by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
Imagine you’re talking with a new vegan and they tell you that they’re hungry all the time. You ask them what they’re eating, and they tell you they’re eating like they did when they weren’t vegan – they’ve just taken meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products off of their plate. No wonder they’re hungry. They haven’t replaced the calories animal products supplied. In addition, they’re missing nutrients that could easily be supplied by plant foods. Clearly, they need to add a variety of foods such as beans, tofu, tempeh, veggie meats, fortified plant milks, nuts, and seeds, not only to help with the hunger problem but also to meet nutritional needs.
The information about vegan diets in the most recent edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans is based on an exercise that approached vegan diets in the same uninformed way that our hypothetical new vegan did – take a vegetarian diet and just eliminate dairy products and eggs. No appropriate replacement; just remove those foods. Then evaluate the nutrient content of the hypothetical diet. It’s no surprise that these inadequate diets are described thusly, “vegan diets show broader shortfalls [than vegetarian diets] in vitamins A, D, E, B6 and B12; riboflavin; niacin; choline; calcium; iron; magnesium; phosphorus; potassium; zinc; and protein”(1). Something as simple as adding several servings of cooked dried beans and fortified soymilk would markedly improve the hypothetical menus and eliminate many of the so-called “shortfalls.” But, that’s not what the committee responsible for developing the Guidelines did. They provide little guidance for those Americans following vegan diets other than the vague statement, “To avoid nutrient gaps, prioritize targeted supplementation, diversify plant protein sources for amino acid balance, and enhance mineral bioavailability through food preparation techniques” (1).
Earlier editions of the Dietary Guidelines provided more real guidance including supplying a vegan version of the USDA Food Pattern and developing a “healthy vegetarian eating pattern” that included alternatives to cow’s milk. In addition, earlier editions spoke positively about vegetarian diets and encouraged all Americans to eat more plant foods.
The 2025-2030 Guidelines, as I described in an earlier post, tell vegans and vegetarians to “consume a variety of whole foods, especially protein-rich foods, such as dairy, eggs, beans, peas, lentils, legumes, nuts, seeds, tofu, or tempeh.” Note that, animal-based protein sources are prioritized and are apparently recommended for vegans.
In contrast to the current edition of Dietary Guidelines, earlier editions provided information on calcium sources for those avoiding dairy products. These groups include not only vegans but also those with cow’s milk allergy, lactose intolerance, a dislike of dairy products, or who come from a culture that uses few or no dairy products. The current edition assumes, apparently, that everyone drinks whole cow’s milk. If you don’t, “prioritize targeted supplementation,” whatever that means.
Vegans do need to pay attention to vitamin B12, calcium, iron, zinc, iodine, and vitamin D. Actually, vitamin D adequacy is a challenge for many people, not just vegans (2). Our website and blog posts provide lots of information about good sources of vitamin B12, calcium, iron, zinc, iodine, and vitamin D for vegans. There’s little or no evidence that vegan diets are commonly lacking in vitamins A, E, B6, riboflavin, niacin, choline, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, or protein. In fact, plant foods are some of the highest sources of many of these nutrients.
What are the implications of this inaccurate information about vegan diets? I hope that vegans, and those interested in vegan diets will seek out more accurate sources of information about nutrition. Websites including the Vegetarian Resource Group, VeganHealth, and the Vegan RD provide reliable, evidence-based nutrition information. I am concerned about settings such as school meal programs, senior meals, and military rations that use the Guidelines as a basis for menu planning and are interested in implementing more vegan-friendly meals. They will not get support or help from this edition of the Dietary Guidelines. I’m concerned about health care professionals who may base their nutrition advice on these flawed Guidelines. I note that the professional organization for registered dietitians, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, states that “some of the recommendations in the DGAs [Dietary Guidelines for Americans] are not aligned with the current body of evidence.” The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics goes on to point out that parts of these guidelines will make it difficult for registered dietitians to apply the guidelines in ways that meet the needs of “a broad spectrum of populations.”
The most recent Dietary Guidelines are deeply flawed in terms of nutrition advice for vegans and, truly, for all Americans. In a future post, we’ll look at their meal plans which prioritize animal-based foods.
References
- Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030. https://cdn.realfood.gov/DGA.pdf.
- Palacios C, Gonzalez L. Is vitamin D deficiency a major global public health problem? J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2014;144 Pt A:138-45.
To read more about the Dietary Guidelines for Americans see:
2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Released
VRG Testimony on 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines
What Have the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Said About Vegan and Vegetarian Diets?
2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Released
VRG’s testimony about the 2020 Dietary Guidelines and the Scientific Report Underlying the 2020 Dietary Guidelines