Tackling Vitamins With Less Reliance on Supplements
The bottom line is that supplements—even if they are pure extracts of real foods—do not provide the same benefit as consuming the real thing. Indeed, the nutrient content of whole real foods can be lost or destroyed through cooking, processing, or improper storage—either on your part or the growers’ and food distributors’—but these factors can be minimized. To retain the nutrient content of food, don’t overcook it, cook it in a minimal amount of water and with as low a heat as possible, purchase more locally grown foods, and eat fresh foods shortly after purchase.
Storing fresh produce and grains in a dark, cool place away from direct sunlight, and in airtight containers, if appropriate, also preserves their nutrient content. Finally, educating yourself about good sources of the major nutrients and consuming a variety of foods containing these nutrients should help you meet your nutrient needs and maybe even feel secure enough in vegetarian eating to eliminate your dependence on supplements.
The following section briefly discusses the vitamins that either are important to active vegetarians or that maybe low in poorly selected vegetarian diets.B Vitamins The B-complex vitamins are a set of eight vitamins: thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, biotin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folate, and vitamin B12. Collectively, these vitamins function as catalysts or coenzymes involved in the release of energy from carbohydrate, fat, and protein and also in the development, growth, and repair of all body cells.
Therefore, requirements for some, but not all, B vitamins are tied to energy intake.Surveys of athletes in general have noted that riboflavin, folate, and vitamin B6 are frequently low in the diet of some female athletes, most likely because of inadequate consumption of fruits, green leafy vegetables, legumes, and dairy products. Clinical studies have also noted that active people who restrict their energy intake or make poor dietary choices are at risk of poor thiamine, riboflavin, and vitamin B6 status.
Athletes who follow vegetarian diets and do not restrict energy intake should easily be able to meet their requirements for most B vitamins, which are widely distributed in plant foods. In fact, many of the best sources of B vitamins, such as folate, are provided by plant rather than animal foods. However, riboflavin and vitamin B12 are potential exceptions. Both vitamins are of special interest to athletes and intake of both tends to be low in vegetarian diets that contain little or no dairy or animal products.