Essential Nutrients – Benefits and Plant-Based Sources

Did you know we can get most of our essential nutrients from plants? Anything from protein, to iron, calcium, and more. Plus, we can give our body all the fiber it needs and that most people don’t get when following the Standard American Diet (SAD). 

Knowing the nutrients our body requires and identifying their top whole, plant-based sources, can help us make better decisions. That’s what being NutriSavvy is all about, eating with the purpose of optimizing our nutrition to support our well-being. 

When we understand that we can get all our nutrition through a well-balanced, whole-food, plant-based diet, we can avoid eating foods with harmful compounds. For example, we don’t need dairy – packed with hormones, cholesterol and saturated fats – to get our calcium. We don’t need red meat – packed with heme iron, saturated fats and cholesterol – to get our protein or iron needs either. And we also most likely don’t need to take tons of supplements either.   

One thing we do need to know is which nutrients we need to supplement, like vitamin B12 and potentially iodine, vitamin D, and DHA. And we need to eat a variety of plant-based foods because each plants has different nutritional profiles.

At Be NutriSavvy, we give you science-based information and resources to help you get familiar with all these nutrients, their healthiest sources, the right amounts for you and each person in your family, and important facts that can guide your decision on how to integrate them in your diet.

Visit each interactive nutrient page by clicking or tapping on the links below.