Vegan Nutrition

Next week I go to the doctor for my annual physical. I had my blood drawn yesterday. Jane and I are very curious what my blood-work will reveal. I don't have any real health issues, but over the past years my cholesterol and blood pressure have crept up a bit; call it middle age. Reading all the wonderful things I have come across about vegan dieting have led me to hope that both of those numbers will be a bit lower this visit. I'll keep you posted on that.

We do have to figure out if we should ask the doctor to test for anything specific for our subsequent visit... Can they determine if you are getting enough protein, calcium, etc? Are these easy blood tests? I know that an iron deficiency will show up and that is another one of those things vegans need to be cognizant of, but I am concerned about the calcium thing. Jane is having us take a calcium supplement, so we're probably covered, but we need to do a bit more research. And omega-3s? Life was so much easier when we were consuming dairy products.

I've been spending some time at the Vegetarian Resource Group website where they have basic nutritional information. It's by no means comprehensive, but they provide you with broad strokes information on what you might be missing by eating vegan, and the nutrient content for sample foods.

Who knew eating could require so much attention to detail? Sheesh!