What is a vegan diet? A guide for getting enough nutrients

From insider.com

If done right, a vegan diet can have many health benefits including a lower risk of diabetes, obesity, and hypertension.

Thinking about trying a vegan diet? You're not alone. An estimated 2% of Americans — or 5 million people — eat a vegan diet, according to a 2019 online survey by The Harris Poll.

Here's what you need to know about what a vegan diet is, how to eat right on a vegan diet, common nutritional deficiencies to watch for, and health benefits if you stick to it for the long haul.

A vegan diet is the most restrictive form of vegetarianism

The term vegan was coined by Donald Watson in 1944 from the first three and last two letters of vegetarian.
Vegetarian diets aren't all the same. They vary in the animal products that you can eat. The most common vegetarian diets include:

• Flexitarian: A diet that's mostly vegetarian but allows for meat and fish occasionally.
• Pescatarian: A diet that excludes all meat except fish.
• Lacto-ovo-vegetarian: A diet that allows eggs and milk.
• Lacto-vegetarian: A diet that excludes eggs but allows milk.
• Ovo-vegetarian: A diet that excludes milk but allows eggs.
• Vegan: A diet that excludes milk and eggs. Additional animal by-products such as honey may also be excluded.

The most restrictive, a vegan diet consists of vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds. Vegans have the same vitamin, mineral, and caloric needs as non-vegans, so a healthy vegan diet requires careful planning.
For example, a healthy, typical 2,000 calorie vegan diet should look like this:

• 2 to 4 servings of fruit will provide you with essential nutrients including antioxidants, folate, vitamin C, fibre, and potassium
• 2 to 3 servings of legumes will provide fibre, iron, protein, zinc, and magnesium
• 6 to 11 servings of whole grains will provide antioxidants, B-vitamins, fibre, iron, zinc, copper, and magnesium
• 2 to 3 servings of leafy greens will provide vitamin A, B-vitamins, vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin C, calcium, iron, manganese, potassium
• 1 to 2 ounces of nuts will provide vitamin E, fibre, magnesium, selenium, calcium, protein, and monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats 
• 1 to 3 tablespoons of seeds will provide copper, fibre, protein, phosphorus, manganese, thiamine, magnesium, and monounsaturated and omega 3, omega 6 polyunsaturated fats 
• 2 to 3 cups of fortified plant or nut milk will provide calcium, vitamin B12, vitamin E, and vitamin D
• For nutritional information on a specific food, check out the USDA's food nutrition database.

A vegan diet may lead to nutritional deficiencies if you're not careful

Consuming a vegan diet does not guarantee good health. "The vegan diet is not necessarily healthy," says Xin Ma, MD, PhD, a board-certified lifestyle medicine specialist at Baylor College of Medicine.

Highly processed foods can be part of a vegan diet and are packed with calories, fat, and sodium. Ma recommends limiting highly processed foods and instead of eating whole foods that have had no or minimal processing.
"If the vegan diet uses a lot of whole foods, then that's pretty much healthy," Ma says.

Also, people who follow a vegan diet may leave out, or consume too little of, certain types of foods, such as beans or nuts. These people, Ma says, may be missing key nutrients.
People who follow a vegan diet have been found to consume lower amounts of calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B12 than people who eat meat and dairy. To avoid this, vegans should eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and nuts.

It's also a good idea to include certain fortified foods like plant-based milks and whole-grain cereals so that you can get enough B12 in your diet since B12 is only present in animal products or fortified vegan-friendly foods.

Health benefits of a vegan diet

A well-planned vegan diet that is nutritionally adequate can offer health benefits and may even lower your risk for certain diseases.
A 2009 study in Diabetes Care found that vegans had a 49% lower likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes compared with meat-eaters.
A 2013 study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention showed that a vegan diet was associated with a 16% lower likelihood of developing cancer compared with a non-vegetarian diet.

Studies have also shown that vegans have healthier body weights and lower cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and rates of hypertension than meat-eaters and other vegetarians.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a vegan diet can be safe even for athletes, who may need to consume a high amount of calories, or children and adolescents, whose growing bodies demand certain nutrients for proper physical development. Pregnant or breastfeeding women can also safely consume a vegan diet.

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