If you one of the 10% of Americans that choose to follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, you may be surprised to know that your body may lack important vitamins. Sometimes cutting out certain foods can lead to a lack of nutrients that your body needs.

Here are some basic facts about the human body that will inform the content in this article.

• Basal metabolic rate (BMR) accounts for up to 70% of your total energy expenditure.
• Physical activity only accounts for about 20% of total energy expenditure.
• The thermic effect of food accounts for the other 10%.

When it comes to the total energy output for your body, your body relies on calories and essential nutrients to allow for that energy input as seamlessly as possible. This article will cover two sections: Foods You Can Eat and Supplements You Can Take.

Foods You Can Eat

As every vegan knows, having a balanced diet is important to maintaining nutritional health, even before adding supplements. For many vegans, it’s important to start with the base of the diet, which consists of most of the calories but has minimal fat and adds nutrition. Some bases include potatoes, rice, and even legumes.

Another factor in the diet of those are vegetarian or vegan is the assortment of fruits and vegetables. Eating a wide variety of these two categories of food allows for a wider and richer amount of nutrients to enter into the human body, allowing for more effective energy output.

Some options with fruit include bananas, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, kiwi, pineapple, and much more.

Some options with vegetables include broccoli, spinach, brusell sprouts, kale, carrots, and much more there as well.

Supplements You Can Take

However, even in the cases of vegans and vegetarians, our bodies can miss out on essential nutrients. In these cases, it is often important to research out the right supplements you can take that will give your body the nutrients it needs.

According to statistics:

• Sales of all dietary supplements totaled $36.7 billion in 2014, which included $14.3 billion when it came to multivitamins and mineral supplements.
• About two-thirds of all Americans take at least one dietary supplement, with most taking a multivitamin or mineral pill.
• Multivitamins or minerals account for one-sixth of all purchases of dietary supplements and 40% of all sales of vitamins and minerals.

Some options when looking for a supplement in your diet include hormone balance supplements, heavy metal detox supplements, supplements to boost metabolism, detox supplements, and even supplements for digestion.

Digestive health supplements can be useful when treating certain conditions. For instance digestive health supplements can be used in the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome or other conditions in which digestive health supplements would be effective.

When you’re looking into your diet and your lifestyle and your activity level, consider the use of supplements as an add-on tool to enable you to have the physical lifestyle that you want.