Strict Vegan Diet

Vegan diets eliminate all foods of animal origin, not just flesh. People might choose this diet for health, ethical, spiritual or environmental reasons. Vegans also do not use any products of animal origin like leather or personal care products, which makes veganism more of a lifestyle choice than simply a diet. Eating a proper vegan diet ensures frequent consumption of healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, so it can offer many benefits. Completely eliminating animal products from your diet, however, could put you at risk for nutritional deficiencies.

American Dietetic Position Paper

The American Dietetic Association's position paper on vegetarian and vegan diets reports they provide adequate nutrition in all populations, including infants, adolescents, adults and pregnant and breast-feeding women, when properly planned. The paper states these diets can promote a healthy weight and potentially reduce the risk of several serious health conditions, including high cholesterol, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Note the caveat of "well-planned," however. Eating a proper vegan diet entails more planning than just eliminating animal products. You should consider working with a registered dietitian for guidance in planning a healthy vegan diet.

Eating a Variety of Protein

Amino acids form the building blocks of protein. Your body can make some and others it requires from food. Animal proteins contain all of these essential amino acids in the proper amounts required by your body. You can obtain the essential amino acids from plant proteins as well, but most sources do not contain all of them in the proper amounts. This means you need to eat a variety of vegetarian protein sources to ensure you get all the amino acids in your diet. Good sources include soy, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, spinach, leafy greens and potatoes.

Avoiding B-12 Deficiency

Inadequate intake of vitamin B-12 can lead to anemia and weakness, and, in more serious cases, loss of peripheral nerve function. While many claim you can get B-12 from plant sources like sea vegetables, the form your body can actually use only exists in animal foods, explains Dr. William Sears. If you follow a strict vegan diet, you must eat foods fortified with B-12 or use a supplement. The liver stores large amounts of B-12 and a deficiency would not likely develop until several years after giving up animal foods. However, infants and children do not have these large stores, so you must make sure they get enough from the start.

Other Potential Nutrient Deficiencies

Lack of animal protein means you are not eating the form of iron best absorbed by the body. However, Sears notes research has shown a well-balanced, plant-based diet appears to support normal iron levels. Besides making an effort to include lots of iron-rich plant foods in your diet, eat them at the same time as foods containing vitamin C -- this will enhance absorption. Good sources of iron include tofu, iron-fortified cereals, lentils, pumpkin seeds, chick peas, dried fruits and beans.

Since a vegan diet eliminates the richest sources of calcium and vitamin D, look for products that have been fortified with these vital nutrients. Calcium-rich plant foods include leafy greens, legumes, soy products, nuts and seeds.

Controlling Sodium Intake

While eating too much sodium can prove problematic for anyone, it appears to pose a unique danger to vegans later in life. The buildup of cholesterol -- of which vegans tend to have very low levels -- in the arteries that can lead to stroke-inducing blood clots appears to actually provide fragile blood vessels in the brain with some level of protection against rupture from years of high blood pressure, explains Dr. Joel Furhman. He notes high death rates from stroke in places like Japan and parts of China where people eat low-fat diets high in salt; research indicates these types of diets increase the risk for this potentially deadly problem.

Read food labels carefully, as many meat substitute foods in particular can have high amounts of sodium. Keep intake to 2,300 mg a day, or less or 1,500 if you already have high blood pressure.