Transcription
So recently I had a question from someone who is vegan and they're on the keto plan, and they wanted to know what are the most important things to do.
Okay, so in this video, we're gonna talk about the most important nutrient that you should do if you're a vegan trying to do keto. One of the challenges that vegans have on keto is difficulty keeping your carbs low, keeping your protein high, and also making sure that you're doing enough B12, iron, vitamin A because the vitamin A in plant foods is really a pre-vitamin A that has to convert. Also, getting enough vitamin D, but you can get vitamin D from the sun and also lichens.
Trace minerals might be difficult to get, but the big nutrient that seems to be always deficient is these essential fatty acids. Okay, there's actually two of them. Okay, let me show you. We have the omega-6 fatty acids and the omega-3 fatty acids. Okay, this is the one that I'm not worried about because this is very easy to get.
So the one I want to talk about is the omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid, and actually, you can get this pretty easily in walnuts, chia seed, flaxseed, and a lot of other foods. Now, here's the problem. This by itself doesn't really do you much good unless it converts into these other healthy fats right here, EPA and DHA.
These two fats are vitally important if you're a vegan because you're not consuming fatty fish like salmon or cod liver oil, so you're not going to get it. Okay, but the problem is that the conversion from ALA to DHA is only two to five percent, okay, and the conversion of ALA to EPA is only five to ten percent. And if you're consuming large amounts of the omega-6, that can decrease these numbers even more.
EPA and DHA are really important in brain physiology, nervous system physiology. It can act as an anti-inflammatory, very, very important in stabilizing your mood, preventing depression, anxiety, and also to maintain your cognitive function. But if you're a vegan, you can easily get these if you take microalgae. This is the nutrient you want to take if you're on keto to make sure that you get both of these right here, simply because you're not going to get the conversion.
So go to the health store or online and find the vegan source of omega-3 fatty acids and make sure it has both EPA and DHA. Thanks for watching. If you're liking this content, please subscribe now, and I will actually keep you updated on future videos.