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...
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...
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...
Purines from food are broken down into uric acid in the body. In normal amounts, this is no problem, but in some cases, it can lead to conditions like gout or kidney stones. It’s one of the reasons that some people are worried about eating too much tofu. This isn’t a huge issue on a vegan diet since most foods high in purines are animal products, but if you have a good reason to limit your...
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) has been getting a lot of attention in recent years. While the body can make it, it can also be found in many foods. The most abundant sources of CoQ10 all happen to be animal products like fish, meat, dairy, and eggs. However, there are plant sources as well. I’ve collected the most complete data I could find from studies and summarized it on this page...
The bad news for vegans is that the best sources of omega 3’s are fish and algae (which most people don’t eat). It’s tougher getting omega 3 fats from plants. The good news is that vegans typically eat less junk food, and have a better ratio of omega 3 to 6 fats than omnivores. I’ll give you a brief background on why these types of polyunsaturated fatty acids are...
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) is an important vitamin used for cell respiration (i.e. energy production in the body). Some of the best riboflavin sources are dairy products, which puts vegans at a little higher risk of developing a deficiency. Additionally, athletes need more riboflavin than non-athletes, so vegan athletes need to pay a little extra attention to their riboflavin intake. That being...
After creating a fairly comprehensive database of vegan foods, I made a vegan ketogenic diet food list. This page will focus specifically on the best protein sources, since getting enough protein as a vegan can be challenging (especially on a keto diet). List of Best Vegan Keto Protein Options The list below is based on 100 grams portions, which is standard when comparing the...
Refresher/Summary: It’s not hard to get vitamin E as a vegan, the best sources are plant products to begin with. You’ll want to aim for at least 15 mg a day, which you can get in a serving or two of certain foods. The very best foods for vitamin E are sunflower seeds and almonds. Nuts and seeds in general are good vitamin E sources. Vitamin E is one of the more well-known...