I am a 16-year old girl who has recently turned vegan. Previously, I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian for several years. According to my friends, I am in danger of developing an iron deficiency. My parents say I am going to be calcium deficient. And according to my brother, I will not get enough of any vitamins on a vegan diet. Here is what I eat on a typical day: calcium-fortified orange juice, white bread with peanut butter, apples, saltine crackers, dried cranberries, cashews, celery sticks, white rice, baked yam, baked potato, corn, peas, lots of water. Do you think this is an adequate diet?

These are all good nutrient-rich foods, and you are off to a good start because you seem to like a number of healthful foods. But without knowing how much of any of these foods you consume every day, I can’t really tell whether your diet is adequate. My general reaction is that it is not. I think that your family and friends are correct that your current diet may lead to nutrient deficiencies. But this does not mean that vegan diets are not healthful or adequate. With a little bit of planning and some additions, your diet could healthful—and probably much more healthful than what many of your friends are eating.

For example, you have only one good source of calcium in your diet—the fortified orange juice—and unless you are drinking at least 3 cups of this every day, your diet falls short on calcium. And unless you are taking a vitamin supplement, you are not getting vitamin B12. Although you have a number of very good iron sources in your diet, since you eat only refined grains (white bread, white rice, etc) I doubt very much that you are getting adequate zinc. I also wonder if your diet might be falling short in protein. I would also like to see you eating a better variety of vegetables than celery, corn, and peas.

There is no hard and fast set of rules for planning a healthful vegan diet. There are many different combinations of foods that can keep you healthy. But, there are some general guidelines that must be followed and some others that are helpful. For example, vegans (and everyone else for that matter) must pay attention to calcium sources in their diet to make sure they are getting enough. This is very important for teenage girls. Vegans must also have a regular source of vitamin B12 and also of vitamin D (unless you get regular sun exposure). While you don’t need to give up refined grains completely, you do need to include more whole grains in your diet. I would try whole grain crackers rather than saltines. You might try reduced-fat Triskets or Carr’s Whole Wheat crackers for choices that are vegan and made from whole wheat. And I would switch to either whole grain bread or try having brown rice instead of white.

Also, experiment with vegetables and see if you can find four or five others that you enjoy. You don’t need to consume every vegetable under the sun to be healthy, but eating a variety of five or six different vegetables, including some dark green ones would be a good idea. These can be fresh, raw vegetables, fresh cooked, frozen, or canned. Whatever works out for you is fine.

A few additions would really round out your diet. For example, tofu made with a calcium sulfate (check the label to see if it lists some type of calcium ingredient) would greatly boost your intake of both protein and calcium. And adding a half-cup of cooked beans to your menu every day would also help to boost protein, iron, zinc, calcium, and B-vitamin intake. It would also give you a big dose of fiber. Try vegetarian baked beans for a very fast and tasty bean dish. Or, one of the instant soups in a cup that are made with beans like black bean soup or lentil soup.

I think you would benefit from giving yourself a quick course in vegan nutrition. Check <A HREF=" http://www.vegrd.com/pages/article.php?id=128">my article from November 20, 2000</A>to start with so you are familiar with good calcium sources. Then you might read the chapter on teens in my book <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0517882752/vegancom/">The Vegetarian Way.</A> (And ask your parents to read this chapter as well, since it may help to convince them that you can be healthy on a vegan diet. If you want to do even more reading, I highly recommend the book <A HREF=" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140365893/vegancom/">A Teen’s Guide to Going Vegetarian</A> by Judy Krizmanic. This will give you some ideas on very easy ways to introduce more beans, tofu, greens, etc into your diet if you are not familiar with those foods.