So How Much Nutrition Do I Get on a Vegan Diet?

Whenever I mention that I'm vegan I am met with "but what about (insert nutrient here)?" I do not know why people think that you must eat animal products to get proper nutrition, that is absolutely false. So I decided to put in the amount of food I ate and see what I'm getting. I don't bother with it because I know I eat balanced diet, but I wanted to prove it. I ate fried rice for lunch and pasta for dinner. I skipped breakfast today :( As you can see, I am getting enough iron, protein, calcium, etc. I supplement vitamin D and vitamin B12, and the B12 supplement also has folate.

And for those who think "well, isn't it unnatural that you have to supplement?" or "We need animal products because B12", let me explain. B12 is created by bacteria. Naturally, humans would get enough B12, because naturally, we do not wash our food spotless like we do now. Since modern food industry is so pristine and sterile, there is no B12 left on most of our produce. So the problem isn't vegan diet, it's just contemporary world's obsession with cleanliness. (See an article about B12 by John McDougall, M. D.) And that applies to animals people eat, too. They live in cement factory farms and get injected with antibiotics regularly. Many livestock animals eat B12 fortified feed or get B12 injections. If you eat animal products, you're simply getting B12 supplements second-hand. It's much better to take those supplements directly.

And when it comes to vitamin D, there is no (natural) dietary source that provides enough vitamin D, whether it be animal product or plant food. Dairy milk may have some vitamin D but that's because it's fortified with it. You're supposed to get vitamin D from the sun. However, during colder season it is difficult to get vitamin D from the sun, and unprotected UV exposure (which does create vitamin D) is inadvisable anyways. So supplementation is a good idea.

I don't aim to get 100% of RDA 100% of the time. Sometimes I get more, sometimes I get a little less, but it all balances out. For example, my vitamin C intake was rather low today. But most days I eat more than enough vitamin C from fruits. I just didn't feel like eating much fruits today, and one day of less fruits isn't going to affect me.

The only thing that concerns me is that I consumed a lot of sodium today. I accidentally used too much soy sauce in my rice, and I ate a lot of seaweed. (Although some of the sodium would have washed out when I cooked the seaweed in water and then poured the water out so the number above isn't 100% correct.) I'll be careful tomorrow not to eat much sodium, then. That's just how it is.

I'm not perfect. This is obviously not the representation of the best diet. In fact it's not the best representation of my diet, because I don't eat chocolate or drink soda every day. Today I had a bit of sugar crave from skipping breakfast. (Which is why it's so important to have breakfast!) But still, I got pretty good nutrition. Vegan diet can be very healthy and I do not need animal products to have proper nutrition.