Does a vegan diet give your body everything it needs?

A lot of people I've spoken to recently have been rather skeptical about the vegan diet, exclaiming that it's not healthy, my snacks look like rabbit food, I won't get all the nutrition I need without meat & eggs...etc.

So I thought I'd whip up a post for all the naysayers out there. Done properly, a vegan diet is perfectly healthy and nutritious, and provides your body with what it needs to perform optimally on a daily basis. I'll start with the obvious:

Protein - meat is super high in protein (needed to maintain healthy muscles, organs and skin) and it's a common misconception that vegetarians and vegans are deficient. There's a whole heap of food that is packed with protein AND vegan friendly which includes: tofu (although this has quite a high fat content so I might avoid this for a while), chickpeas/hummus, black beans, lentils, nuts, soy milk and whole grains. 

Chickpeas! They're yum all mashed up as hummus or in dishes like sloppy Joe's or a bean salad

Iron - a crucial component of red blood cells. Vegans can munch their way through foods including chickpeas, leafy greens such as spinach and broccoli, nuts, peas, beans (kidney beans etc), asparagus and dried fruit to get their fix. However, since iron is not absorbed as easily from plant sources, nutritionists recommended high vitamin C intake to encourage absorption, so eating iron-rich foods in conjunction with citrus fruits, strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli etc.

Spinach has been one of my staple foods for the past 6 weeks. So healthy, versatile and tasty

Calcium - dairy is the go-to for a calcium hit to keep teeth and bones strong and healthy, but there are plenty of vegan options too such as fortified soy milk, green leafy vegetables, almonds, tofu and fortified cereals.

Almonds: not a patch on cashews but I make sure to have a few every day

Vitamin B12 - B12 is important for the production of red blood cells, and many vegans can be deficient because it's generally only found in animal products. You can take a B12 supplement but I've found a brand of soy milk which provides 50% of your daily B12 needs in a single serving. Perfect! 

Honestly can't even taste the difference between this and dairy milk in a bowl of cornflakes 

Omega 3 - important for heart health. Smoked salmon may be off-limits (sob) but I'm happy to let nuts, blueberries, broccoli, mangoes and cauliflower step up to the task. Flax and chia seeds are also good sources which I should think about introducing to my diet.

Mangoes! One of my all-time favourite fruits and perfect for satisfying a sweet tooth. Gorgeous on its own or in my mango, blueberry, avo and spinach salad with a sprinkling of salted cashews

Verdict: A vegan diet seems to cover all the nutritional bases, i.e. you don't necessarily need meat or dairy in your diet. I never ate that much meat anyway (just chicken and occasionally bacon or gammon steaks) and I've survived for 25 years just fine! Sure, you may have to consume a higher quantity of calcium or iron-containing foods to absorb what your body needs, but any diet that encourages eating more is fine by me :)