Vegan Diet: Protein, Calories and a Simple Plan to Track

Vegan eating removes every food of animal origin. What remains is a wide set of foods: grains, legumes, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, soy products and plant milks. Some people follow it for ethical or environmental reasons, others for reasons of taste or cost, and it is the strictest of the plant-based patterns on this site.

Being plant-based says nothing about calories. A vegan day can be low in energy and high in fibre, or high in energy and low in fibre if it leans on refined snacks and oils. The word describes what is excluded, not how much is eaten.

Plant foods carry less protein per calorie than meat, fish and dairy, so reaching a protein target takes more deliberate choices: tofu, lentils, beans, edamame, soy milk, seitan, seeds and nuts. The same foods add a lot of fibre, which makes the day more filling for the calories but can feel bulky when appetite is low.

Tracking both numbers side by side is useful. A protein calculator tells you the target, the plant protein list shows which foods cover it, and the food log shows whether the foods you actually ate got there. The fibre calculator is worth a look too, since a well-planned vegan day tends to land well above the typical intake.

Health agencies describe a few nutrients that need attention without animal foods. Vitamin B12 is found naturally only in animal products, so vegans rely on fortified foods or supplements. Iron, zinc, calcium and iodine come from plants too, with some of them harder to absorb. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements publishes fact sheets for each.

The app's food data includes these nutrients for many foods, and the nutrient lists on this site rank foods by amount. Use them to plan, and ask a registered dietitian if you want your intake checked against a blood test.