If you don't know about the Cronometer, check it out here, it is awesome! https://cronometer.com/
As Jeff mentioned in this thread, it is common to come up short in a few nutrients:, Vit E, Calcium, Zinc, and Selenium. That is usually true for me....also Choline comes out low.
I will state first that I did include some oil yesterday (NOT McDougall compliant). I had 1/2 tsp olive oil and 1 tsp canola oil. With those additions, my fat intake was 15 grams and 6.5% of my total caloric intake. Carbohydrates came in at 83.2% of calories and Protein at 10.2% of calories (60 grams). I weighed all my food to be very accurate.
I was low in Riboflavin (86%), Niacin (89%), Choline (66%), Vit E (78%), Calcium was 689 mg which is respectable from an all plant diet, Potassium was low at 93% (first time I was ever low for that so I'm not concerned), Selenium (49%), and Zinc was not low this time (at 106%) but has come in low before (last time was 92%). B12 was 0%.
The winners were Vit A at 5728%, Vit C 273%, Vit K 615%, Copper 245%, Iron 299%, Manganese 360%. And of course all the phytonutrients that aren't measured should be well covered by what I eat.
To cover my bases, I am taking 2 Women's Smarty Pants Vitamins a day for B12. (Serving size is 6 a day). 2 gives me 33 mcg of B12 a day which *seems* to be sufficient to keep my blood levels in a good range. I'll know for sure when I'm tested in a couple of weeks. If I take more B12 than that amount I get cystic acne which is very unpleasant!
I get some Vit E from the Smarty Pants vitamin. I also have chosen to take 1 drop of NOW brand liquid Vit E, which gives me about 50% of the Daily value. That along with my diet is sufficient.
I do take a selenium supplement every other day that provides 143% DV.
Even though my Calcium intake is decent for a plant based diet, my Dexa Scan shows me in osteoporosis, so I am taking some Bone Up supplements. The dosage is for 6 a day. I'm trying two a day for now and see how it goes. (supplemental calcium makes me constipated so I take very small amounts to see how I do.....) Those supplements have other ingredients which are helpful for bones as well.
After doing some reading, I think my choline is in a good spot with diet and the amount in the Smarty Pants vitamin (even diet seems to be fine).
My Vit D levels are fine during the summertime and with the Bone-Up supplement and Smarty Pants vitamin I do get 666 mg so I'll see where I'm at in a couple of weeks with my labs.
My riboflavin has been low both yesterday and in January and I suspect it is because I only eat rice for grains. I'll have to figure out some way to increase that, preferably by diet. Niacin also borders on not being adequate at times.
I do love using the cronometer and would suggest it as a tool to see where you are at nutrient wise.
I wish I could eat nuts, seeds and more grains....but I'd rather feel better than worse. So it is what it is!
If anyone has comments, feel free to share!!!
Happy eating to all!
Best,
That's it for strawberries for me this year. Makes me not even want to retest blueberries, but I probably will. (I had a worse reaction to blueberries, and I've already challenged them a couple of times over the last 2 years....). It seems that I can eat small amounts of raspberries without a major headache, which is nice......
