The best possible nutrition would include mostly raw fresh plant based foods. While that is not adaptable yet for all humans to chose…the closer our choices are to this diet on a daily basis you are telling your body you love it, embrace life, and want the most energy you can have. The more disease we can prevent before the need to cure the better.

Our bodies love vitamins in their natural state, and are the most absorbable into the body in the natural food. Nutrition operates as an infinitely complex biochemical system involving thousands of chemicals and thousands of effects on your health, it makes little or no sense that isolated nutrients taken as supplements can substitute for whole foods. Supplements will not lead to long lasting health and may cause unforeseen side effects. The dangers of the western diet cannot be overcome through supplements. 

For years our schools have been providing “nutritional education” materials by the dairy counsel and meat industry, which compare the iron levels of different foods according to their weight. Intentionally or not, this has served to make meat appear unfairly advantageous when compared to vegetables and fruits, because the latter are high in water content, and the weight in the plant foods dilutes their figures when so calculated. Iron Absorption is greatly assisted by the presence of Vitamin C. The lack of this vitamin can prevent the body from effectively using the iron it is given. Fresh Veggies, sprouts, and fruits are the best sources of Vitamin C; whereas meats, dairy, eggs, fats and sugar have none. (Diet For A New America, By John Robbins PG-299)

If a doctor tells you that you need animal products for any nutrient or health reason they have not been properly educated. For Example: There is more iron in veggies than meat, more omegas in flax, walnuts, algae, and other products. B-12 is found in vegetables. 

Vitamin B-12 deficiencies- Vegans have a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of B-12 deficiency whereas meat-eaters have a 1 in 2 chance of heart disease (etc). The liver stores three years of B-12.  Extremely small amounts of B-12 are required and it is very easy to supplement with a supplement once a week if that. B-12 deficiency is a weak argument considering the odds. B-12 comes from organic soils and raw vegetation. 

Omega 3’s: While Fish does contain Omega’s, the fish actually do not produce Omega’s. They get it from eating plankton and algae. Which, we can eat directly as well. Walnuts, and Flax seed are two examples that also contain these vital Omega’s.

Iron Content of Foods (Milligrams per 100 calories) Source: “Nutritive Value Of Foods” Consumer and Food Economics Institute, United States Dept. of Agriculture, US Government Printing Office, 1977

Wow…what a shocker! There is more Iron and Fiber in Iceberg lettuce than any meat. All along we thought Iceberg had no nutrient content. FYI: There is no fiber in any animal product.

Grains, Seeds, Legumes	Meats and Fish	Dairy Products <stands for negative or takes Iron
Lima Beans           2.3	Sirloin Steak-Lean     1.9	Cheddar Cheese    < 0.1
Navy beans           2.3	Pot Roast-Lean          1.2	Blue Cheese           <0.1
Lentils                     2.0	Ground Lean Beef     1.1	Cottage Cheese      <0.1
Pumpkin Seeds    2.0	Tuna Canned/Drained  .9	Mozzarella Cheese <0.1
Sunflower Seeds  1.4	Ham roast                     .9	Low Fat 2% Milk   <0.1
Spilt Peas             1.4	Pork chop                     .9	Ice Milk                  <0.1
Oats                      1.1	Salami                          .9	Low Fat Yogurt      <0.1
Rye                       1.1	Sirloin Steak                 .8	Whole Milk             <0.1
Wheat                   1.0	Chicken breast              .8	Ice Cream                <0.1
Walnuts                  .9	Turkey-Light Meat       .7	Whipping Cream     <0.0
Almonds                .8	Ocean perch                 .6	Butter                      <0.0
	Salamon                       .6
	Bacon                          .6
	Rib roast                     .6
	Leg of Lamb               .6
	Bologna                      .6
	Frankfurter                 .5
	Lamb Chop                 .3

Vegetables	Fruits
Spinach              11.3	Strawberries     2.7
Beet Greens       11.2	Dried Apricots  2.3
Mustard Greens   8.3	Lemons            2.0
Turnip Greens     6.5	Blueberries       1.7
Cucumber            6.0	Raspberries      1.6
Cauliflower         4.2	Blackberries    1.5
Kale                     4.0	Peaches            1.3
Chinese Cabbage 4.0	Cantaloupe       1.3
Iceberg Lettuce   3.8	Grapefruit        1.1
Collards              3.4	Plums              1.0
Bell Peppers       3.3	Pineapple        1.0
Broccoli              3.1	Banana              .8
Mushrooms        3.0	Orange              .8
Zucchini             2.7
Peas                    2.7
Green Beans       2.7
Tomatoes           2.4
Red Cabbage       2.4
Celery                2.4
Green cabbage     2.4
Carrot                1.8
Beet                   1.6
Onion                1.4

Do we need meat and animal products for Iron? It is actually reverse. Dairy takes iron from our system. Steak has 1.9 milligrams of Iron per 100 calories and Spinach has 11.3 milligrams per 100 calories. (Diet For A New America by John Robbins PG-298). Most vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes have more iron than any animal product. Many people fearful of a vegan diet end up eating dairy products, which in turn can cause them to become anemic.

We are just learning now how fast many nutrients from vegetables and fruits are lost after picking or cutting. A head of lettuce just picked from the garden will have many more nutrients than a head of lettuce on a truck for several days and in a warehouse. In an ideal world we would all have backyards and grow our own food, but try to buy local organic plant based food as much as possible for better nutrient content.

From Dr. Brian Clement at The Hippocrates Institute:

http://www.aliveraw.com/Articles/Synthetic-Supplements-vs-Whole-Food-Supplements.aspx

Vitamin C—98% on the market is a chemical called ascorbic acid—highly dangerous for you. 

Vitamin A

Beta carotene—Look at the study that was conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston—on lung cancer—beta carotene.  They stopped it in the middle of the study because the people who were taking the beta carotene had doubled the amount of cancer growth in their lungs as the people who did not.

From John Robbins:

Zinc: It is wise for vegetarians to include plenty of zinc-rich foods in their diets, but the levels of zinc found in the hair, saliva, and blood of vegetarians are typically in the normal range. Zinc deficiency would be particularly harmful in pregnant women, but studies of pregnant women have consistently found no difference in zinc status between vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
 

Iron: Vegetarian diets are much higher in vitamin C, and vitamin C greatly enhances iron absorption, so even without eating red meat (which is high in iron), and even with the reduction in iron absorption from phytates, vegetarians are no more prone to iron deficiency than are non-vegetarians.

Copper: Vegetarian diets tend to be higher in copper, which overrides any reduced rate of absorption from phytates. Vegans, in particular, consume considerably more copper than meat-eaters.

Magnesium: Vegetarians diets are typically so much higher in this crucial mineral that vegetarians consistently show markedly higher serum magnesium levels than do non-vegetarians.

Calcium:  Hundreds of studies have found vegetarians to have healthier bones, more positive calcium balance and less osteoporosis than meat-eaters — as well as less heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes, and substantially longer life spans.