TABLE 1.

Dietary sources of key nutrients on a plant-based diet

Nutrient	Dietary sources	Importance for plant-based nutrition and diabetes
Protein	Legumes, whole grains, vegetables, nuts, and seeds	Consuming more animal protein may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes compared with consuming less and compared with replacing the animal sources with vegetable protein sources (66) (67)
ω-3 fatty acids	Seeds (hemp, chia, flax), walnuts, leafy green vegetables, microalgae, soybeans, wheat germ	A low-fat, plant-based diet will be lower in ω-6 fatty acids, thus allowing for a more ideal ratio to ω-3 fatty acids, with a lower ratio being preferable (68)
Iron	Legumes; leafy greens such as spinach, Swiss chard, kale, collards, and beet greens; raisins; blackstrap molasses; pumpkin seeds	Iron deficiencies do not manifest in those following a plant-based diet any more than in those following other diet patterns (9). Insulin resistance may be increased by heme iron found only in animal products (69)
Zinc	Legumes, soybeans, nuts, seeds, whole grains	Zinc deficiencies do not manifest in those following a plant-based diet any more than in those following other dietary patterns (9)
Iodine	Sea vegetables, iodized salt, supplements	Iodine is important for thyroid health
Calcium	Kale, collard greens, bok choy, broccoli, green cabbage, Brussels sprouts, fortified plant milks and juices, calcium-set tofu, almonds, sesame seeds	The absorption rate of calcium from greens is sometimes twice as high as calcium from cow milk, which has an absorption rate of ∼30% (70)
Vitamin D	Sunshine exposure and supplements	Vitamin D status may improve inflammation and oxidative stress among diabetes patients (71)
Vitamin B-12	Fortified foods and supplements	Anyone over the age of 50 and taking certain medications, including metformin, could benefit from taking a vitamin B-12 supplement, regardless of eating pattern (72)