofu, half a cup is only 94 calories with 10 grams of protein; but a 4-ounce serving of grilled chicken breast is 187 calories with 25 grams of protein. I’m kind of broke and can’t afford to buy much more food, so I’m not sure how I’m going to manage this yet. My BMI is about 18.5, and I really can’t afford to lose weight. I have executive function issues, so counting up calories and all my nutrients is a bit overwhelming for me when I’m used to not thinking about it. Anyhow, I have an appointment with an RD next week, so I’m hoping she can give me some tips.
We hope the RD can be helpful. The Vegetarian Resource Group has some low-cost vegan menus that may give you some ideas. See them at
https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2003issue1/2003_issue1_quick.php#intro19
https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2006issue2/2006_issue2_mealplans.php
Keep in mind that in order to keep costs down, menus use limited amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables. If you are able to get low-cost fresh fruits and vegetables, they can replace the canned or frozen products in these menus.
Hi Reed,
I’m replying to my own comment again because I can’t figure out how to reply to yours. Thank you for the additional resources! I already tend to use frozen fruits and veggies because they’re cheaper, so I don’t mind that. Meeting with the RD should help too, and I’m hoping she can give me some tips for meal prep and managing my time and energy. Thanks, again!
Hi Meredith,
Here is a link to a UK Chef, Jack Monroe. The link should take you straight to her vegan recipe section. Many recipes are less than $1 per portion.
https://cookingonabootstrap.com/?s=vegan
I hope that helps!
I have been thinking this – but then I took a closer look at the portion sizes. I cup is really not very much at all!
(I know this is rather a late response, it’s more for anyone else reading and wondering the same thing.)
Dear Jack Norris,
Thank you for your wonderful overview! I have a quick question: Is ALA destroyed in walnuts/ground flaxseeds if they are heated (inside a muffin, for instance)?
Thank you for your time!
Best regards,
Martin Madsen
Martin,
The Flax Council of Canada reports that, “ALA in whole and milled flaxseed also appears to be stable to heat equal or greater than the
temperatures involved in baking batters and doughs such as muffins and yeast bread.” You can read more about this and the evidence supporting this statement at https://flaxcouncil.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/stor.pdf
Hello
I have a doubt about the ingest of Calcium for people in their 19 to 50 years old, acording to the US DRI the ingest should be 1000 mg, but you recommend 2 cups of mixed greens so that´s about 200 mg, or a supplement of 300 mg. Is that enough or should I put more rich calcium food in my diet?
Thank you
Tania,
Our recommendations assume vegans are getting 400–500 mg of calcium from other sources—most plant foods have some calcium. It’s probably best not to take more from a supplement because of concerns with heart disease and high amounts of calcium supplements, but adding more greens to your diet is a great idea.
Hello
I am a 68 year old vegan, have been since age 40
since becoming vegan, I have always had a multivitamin a day
Now your website says I should take 500-1000 ug b 12 and 600 ug D per day
Both these figures are way over the quantities supplied by my multivitamin
Which is b12 (9 ug )and D (5 ug) per tablet
Can you please explain what you base your extremely figures on figures on?
Thank you
Michael
Mike,
Our vitamin D recommendations are the same as the US RDA.
Here’s an explanation of vitamin B12 recommendations for people over 65:
https://veganhealth.org/explanation-of-vitamin-b12-recommendations/#older
That said, if you believe your health is fine on your current regimen, then I can understand sticking with it. You might produce vitamin D from sun and absorb vitamin B12 better than your average person.
It’s not 600 µg, it’s 600 IU (International Units). 600 IU is 15 µg of vitamin D.
Dear Michael farla,
the absorbtion of Vitamin B12 works with two mechanisms: diffusion (about 1% of the intake) and the so called Intrinsic Factor (IF) (about 1-2mcg per intake). If you take B12 over the day (like meateaters or with fortified foods), your IF can “recover” in the meanwhile so you can absorb more out of even small dosages (bigger than 1-2mcg).
Daily need: ~3mcg
With daily supplement: 3mcg= 1mcg (per IF) + 2mcg (per diffusion) -> you should not take less than 200mcg per supplement to be safe*
I took the lowest numbers for absorption. In the list above 25-100mcg is given. Might as well be fine.
If you want to supplement even less (weekly or so), then the dosages getting even bigger, since now the part of the IF vanishes in comparison to the part you’ll get via diffusion.
The numbers sound like a lot (hundreds/thousands of your daily need) but 1. the real absorbed amount is way smaller if it is not splitted in many intakes 2. Vit. B12 is watersoluable and if you take in too much then it will just leave your body via your bladder.
Of course some people are/will be non-deficient on lower dosages, because of multiple factors of absorption, but i would suggest to be safe. A blood test to check your bio-active B12 levels is the blood test for Holo-TC, which i highly recommend you!
Wish you all the best,
Dennis Nied
Dennis,
Thanks for the explanation of B12 absorption for Michael.
Here’s my take on whether someone needs to be tested for vitamin B12:
https://veganhealth.org/should-i-get-my-b12-status-tested/
I’m a 66 year old woman and have been on a WFPB diet the last 12 months. I take 1000 iu (25 mcg) of Vitamin D twice a day and 1000 µg of B12 once a week (both sublingual). It’s my understanding that because sublingual supplements are absorbed in the mouth, we don’t need to take the doses recommended above. Does anyone know whether that is true?
No difference for sublingual: https://veganhealth.org/explanation-of-vitamin-b12-recommendations/#sub