Podcast Episode 55 Deficiencies of A Plant Based Diet

In this week’s podcast, we discuss the nutritional deficiencies of a plant based diet. We focus on vitamins, minerals, quality proteins and essential fatty acids that are lacking in this diet, which is due from both low amounts in allowed foods and poor bioavailability.

Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamin B-12
Vitamin A
Vitamin K2
Vitamin D3
Mineral Iron
Mineral Zinc

Honorable Mention to the Five C’s

These nutrients are also lacking in a plant based diet:

Cholesterol
Carnitine
Carnosine
Creatine
Choline

Crude Protein vs. True Protein

Crude protein is a measure of all the nitrogen in any given sample of food. When it comes to cattle, it’s a great method of measuring feed quality in order to make sure the feed given to cattle has enough nitrogen in it. Ruminants can absorb non-protein nitrogen and turn it into protein-based nitrogen in the form of amino acids. This is called nutrient up-cycling. Ruminants convert low grade, non-edible food into nutrient dense food for us. However, crude protein is a bad way to gauge protein content in foods for humans, because humans and other animals with only one stomach (monogastrics) such as chickens, pigs, lions and dogs can’t absorb non-protein nitrogen; they can only absorb nitrogen in the form of amino acids.

Fatty Acids

The three main omega-3 fatty acids are alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)

Both Omega 3 and 6 fats are converted into prostaglandins which are locally produced hormones that are vital for our health.

ALA is 18 carbons long. It first gets elongated to 20 carbons, turning it into EPA. Then, it gets elongated again to 22 carbons, which is DHA.

The primary essential fatty acids that are responsible for improving our health are EPA and DHA. Our body can convert ALA into EPA and DHA. But it does this very poorly. The conversion from ALA to DHA, for example, is anywhere from 0% to 9%.