This is, I think, a really odd formulation for vegans. Folic acid, B6 and selenium are all easy to get from plants and b2 isn't too difficult either.....while getting adequate zinc and calcium involves some good planning. Including iron would make more sense than folic acid, b6 and selenium.
I think calcium can interfere with absorption of other minerals/vitamins, so there may be good reason to leave that out of a multi-vitamin. I sort of agree with you regarding the other B vitamins, and zink.
Full article here (PDF):
I don't think his comments make much sense. All the vitamins/minerals have RDAs and and low intake has consequences in all cases....so why not just take a multi-vitamin in this case? One would think a vegan supplement would include the nutrients vegans tend to have more difficulty sourcing.....which would be zinc, b12,calcium and to a lesser degree iron,b2 and iodine. But I'm not aware of such a supplement.
Well, Veg1 is a multi-vitamin, of sorts. Calcium can interfere with absorption of other vitamins/minerals, so not a good idea to include it in a multi-vitamin.
Yes, or at least that is Walsh's assertion. The target group isn't people with well-balanced diets, though, it's the average (vegan) person.
My point was that if we follow his logic then one should just be taking a standard multivitamin.....which I imagine is going to be a lot cheaper. I don't think a low dose of calcium, say 200~300 mg, would interfere much with other nutrients and that is probably all vegans need in a supplement.
Right but the average vegan person is far more likely to have issues with marginal zinc, iron and calcium intake than the nutrients in his supplement (excluding b12 of course).
I wonder if maybe the target group isn't the average vegan after all. Instead, I think the target group is all vegans in the UK. It's a one-size-fits-all for UK vegans, including small children and others who are not able to swallow whole pills, which is why Veg1 is chewable, and has a pleasant, sweet taste. I wonder (speculate, really) if that is another reason why some minerals are left out. (I.e. taste and chewability reasons.) Also, small children are incredibly picky eaters, and might miss out e.g. on some of the B vitamins, which could be why they've been included in Veg1. Whereas vitamin D, selenium and iodine all make sense for people in the UK.
There are a lot of pleasant tasting gummy and chewable multi-vitamins so I don't think there is any issue with including the mentioned vitamins and minerals. In terms of small children, the values are too high for small children.
Like a standard multi-vitamin that can be purchased for a fraction of the cost? ; )
That is why it says to break the tablet in two, to give them half the dosage. Veg1 is appropriate for ages 2 and upwards.
Not sure about vegans in particular, but a cursory google search indicates marginal selenium intakes are common in the UK.
I think now you're going in circles.
That's because it's out of stock. We had ordered some recently, and it took ages to arrive. I suppose it must be quite popular.
You're going to find marginal intake of a number of nutrients in the general population, the important question is whether UK vegans are having greater trouble meeting their selenium needs. VEG1 is marketed as some sort of specially formulated supplement for vegans....yet the selection of nutrients seems arbitrary. There are plenty of vegan multivitamins on the market.......why should a vegan should take VEG1 instead? Given the selection of nutrients in VEG1 I think a vegan would be much better off taking a simple multi-vitamin if they were interested in such a thing. I am truly baffled by the selection of nutrients in VEG1....its not consistent with any nutritional papers on vegetarian/vegan diets.
These are all mutli-vitamins, so naturally contain b vitamins, and make no claim to be some sort of specially formulated supplement for vegans (other than, of course, being vegan).
Yes....but the information page now gives an "Access denied" message. I hope its not popular!
Lots of vegan cheese and fake meats.
I mentioned this somewhere earlier but, based on the nutrients vegans may actually have some issue sourcing, a supplement for vegans should include zinc, iron, calcium, b12 and perhaps B2 and iodine as well. Of course.....I would prefer people to just eat a healthful diet and avoid supplements besides B12 for vegans.
No vitamin D?
Even a cursory web search reveals that the soil in the UK is deficient in selenium.
"Arbitrary", really? B12 is arbitrary? D is arbitrary? Iodine is arbitrary? Selenium is arbitrary? I do think there are a couple of minerals that should have been included, but these can be purchased separately.
Such as?
Why? And if these are "excused" for their extra B vitamins, why do you have a different standard for Veg1?
I think it's fair to say a supplement named "Vegan Kids Multiple" is made specifically for vegan kids. The same with "Vegan multivitamin & mineral" - the name suggests this is not for the average person, but made specifically for vegans.
It's so popular they had to block the page when they ran out.
Vitamin D is not important? In northern Europe/northern US, it is difficult to derive enough from sunlight on bare skin.
Maybe but the need for a vitamin D supplement depends on your location and ethnicity so it is perhaps best dealt with separately.
If you eat a well-balanced and healthful vegan diet you don't need to worry about iron, you could say the same for all nutrients except b12, but iron is one of the nutrients vegans have more trouble with than others because plant-based iron is poorly absorbed compared to iron in meat. But iron is going to be more off an issue for vegan women than men.
