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Vegan Supplements

• June 2015
• Vegan

Hya…I hope you don’t mind me asking you a quick question but do you have any problems at all following your openly publicized vegan diet? do you need supplements and have to be super careful with what you eat? I’ve preferred a “vegetarian” diet (with seafood) for most of the last 10 years, but then came across some research about possible bone problems/complications with such a diet…leaving me a little bit bemused and uncertain.. if I could eat clean I’d be less mean…that’s my feeling and so I ask those with good experience if it’s all good sometimes : )
All the best
Lee

Hi Lee,
I’ve been vegan since 2003. I always emphasize that I eat a simple, whole foods diet which is also plant based. You could be vegan by eating frozen pizza without cheese and white bread with Jiffy peanut butter and grape jelly, and this would not be an ideal diet for health and athletic performance, so there’s a very important distinction there! Just as important (or even more important), I eat almost no refined sugar or refined grains (white flour, white rice, white pasta) and I drink very little alcohol and occasional decaf coffee. So though I usually call my diet “vegan”, more specifically it’s an eating style of eating real, whole vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes and grains and avoiding refined sugar and processed foods. And big focus on hydration, hydration, hydration!

There are a couple of supplements I use, but also some dietary staples which have important roles in my health and nutrition.

In the last year I’ve been brewing my own kombucha (which does use some sugar, but a pretty minimal amount), and making kimchi (I will post that recipe up soon!). I’ve been doing research on the microbiome, probiotics and fermented foods, and I eat my own kimchi most every day and drink my own kombucha a few times a week. Most American diets (vegan or not) lack fermented foods and B vitamins. I take a vegan B supplement daily, and I eat nutritional yeast on everything I make for dinner (salad, stir fry, brown rice pasta, soup). I also take creatine (2-3 grams/day). About once a week, I’ll take an iron supplement that has vitamin C in it, which helps with absorption.

I also read and heard about bone density issues for vegans. In 2009 I had ACL surgery, and when I was at the orthopedic center in Salt Lake City, I asked if I could have a bone density test because I’d been vegan for 6 years and I was curious if my bone density was low. My left ACL had been torn for almost 2 years, and I’d been compensating by always taking impacts on my right leg and guarding the left leg. The bone density results showed that my left side (with the injured knee) was normal bone density, while my right side (the noninjured knee) was above average. There are studies showing that although dairy products have a lot of calcium, eating them does not necessarily guarantee absorption into your bones and there are negatives associated with eating dairy products. Tofu, broccoli, tempeh, greens and almonds are all absorbable calcium sources. The role of exercise is just as important for bone density–as I saw in the difference between my normal versus above average bone density on my injured versus noninjured sides. I did have a bone density test again in 2014 after my knee was fully recovered for several years, and it showed above average bone density on both sides.

Protein is a consideration for my meals, especially dinner, but not an obsession. I make sure all my dinners have quinoa, tofu or beans in them (for example, sauteed tofu cubes or garbanzo beans, and sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds when dinner is a big salad, or stirfry on a bed of quinoa instead of rice if there’s no tempeh, tofu or garbanzos–just always making sure there’s a protein involved somehow). And I also make sure all my dinners have a green vegetable in them–if there’s no green vegetable, it’s not dinner in my book: broccoli, kale, chard or asparagus. I try not to eat canned beans, as I’ve heard enough from microbiologist friends to try to avoid cans completely. It’s pretty easy to get in the habit of soaking beans the day before (I usually keep them in the fridge when soaking), and cooking them in a pressure cooker or a regular pot the next day. You can keep your cooked garbanzos or other beans in the fridge and add them to salads, stirfrys, soups, wraps or sandwiches, or make hummus or quinoa salads out of them for eating at the crag or on the go.

You might be kidding about being less mean through your eating habits, but I personally noticed that I became less aggressive and noticed reduced tendencies toward anger when I stopped eating meat. This may be because there are so many hormones and antibiotics in the majority of factory-farmed meat products that Americans are eating in restaurant and grocery store-purchased meat products, and because muscles are flooded with adrenaline when a creature is killed in a high stress, violent manner which is what generally happens in slaughterhouses. All of these substances are ingested by the eater who consumes the carcass.

On a spiritual level, I feel more peaceful by making an effort to reduce the violence that is within my means to reduce, so I actually do think that changing your eating habits can change your feelings of wellbeing as well as your physical health. Those changes can be small, or they can be drastic. Any considered, healthy change is good, and starting with baby steps is often the best way 🙂 In my view, there is no separation between spiritual, emotional, physical and athletic health–this is what we learn from rock climbing and from yoga. Our physical appearance and athletic performance are what we see on the outside and so that’s where most of the attention gets directed. But what’s on the inside is even more important, especially as we develop and move through life, and this is what we learn from studying the microbiome and from meditation.

Best of luck with your research and your good eating!
Steph