If you eat a well-planned, balanced vegetarian diet, you can gain plenty of health benefits. However, as with any diet, if a vegetarian diet is not balanced, you can suffer from health ailments. Consult with your doctor periodically and have a metabolic blood test to check all of your nutrient levels.
Iron Deficiency
Vegetarians have a higher risk of an iron deficiency or anemia than non-vegetarians, because the foods that have the most easily absorbed iron are red meat, liver and egg yolk. Vegans and ovo-vegetarians, on the other hand, do not eat meat but have less of a risk for anemia than vegetarians, because they do not consume dairy, which inhibits iron absorption, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. If you are a vegetarian and a male or a female past menopause, the Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board suggests eating 16mg per day of iron, and if you are a pre-menopausal female, you should eat 36mg per day of iron. The highest amount of plant-based iron is from cooked spinach, which provides 15.7mg per 100 calories.
Zinc Deficiency
Check your intake of zinc to make sure you are eating enough. The Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board recommends that vegetarians should eat twice the amount of zinc as meat eaters. Zinc is important for growth and development during the childhood years. A lack of zinc can inhibit DNA and RNA synthesis and cell division, which causes growth retardation according to the Journal of Tropical Pediatrics. Increase your intake of zinc by eating foods, such as durum wheat, rye, cashews, pumpkin seeds and spirulina. If you take zinc supplements, be careful not to take too much, because zinc can be a toxin at high levels. An consistent overdose of zinc at 100mg per day can cause health issues such as a limited absorption of copper, RBC microcytosis, neutropenia and an weakened immune system, according to the Merck Manuals. Take approximately 15 to 18mg of zinc, according to the American Heart Association.
Lack of Complete Proteins
Having a well-planned vegetarian diet means eating "complementary proteins" or "complete proteins." You can eat enough complete proteins without eating meat by eating plant-derived proteins that are as complete as meat proteins. To make sure your vegetable protein is complete, eat a variety of whole grains, legumes and seeds. Chia, hemp and flaxseeds are high in protein. Eating complete proteins can keep your body muscular, satisfy your appetite and provide you with ample energy until your next meal.
Lack of Vitamin B12
Vegetarians -- especially vegans, who do not eat any animal proteins such as eggs and dairy -- should monitor their vitamin B12 intake. Deficiencies in vitamin B12 can cause anemia, a low amount of red blood cells. Vitamin B12 is only found in animal sources. To increase the amount of vitamin B12 you get, eat foods such as breakfast cereals, soy drinks and nutritional yeast that are fortified not enriched with zinc, according to the Mayo Clinic.
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