Veganism

Definition

The right definition is definitely that vegans are people that follow the philosophy and lifestyle which seeks to exclude all forms of exploitation of animals for food, clothing or any other purpose. It also promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. People become vegans for a variety of reasons, including a concern for animal rights, health benefits, religious, political, ethical, and spiritual concerns, and out of concern for the environment.

Vegan nutrition

Although many people don’t believe that a person could live healthy without eating animal products, this isn't true. Nutrition experts say that a properly planned vegan diet presents no significant nutritional problems, although supplementation is highly recommended.

There are several nutrients vegans should pay attention to.

These include:
 

• Vitamin B12 - Vegans are recommended to eat foods with B12 added. Some of those foods are soy milk, fortified margarines, commercial breakfast cereals, certain brands of nutritional yeast, or dietary supplements. Inadequate absorption of the body's stores of vitamin B12 poses a health risk, so the vitamin must often be ingested through fortified products and nutritional yeast.
• Iron – Although it isn't still well studied, researches show that iron deficiency is more present in vegans than in the general population.  It is important to note that iron deficiency is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies and that’s why many nutritionists and dieticians recommend a daily multivitamin intake.
• Iodine - The low iodine levels in many plant foods reflects the low iodine levels in the vegans. That’s why it must be replaced with dairy products and iodized salt.
• Deficiencies in these minerals are more likely to appear while following a vegan diet, and they have potentially serious consequences, including
• anemia
• pernicious anemia
• cretinism
• hyperthyroidism