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Explore Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutrition
22 published entries in this Natural Library category.
Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionChromium
The single best-evidenced complementary intervention in this cluster, per one major review.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionMagnesium
A deficiency-correction story rather than a general standalone intervention.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionAlpha-Lipoic Acid
Real evidence for insulin sensitivity — a distinct, weaker question from its popular neuropathy use.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionL-Citrulline
An amino acid the body converts into L-arginine, the raw material for nitric oxide — the same vessel-relaxing signal PDE5 inhibitor drugs work by preserving.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionL-Arginine
The direct precursor the body uses to make nitric oxide, with a genuinely solid double-blind RCT in vasculogenic ED.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionZinc
A clear mechanistic role in testosterone production — genuinely useful for correcting deficiency, not a general booster.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionProbiotics
"Probiotics" as a blanket category is too broad to be useful — the real, reproducible evidence is strain-specific.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionGlucosamine & Chondroitin
Likely the best-selling joint supplement category in the world — the recent evidence doesn't match the reputation.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionAlgae Oil (Plant-Based Omega-3)
The direct, plant-based source of the same long-chain omega-3s found in fish oil — because algae, not fish, is where they actually originate.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionVitamin B12 (Vegan Supplementation)
CobalaminAn essential nutrient that occurs reliably only in animal-derived foods, making fortified foods or supplementation a genuine requirement -- not an optional add-on -- for anyone eating a fully plant-based diet.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionVitamin D3 (Lichen-Derived, Vegan)
CholecalciferolMost vitamin D3 supplements are made from lanolin, a byproduct of sheep's wool, making them unsuitable for a vegan diet -- lichen offers a plant-based source of the identical D3 molecule rather than the less-effective D2 alternative.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionAlgal Omega-3 (Vegan DHA/EPA)
Docosahexaenoic acid / eicosapentaenoic acid, from microalgaeFish get their DHA and EPA from the microalgae they consume; algal oil supplements draw from that same original source directly, giving vegans and vegetarians a genuine, bioequivalent alternative to fish oil rather than a weaker substitute.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionPrebiotic Fiber (Vegan Food Sources)
Prebiotic fibers like inulin feed beneficial gut bacteria and are naturally abundant in a plant-based diet -- but the effective doses used in research are well above typical intake, and ramping up too quickly is a well-documented cause of real digestive discomfort.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionProbiotics (Strain-Specific Evidence & Fermented Foods)
Fermented foods and "probiotics" are commonly treated as interchangeable, but NCCIH is explicit that a genuine probiotic claim requires strain-specific identification and clinical testing that most fermented foods, including sauerkraut and tempeh, were never actually put through.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionCalcium (Vegan Food Sources & Bioavailability)
CalciumA fully plant-based diet can easily meet calcium needs, but the amount of calcium listed on a nutrition label isn't the amount the body actually absorbs -- oxalates and phytates make some vegetables far less useful calcium sources than others.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionMagnesium (Vegan Food Sources)
MagnesiumMagnesium is genuinely well-supplied by a varied plant-based diet -- the NIH does not list vegans among its identified at-risk groups for magnesium deficiency, making this one nutrient where "eat a variety of whole plant foods" is close to the whole answer.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionZinc (Vegan Bioavailability & Food Sources)
ZincZinc is genuinely present in plant foods, but phytates in legumes, whole grains, and seeds reduce how much of it the body absorbs -- a real, NIH-acknowledged reason vegans and vegetarians typically need a higher intake target than omnivores.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionIodine (Vegan Sources & Safety)
IodineIodine is a genuinely two-sided nutrition concern for vegans: seaweed, the main plant source, has such wildly variable iodine content that both deficiency and excess are documented risks, unlike most nutrients where the concern runs in only one direction.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionSelenium (Vegan Sources & Brazil Nut Variability)
SeleniumBrazil nuts are the one reliably selenium-rich plant food, but individual nuts vary so enormously in selenium content that a casual daily handful habit is a genuine, documented route to selenium toxicity, not just a theoretical concern.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionPlant Protein Powder (Vegan Blends)
Individual plant proteins are typically incomplete on their own, but blends that pair complementary sources -- most commonly pea and rice -- cover all nine essential amino acids, and head-to-head clinical trial data has found pea protein performs comparably to whey for muscle gains.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionGreens Powder (Ingredient Transparency & Evidence)
Greens powders are a convenience product, not a vegetable replacement -- dehydration and processing reduce nutrient and fiber content compared to whole vegetables, and proprietary blend labeling makes it genuinely hard to know how much of any individual ingredient a serving actually contains.
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Vitamins, minerals & vegan nutritionElectrolytes (Hydration Evidence)
Electrolyte supplements are widely marketed as necessary for preventing cramping and hyponatremia during exercise, but endurance-sport research has found that drinking beyond thirst -- not inadequate sodium replacement -- is the stronger predisposing factor for that specific danger.
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