Bone health is a concern for long-term vegans. Vegans are consistently reported to have lower intakes of calcium and
vitamin D, with resultant lower
blood levels of vitamin D and lower
bone mineral density reported worldwide.
Fracture rates are also nearly a third higher among vegans compared with the general population.
Omega 3 and
iodine levels are also lower compared with meat eaters, as are vitamin B12 levels.
Vitamin B12 is most often obtained from animal foods, and higher rates of deficiency have been found in vegans compared with other
vegetarians and
meat eaters.
The symptoms can be serious and include extreme tiredness and weakness, poor digestion and developmental delays in young children. Untreated,
vitamin B12 deficiency can cause irreversible nerve damage.
While getting
less than the optimal amount of B12 is quite common in pregnant women and in less-developed countries, the reported
frequencies of deficiencies among vegetarians and vegans in developed countries vary greatly in severity between age groups.
Even low levels of vitamin B12, but not enough to be classed as deficient, may be
bad for your health and increase your
risk of heart disease.
Potential solutions
Vegans can prevent micronutrient deficiency by consuming fortified foods (food with added vitamins and minerals) and taking supplements.
But supplement use is often resisted by those on a plant-based diet and they have been reported to interfere with the absorption of other important nutrients.
Also, plant-derived vegan supplements tend to have low biological activity in humans. For example, studies show that vegan-friendly vitamin D2 supplements are less effective in raising blood vitamin D levels than the more widely used vitamin D3 supplements.
Other supplements, such as vitamin B12, may be largely inactive in the body.
