Micronutrients
The gut microbiome and what fibre actually does
Plant-based diets change the gut microbial community substantially, which is genuinely interesting and considerably less well understood than the marketing suggests.
Micronutrients
B12, iron, zinc, iodine, calcium, D — the ones that matter.
Micronutrients
Iron-rich meals: putting the principles together
Everything about iron absorption becomes practical when applied to actual meals rather than to a list of foods.
Micronutrients
Blood tests worth having, and how to read them
A small number of tests are genuinely useful for anyone on a plant-based diet, and several commonly requested ones are not.
Micronutrients
Vitamin K2 and the claims made about it
K2 is heavily marketed to plant-based eaters and the evidence is thinner and more interesting than either the enthusiasts or the dismissers suggest.
Micronutrients
Zinc and the absorption problem
Zinc gets less attention than iron and faces the same absorption issue, with a narrower margin between adequate and excessive.
Micronutrients
Reading the research, and why the headlines are usually wrong
Nutrition science produces contradictory headlines because of specific methodological features, and knowing them makes most claims easy to assess.
Micronutrients
Fibre: how much, from where, and what happens when it changes
Plant-based diets substantially increase fibre intake, which is one of their clearest benefits and the source of most of the early discomfort.
Micronutrients
Selenium, copper and the trace minerals
The minor minerals get little attention and a few of them have genuine relevance on a plant-based diet, mostly because of soil.
Micronutrients
Vitamin D, and why almost everyone needs it in winter
Vitamin D is not really a dietary nutrient for most people, which is why removing animal foods matters less than where you live.
Micronutrients
Calcium, iodine and the ones people forget
B12 gets the attention and iron gets the questions. Calcium and iodine are the ones that quietly go missing when dairy and fish come off the plate.
Micronutrients
Omega-3 on a plant-based diet: the conversion problem
Flaxseed provides the plant omega-3, and the body converts very little of it into the forms that matter most. There is a straightforward solution.
Micronutrients
Iron: absorption is the whole game
Plant foods contain plenty of iron. Whether you absorb it depends almost entirely on what you eat and drink alongside it.
Micronutrients
B12: the one that is not optional
Vitamin B12 is the single nutrient that a plant-based diet cannot reliably supply, and the consequences of getting it wrong are serious and partly irreversible.