Verdict: Most people should aim for no more than 1 tablespoon to 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast per day (15-60 mL). Summary: This serving size is based on the upper tolerable limits of vitamin and minerals, set by the NIH. In particular, some people are prone to a flushing side effect caused by niacin. Some people can tolerate larger servings with no issues. It is possible to have a sensitivity or...
Using the USDA Food Composition Databases, I’ve put together a complete list of the best vegan BCAA sources for you. Getting enough BCAAs is primarily important for vegan athletes because of the benefits they can have, including (source): Promoting muscle synthesis (i.e. growth) Reducing fatigue If you’d like to read more, Examine.com has a great summary and detailed analysis of the...
Without fish being an option, it can be difficult to get omega 3 fatty acids on a vegan diet. While there’s technically no RDA for omega 3 fats, the standard recommended amount is between 1.1 and 1.6 grams of ALA a day, which is the main type of omega 3s found in plant foods. That takes into account the fact that ALA converts to more usable forms like EPA and DHA with a low...
Nuts are one of the best vegan sources of fats, and have some protein too. But, there’s that pesky issue of having a ton of omega 6 fats, and not many omega 3 fats. If you’re reading this, I suspect you already know why keeping a high ratio of Omega 3:6 fatty acids is a good idea, so I’ll get right into the data instead. I collected nutritional data for all common nuts that I...
Phosphorus is an important mineral used as a material when building cell membrane and nucleic acids, among other roles. In short, it primarily keeps your muscles and bones strong. A phosphorus deficiency is not common, and you typically don’t need to pay any extra attention to getting enough. Even on a vegan diet, it’s not difficult to get. I’ve put together a table of the top phosphorus sources...
TVP is a great protein source for vegan athletes. It has tons of protein with relatively few overall calories make it one of the best vegan protein sources overall. Side note: Soy curls are made out of TVP, it’s just a different shape. Unfortunately, some people have issues with TVP and gas. That doesn’t mean that TVP is unhealthy, but it’s inconvenient. Let’s go over why...
On my quest to find the best vegan multivitamin, it became clear that I should make a separate page just for women. While women need most of the same vitamins, there are some important differences to consider. The 3 supplements that are recommended below are the best vegan multivitamins for women that I’ve reviewed. If I ever find a better one, I’ll add it to this page to keep it...
It is surprisingly difficult to find the amino acid profile of nutritional yeast. I had to dig around for a while, but eventually I found a study that had it (1). The table below shows the data from that study, plus the amount needed to be considered a complete protein by the World Health Organization (WHO). Essential Amino Acid Profile of Nutritional Yeast Note that amino acid profiles always...
Studying appetite accurately is fairly difficult to do, so there’s not a lot of research about it. However, having a lack of appetite as a vegan, particularly a new vegan, is a commonly reported problem. So while I can’t give you any clear answers from research, I can summarize the most common things that cause a limited appetite in vegans. Vegans Typically Eat Way More Volume When you first go...
Most supplements come in pill form, but not everyone can tolerate them, whether because they taste bad, or they’re hard to swallow. That leaves 2 alternatives: gummies or liquids. Gummies are great, but hard to find, and often have sugar added to them. Liquid supplements are relatively good tasting, and easier to find. I’ve reviewed many vegan liquid multivitamins, and narrowed...