Vegetarianism: what are the risks of deficiencies and how to avoid them?

Changing your diet to become a vegetarian should not be done without precautions.

It is indeed important to vary your diet to avoid deficiencies, reminds nutritionist Arnaud Cocaul, guest of "Without appointment", on Europe 1. 

Vegetarianism is on the rise.

If this food practice still represents only a minority of French people, it is "gaining momentum", indicates on Europe 1 the physician-nutritionist Arnaud Cocaul, guest Monday of Without appointment.

But stopping eating meat and fish cannot be improvised, and it is important to reorganize your diet to avoid deficiencies. 

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What can you miss when you are a vegetarian?

If the vegetarian diet is well balanced and organized, deficiencies can be avoided.

"It is quite possible to be a vegetarian without suffering from deficiencies", assures Arnaud Cocaul, co-author of 

Vegetarian Without Deficiency

 with Isabelle de Vaugelas.

But conversely, a diet that is not varied enough can lead to deficiencies in several types of nutrients, all essential for the proper functioning of our body.

Amino acids

Amino acids are essential for the various metabolic processes, and are in particular in charge of transporting and storing nutrients such as lipids, carbohydrates, lipids, etc.

Nine of them are considered "essential", and are not made by the body, but supplied by the diet.

However, recalls Arnaud Cocaul, in the carnivorous diet, animal proteins "have the advantage of presenting the whole range of essential amino acids", which is not the case with vegetable proteins.

Thus, some cereals are "deficient in lysine", while legumes are "deficient in sulfur amino acids". 

The iron

It is also essential for the proper functioning of the body.

Iron carries oxygen in the blood and stores it in the muscles.

Iron deficiency can cause anemia, which is an abnormally low level of hemoglobin in the blood, and lead to severe fatigue.

However, a vegetarian diet is more conducive to this type of deficiency than the carnivorous diet because "iron of animal origin is better assimilated" than that of plant origin, says the nutritionist.

More precisely, the body will only assimilate the iron contained in plants up to 5% against 25% for iron of animal origin. 

However, specifies the guest from Europe 1, "not everyone will be affected by this lack of iron", and it is especially certain categories of people who will have to be particularly vigilant, such as women and more particularly those having their period, during which they will lose iron.

"If a young vegetarian girl has heavy periods, it may be necessary to check her iron level by a blood test because she can have anemia which can have consequences on her state of health", advises Arnaud Cocaul.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12, it participates in the multiplication of cells and the proper functioning of the nervous system, and is essential to "avoid macrocytic anemias", explains Arnaud Cocaul.

In case of lack, "there is a risk of serious anemias which affect the bone marrow". 

This vitamin is found almost exclusively in products of animal origin, meat, fish, but also eggs and dairy products, which means that in reality, vegetarians "do not have to worry about vitamin B12 deficiency", provided you "eat in a diverse way", according to Arnaud Cocaul.

Vegans, who do not consume food of animal origin, will on the other hand, "be necessarily deficient", he adds.

If these people develop deficiencies, then "oral supplementation or a weekly or monthly injection" is necessary.

How to adapt your diet?

In general, to avoid any deficiency, "the key word is to diversify", insists Arnaud Cocaul.

Regarding amino acids

, we must first of all remember that if plant proteins do not have all the essential amino acids, they are not deprived of them.

Thus, recalls the doctor, vegetarians who continue to eat fish will benefit from their intake of animal proteins, while for all vegetarians, some of the amino acids will be able to be provided by eggs, dairy products, cereals such as quinoa, beans, peas, lentils, etc.  

The important thing is therefore to vary the foods well to be able to benefit from all the essential amino acids, and Arnaud Cocaul therefore recommends dividing your plate into two parts, by combining cereals and legumes, with for example, "half lentils, half whole rice, or half semolina, half chickpeas ". 

For the iron

, don't panic either.

If it is less assimilated when it comes from plant products, it is nonetheless present in many edible foods in the vegetarian diet.

We can turn for example to lentils, pumpkin seeds, nuts, sunflower seeds or even spinach, beets and avocados. 

Vitamin B12

, on the other hand, is accessible to vegetarians through eggs, cheese and milk.

On the other hand, it is present in proportions two to three times less than in meat.

But it is possible to consume food supplements in addition. 

Should we be accompanied?

For vegetarians, this is not essential, believes Arnaud Cocaul.

On the other hand, he says, "when you become vegan, I think you have to be accompanied, because a lot of people will make mistakes, will not combine cereals with legumes and will thus be a little deficient in certain minerals or proteins ".