A predominantly or entirely plant-based diet has consistently been linked to better health outcomes with lower rates of coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and early death. Importantly, this eating pattern is also implicated in a much-reduced strain on our planet’s limited resources at a time in which our earth’s climate is under considerable stress.
However, although plant-based diets are significantly healthier, both medically and environmentally than the average omnivore diet, those who choose to consume a majority of plant foods may be more susceptible to certain types of deficiencies.
In particular, research has identified that vegans or those eating plant-based may consume suboptimal amounts of:
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin D
- Omega 3 fatty acids
- Iron
- Iodine
- Zinc
- Selenium
- Calcium
For this reason, our Essential 8 has been developed to ensure that you can keep enjoying the health, ethical and planetary health benefits of a plant-based diet - minus the risk of developing nutritional deficiencies.
These days, however, there appear to be many varieties of supplements on the market targeted specifically at vegans. From our experience formulating supplements, there are a few important considerations which should be kept in mind when buying a supplement:
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The ingredients. This one is pretty obvious, but you’d be surprised by how many seemingly healthy supplements have been formulated with the addition of additives, fillers, and sugars - which make the product cheaper to make and extend its shelf life. When looking for a supplement, make sure you’re not consuming unnecessary chemicals alongside your vitamins - there’s no reason they should be there!
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Daily Values. Many multivitamins that feature on the market these days provide a varied cocktail of vitamins, with few ingredients you can actually name and recognise - but more is not always better. In fact, multivitamins often include such a long list of vitamins that they often fail to provide substantial amounts of the vitamins that actually matter, meaning you won’t be getting anywhere close to the Daily Values needed for optimal health.
- Is it a targeted Multivitamin? Another problem with many multivitamins on the market is that by seeking to appeal to a large sample of people, they include any and all possible vitamins rather than including a targeted few essential nutrients. At eimele, we believe supplements should be just that: supplemental to a good and balanced diet. As such, we believe in providing few but essential vitamins that are specifically formulated for those consuming a plant-based diet.
- The source of Ingredients. Another essential consideration to make is where ingredients have been sourced. Two pills could both contain Vitamin D - yet one could be sourced from synthetic Vitamin D2, while the other from Vitamin D3 plant lichen, which is absorbed much better by our bodies. Similarly, the majority of multivitamins will feature a fish-based DHA/EPA oil, as plant-based options sourced from algae are still relatively uncommon. When formulating our Essential 8, we made sure to source our ingredients from the most natural and bioavailable sources - our Vitamin D is in the more active form of D3, and we’ve sourced our EPA/DHA by cutting out the middle man (fish) and going straight to the source (algae). For more about our ingredients, head over to our Ingredient Page.
- Has the supplement been TGA approved? In the unregulated market of supplements and vitamins, companies are able to formulate, market and sell pills that have been through virtually no checks or tests as these are considered ‘low-risk’. Unless TGA-approved, like eimele's Essential 8, products that have not been tested or studied can legally be purchased on the market. This means a manufacturer can make claims about the efficacy of their product with no test carried out to evaluate the accuracy of the statements made.
