If you’re eating a plant-based diet, it’s important to get a full dose of vitamins and nutrients. Megan Rossi, a Registered Dietitian & Gut Health Specialist shared the 7 essential nutrients to focus on if you’re eating a plant-based diet.

The nutrients are zinc, vitamin B12, selenium, iron, Omega-3 fats, calcium, and iodine. So how do we ensure to get good sources of each?

To get enough calcium, check out tofu and spring greens. Your plant-based milk might also be fortified with calcium. Iodine is easy to get from sea vegetables and can also be part of cereals and grains. Check the label!

Iron from plants isn’t absorbed efficiently, so be sure to pair it with vitamin c. Strawberries and oranges are high in Vitamin C. Omega-3 fats can be found in supplements or fortified foods. Nuts are a great source of selenium!

For Vitamin B12, check out nutritional yeast and fortified foods. And finally, to get zinc in your diet, don’t miss whole grains and legumes. You can also get zinc from nuts and seeds, as well as from sprouted foods.

Learn How to Cook Plant-Based Meals at Home

Reducing your meat intake and eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental wellbeing, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health, and more! Dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, prostate cancer and has many side effects. 

For those of you interested in eating more plant-based, we highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App — with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest plant-based recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Here are some resources to get you started:

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