Vitamins for Vegetarians

By Ask Umbra
Q. Dear Umbra,

Hi. I am an ovo-lacto vegetarian. I am worried that due to my diet I may be lacking in omega 3 fatty acids. I was wondering if you could recommend a vegetarian-friendly omega-3 vitamin and also a daily multivitamin. I also wanted to make sure that vitamins aren't bad for the environment before I start buying them. Any help or guidance you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

nellatterb

New York, NY 

A. Dearest nellatterb,

I am flattered that you've come to me for guidance. However, Grist's highly trained legal department (which really only consists of this yellow legal pad I just found) would like me to remind you that your friendly neighborhood Umbra is neither a doctor nor a nutritionist, and to consult the proper degree-wielding personnel (look for the ones deep in debt with beaming extended family members).

Now that's out of the way! So you're trying to eat a well-rounded, meatless-but-egg-and-dairy-inclusive diet. I've heard lovely things about cod liver oil as a source of vitamin D and those elusive omega-3s, but as it involves, you know, a fishy's liver, it's out. Fortunately, certain plant and nut oils also contain this nutritional gem. To wit, it reportedly "lowers triglycerides, reduces the risk of death, heart attack, dangerous abnormal heart rhythms, and strokes in people with known cardiovascular disease, slows the buildup of atherosclerotic plaques ('hardening of the arteries'), and lowers blood pressure slightly." So sayeth the Mayo Clinic.

What do you think? Can you get everything you need from the food you eat?

Not long ago, most doctors, nutritionists, and government agencies told us we didn't need nutritional supplements. They said we could get all of our nutrition from food. But then the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) studied the daily food and nutritional intake from a cross section of over 21,000 men, women and children. Their findings shocked them.

The USDA discovered that not one single person in the study was getting all their minimum recommended daily allowance (RDA) requirements from the foods they were eating. The RDA’s were considered to be only “adequate,” by the people who set them up. They’re the bare bones minimum nutritional amounts necessary to prevent some known deficiency diseases, such as scurvy, beriberi and rickets.

The RDA’s are not the optimum level of nutrients necessary to create buoyant, vibrant health. And yet not one single person in the study was getting even “adequate” nutrition. Adequate versus Optimum Nutrition

The RDA for vitamin E is 30 International Units (IU). Two very good sources are peanuts and brown rice, but in order to get "adequate" vitamin E from these two foods you would have to eat: at least 10 oz. of peanuts with 1,050 calories or 2 and 1 pounds of brown rice at 1,575 calories.
No way, right?

Now let’s look at the ODA for Vitamin E. Research shows in order to take advantage of the many health protective benefits of E, you should be getting between 200 and 400 IU's.

So how much food would you have to eat to get the ODA for Vitamin E? Well, I hope you’re hungry! Because to get "optimum" nutrition you’ll have to eat: a minimum of 40 cups of peanuts at 33,600 calories or 130 cups of brown rice with 91,000 calories!
Digging Deeper – How Your Food is Grown

To make matters worse, of the 26 nutrients known to be essential to human beings, only 16 are necessary for plant growth. Going for bigger profits from higher yields, modern commercial industry uses artificial fertilizers, which overlook these 10 other essential human nutrients. For example, our food has plenty of phosphorus because plants need it to grow. But plants don't need chromium or selenium to thrive, so artificial fertilizers leave out these important minerals. Therefore, most commercially grown food is deficient in chromium and selenium. And these are essential minerals for protecting against cancer, diabetes and premature aging.
So what do you think? Can you get everything you need from the food you eat?

Maybe in a textbook, lab or pristine fantasy world with pure, non-toxic, high-nutrient food, where everyone eats exactly what they're supposed to eat. But in this real world - No.
What You Can Do to Get and Stay Healthy?

Increase your intake of healthy high fiber foods. And take high quality 100% natural supplements – Alveo.

You can always look and feel your best – naturally.

More about Alveo:  http://www.good-future.co.uk/about-alveo.php