Research
Micronutrients & recovery
Plant-based diets provide higher intake of Fiber, Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA), Folate, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Magnesium compared to meat-eaters.
If you eat a plant-based diet, you are likely getting excellent amounts of Fiber, Folate, and Magnesium. Ensure you are eating enough PUFA-rich foods (nuts, seeds, oils) to maximize these benefits. This is a key advantage of plant-based eating over typical meat-heavy diets.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
While fiber, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), folate, vitamin C, E and magnesium intake was higher, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexenoic acid (DHA) intake was lower in vegetarians and vegans as compared to meat-eaters.
Why this rating
Systematic review of 141 studies.
Source
Nutrient Intake and Status in Adults Consuming Plant-Based Diets Compared to Meat-Eaters: A Systematic Review
Nicole Neufingerl et al. · Nutrients · 2021
DOI 10.3390/nu14010029
systematic_reviewCited 411×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Adults consuming plant-based diets (vegetarian/vegan) have significantly lower intake and status of Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, Iron, Zinc, Iodine, and Calcium compared to meat-eaters, with vegans showing the lowest levels for B12, Calcium, and Iodine.Good
- Vegans and vegetarians have significantly lower intake and status of EPA and DHA compared to meat-eaters, despite potentially higher ALA intake.Good
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