This is one of the most common statements and the biggest concern for your parents or other close people 😉 There are a lot of studies out there with pro and contra results and it is hard to get an overview which one can be trusted, and which are funded by a lobby (and therefore often not objective). So I don’t compare studies in this article, because we could discuss hours about the validity of each article. Another problem is that a lot of studies are done on a small scale and over a short period of time so comparing is hard. But there are many studies about the deficiencies which vegan have or are at risk of but they never (or seldom) talk about how many non-vegans have deficiencies. I agree that it is harder (but without a doubt possible) for vegans to get some minerals/vitamins (e.g. iron) but on the other side, there are some which are way easier to get on a vegan diet. So it is always about a healthy balanced food intake. Doesn’t matter if you are an omnivore or vegan. I mean you can eat potato crisps or chips and drink beer for years and you are eating plant-based. But is it healthy? Of course not. If you inform yourself a little about which food contains which minerals/vitamins you are probably doing way more than most of your friends and when you are cooking you probably remember some of that stuff and you start to include healthy ingredients you haven’t before.

Vegans have nutritional deficits

Look at this food variety. You simply cannot tell me that it is not possible to get all we need from a plant-based diet (exception: read about B12). Our farming animals eat plant-based as well so the only thing we do is filtering plants through another body. There are way more vegan food options than animal products and a huge part of the world is only eating small amounts or no animal products at all. It is not necessary to eat animal products to live a healthy life I would rather see it harder to stay healthy the other way around.

When I got vegan I found the most important and helpful advice to prevent deficiencies to eat enough. If you are going vegan you are probably going to eat more and you shouldn’t feel bad about it. From a volume perspective, you have to eat more (we are talking about more healthy stuff like vegetables, beans, rice, nuts, fruits and so on). And that is a thing I really like about being vegan. I like to eat huge amounts of food and since I am vegan I eat even bigger amounts and I feel lighter and less lazy after a big meal. So eat enough, because you can’t replace 100-gram steak with 100 grams broccoli. Broccoli has, of course, a lot of healthy minerals and vitamins, but it still has for example not as much iron or carbohydrates as a steak. Don’t get me wrong, a steak is not healthier just because there is more iron in it, because in a steak you have a lot of unhealthy stuff too, like saturated fats which can lead to high blood pressure.

Another important point to mention is the fiber. If you eat a whole food plant based diet you will get way more fiber than you will ever have had before and by eating enough fiber instead of “empty” calories. So if you go vegan, just try to eat as many fresh and whole food ingredients instead of convenience products and you will eat way healthier than on a “regular” average diet and therefore have fewer deficiencies.

To conclude: A regular/average vegan has not more deficits than an average meat-eater, but on the other side, the chance to die of the most common diseases is significantly reduced if you stop eating meat. So if you are vegan, just go for a yearly blood check to your doctor and you will most probably live healthier than the average person (who tells you that you get deficits).

Do the change and go vegan

By simply making other choices in the supermarket you can have a direct impact on the harm caused to other living beings. If you have any concerns regarding veganism have a look at my other articles and if you still have open questions or if you are struggling at a specific point, just leave me a comment or contact me directly. If you want to support this webpage and me to continue spreading the vegan message you can do this here. Thank you a lot.

Don’t close your eyes and ask yourself what stops you to make a difference? I am convinced you won’t regret it.

Cheers,