A vegan or a plant based diet has been researched to give the best results towards anti-aging, and helps in reducing heart diseases, risk of cancer and various brain diseases. But it sounds too good to be true, a vegan diet not done the right away can always lead to a deficiency in some nutrients such as vitamin B12, calcium, iron, and zinc, iodine, omega 3 fatty acids.

So to clear up the myth about vitamin B12, it is made by bacteria not by animals and not by plants. B12 in given as a source of vitamins to animals such as chicken, cattle and other sources of meat and milk hence it is found in eggs, milk and meats. Therefore the best way to get vitamin B12 is to take a B12 supplement as people who try to get B12 from animals sources too end up being deficient in it.

If some one is following a whole food plant based diet and not just a vegan diet with unhealthy processed food, they will not be getting enough micronutrients. Calcium, iron and zinc are found in beans, dals and in seeds such as chia seeds, flax seeds and tofu are very potent and high sources of plant based Omega 3 fatty acids and calcium. Tofu is also rich in hyaluronic acid is a key component of anti-ageing. Finally iodine is found in sea weed, iodised salt and other mineral rich salts such as pink Himalayan salt.

The idea is to eat a varied, whole food plant based diet which naturally will cover all the nutrient requirements of the body.

References:-

• Fang, H., Kang, J., & Zhang, D. (2017). Microbial production of vitamin B12: a review and future perspectives. Microbial cell factories, 16(1), 15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-017-0631-y

• Ann Reed Mangels, Bone nutrients for vegetarians, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 100, Issue suppl_1, July 2014, Pages 469S–475S, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.113.071423