5 Nutrients All Vegans Should Supplement

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5 Nutrients All Vegans Should Supplement

(Even If You Eat a Well-Rounded Plant-Based Diet)

The old-school approach to the vegan diet is just that... old-school.

The new-school approach focuses on science first.

Through countless studies and mounds of scientific evidence, we now know that vegans — even those eating a wide variety of plant foods — should supplement. Because even though you can get just about every nutrients from plant food sources, many vegans are still deficient in a few important areas.

Here's a list of five key nutrients vegans should consider supplementing:

1. Vitamin B12

This is by far the most talked about because it’s the hardest for most vegans to get through food. B12 is important because it supports red blood cell formation, neurological function, and DNA synthesis, and for avoiding pernicious anemia.

2. Vitamin D3

The sunshine vitamin, Vitamin D is mostly activated through sun exposure. But as it turns out, many of us — regardless of diet — are deficient. This is a problem because Vitamin D protects from a host of chronic diseases, from osteoporosis to heart disease, some cancers, and even multiple sclerosis.

3. DHA/EPA

These Omega-3s support everything from brain health and regulating your cholesterol, to powering your nervous system and increasing your energy levels. They can be found naturally in seaweed, but it makes this list because the amount of seaweed required to get enough is far beyond what anyone would typically eat.

4. Zinc

Zinc — which supports the skin and nails, healthy growth and eyesight, wound healing, and a well-functioning reproductive and immune systems — can be found in all kinds of plant-based foods. Its problem? Absorption.

Most vegan foods with Zinc also contain phytates, which hinder our bodies’ ability to absorb zinc and has lead many doctors to recommend vegans take up to 50% more than people who eat a standard diet.

5. Vitamin K2

While Vitamin K1 is readily available in many plant foods, K2 is most commonly found in butter, egg yolk, and other animal foods vegans avoid. But it plays a major role in reducing the risk of blood clotting, heart disease, prostate cancer and osteoporosis.

The Others

Growing science is showing that vegans should also consider supplementing a number of other nutrients like Iodine, Magnesium, and Selenium, but because they’re either more available through whole or fortified plant-based foods, I left them off this list. Still, you should do the research to see what's best for your long-term health.

Is a Multivitamin the Solution for Vegans?

After reading a list like this, it’s easy to think that your standard multivitamin — found in any grocery store or pharmacy — might be the solution. Here’s why that’s probably not the case:

Standard multivitamins are filled with a bunch of nutrients you don’t need on a healthy plant-based diet. Nutrients you’re already getting plenty of through your food.
Standard multivitamins may include far fewer amounts of the critical nutrients vegans needs because they’re geared towards someone eating a standard diet.

This is where Complement Plus comes in — it’s the reinvented, new-school multivitamin created for vegans by vegans.

Complement Plus includes all the hard-to-find nutrients on a plant-based diet, and nothing else.

How Complement Plus Changed Clare’s Life

Meet Clare, a plant-based wanderess deep into the holistic health game, including yoga, spirituality, herbal medicine, and even ayurveda.

But even after living a clean lifestyle, blood tests results last year showed her hormones were completely out of whack, causing anxiety, major mood swings, and a sensitive immune system.

After many holistic trials and errors, healing sessions, grounding moments and lifestyle changes, symptoms of anxiety and erratic behavior would still pop-up every so often. Finally fed up, Clare made a rare doctor visit to get some blood tests.

What came back was major deficiencies in zinc, B12, and magnesium. The doctor advised a prescription to help manage her anxiety and another to level out her hormone deficiency.

Clare decided to take her new found information and implement it holistically, without prescriptions. One of her favorite mottos is “plants are the answer” and so she went on a deep dive into finding a plant-based, conscious and sustainable way to help fix her nutrient deficiencies that led to her hormonal imbalance.

Cue in Complement Plus — a vitamin engineered for vegan diets.

Within a month of making the switch to Complement Plus, Clare’s hormones were back in balance and her mood swings had gone down dramatically. On top of that, her energy levels are the best they’ve ever been!

Now Let's Talk about Bianca Phillips

Bianca is a long-time vegan (15+ years!) and runner, and has never shied away from supplements. In fact, up until recently, she had nearly a dozen supplements lined up on her kitchen window sill waiting for her to take them each morning.

Not only was that annoying, it was also incredibly expensive and difficult to manage.

Then she heard about Complement Plus (in the same way you have, here on No Meat Athlete).

According to Bianca, it completely changed the game.

Instead of handfuls of supplements each morning, she just uses one:

Complement Plus

It’s cheaper than the collection of supplements she managed before and easier to take, and with the subscription, she never has to worry about running out.

Everything you need, and nothing you don't.

At Complement, we're just as focused on what's not included in our products as what we do include.

We've cut all the megadoses of nutrients you're already getting through a healthy diet, and what's left is just the right amount of the essential, hard-to-find nutrients.

COMPLEMENT PLUS SMART VEGAN CAPSULES

As low as $0.90 per day*

Vitamins and Nutrients: B12, D3, DHA/EPA Omega-3s, K2, Iodine, Magnesium, Selenium and Zinc

Smart capsule form: clean, 100% vegan Omegas (algae-based) and non-GMO gelcap

LEARN MORE AT LOVECOMPLEMENT.COM

Free US Shipping, International shipping available

Complement was founded by two vegans who wanted a better supplement for them and their kids.

Like many health-conscious vegans, Matt Frazier and Matt Tullman used to rely on supplements to fill these gaps. But buying multiple bottles of isolated supplements is expensive and inconvenient. And multivitamins often contain too much of everything you don’t really need, and too little of the nutrients you do. They weren’t content with that for themselves, and it was absolutely not something they wanted to give to our families.

They believe their kids - and you! - deserve the purest, safest, and best-designed vegan nutrients in the world. What they wanted wasn’t a supplement, but rather, a complement: a simple way of getting the exact nutrients missing from a reasonably diverse plant-based diet … and absolutely nothing more.

Unfortunately, that didn’t exist. So they got to work.

3 years of research and over 57,000 bottles of Complement later, they’re now able to do so much more! Like a biodegradeable pouch for our Complement Protein to help reduce the number of half-empty plastic tubs that end up polluting our oceans.

Or using a percentage of our profits to help plant over 1,000 trees this year and feed all of the rescue animals at the Living with Harmony shelter.

(That’s not just a donation... your purchase actually helps us cover ALL of the food-related costs for their animal residents.)

What People Are Saying About Complement Plus

Click here to read more.

Jessica M.
(Apple Valley, US)

Vegan Vitamins made easy!

My boyfriend and I have been vegan for 5+ years, many of those we were confused as to which vitamins we need/should take. Vitamin B12 of course that was easy. Some of the others, like plant based sources of DHA-EPA we a little more tricky to find and had me questioning its need. When Complement came out we jumped on that immediately! We’ve been taking their bundle vitamins for over a year and we are happy with the product. Would definitely recommend!

Isaac M.
(St Louis, US)

🔥🔥🔥
Amazing

Crystal V.

(Lake Havasu City, US)

Long time athlete, new to plant based and feeling so much better.

I did a 30 day vegan challenge and decided to stick with it! I'm 36yo, 5'1" and weigh about 120#. I'm an athlete and was feeling very tired and worn down about 25-35 days in. I was turned down at a blood donation due to low iron levels (this was a first after almost 20 years as a donor), knew I had to find something to help! Decided on Complement after tons of research and I love how there are several supplements rolled into one. After about 2 weeks I felt my energy return. Now 4 months vegan and 2 months on Complement I feel well balanced (I also take turmeric). The true test will be at my next blood donation.

Benjamin J.

(Charlotte, US)

Superhero capsules

That’s what I tell anyone who asks, like how do I supplement my vegan diet. I take this stuff formulated by vegans for vegans that gives vegans superpowers. I love the new bottle design. And my free shipment arrived in a timely manner. I couldn’t be happier, as expected.

Tanya K.

(Boise, US)

Fantastic Product for Everyone!

As a practitioner, I'm always looking to find the highest quality, and the best cost. This saves clients, friends and family money and improves their health, by not only the high quality of the ingredients, but by them not having to take so many pills in a day. Also, it doesn't have a bunch of ingredients you don't need, and the right amount of the ones you do. I will continue to promote this product, and use it because I love it and it works. Very grateful to have a vegan product that is free of allergens and fillers. Thank you Alpine Organics!

Colton A.

(Escondido, US)

Exactly what i've been looking for

Love that supplementing is easy now

Sarah

(San Anselmo, US)

Complement Plus

Contains all the healthy ingredients I'm looking for. Arrived in a timely fashion. Will continue to reorder as ready. I am happy with this product.

Anne S D.

(El Sobrante, US)

Vegans need this

This bottle covers the basic extra protection vegans should have in our plant based lifrstyle

Debi W.

(Bryson City, US)

The thing about vitamins...

You don’t always know what a vitamin is doing until you are without for a short period. Complement proved itself for me when I ran out recently. I highly recommend these for anyone serious about eating plant-based, and in particular, for those who are WFPB athletes.