Blood count vegan and vegetarian diet

What happens during blood counts for vegan and vegetarian diets?

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The avi blood count vegetarian/vegan diet shows you whether you supply your body with enough vitamin D, B12, iron and folic acid. While the vegetarian/vegan diet can offer numerous health benefits (higher intake of fiber, vitamins and antioxidants), there are also potential risks that can be associated with a lack of certain nutrients.

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Where can I find more information about the investigation?

You can find more information at this link.

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Which nutrients may be missing from a vegan or vegetarian diet?

If you eat a vegetarian or vegan/plant-based diet, be sure to ask yourself whether your body is adequately supplied. Depending on the particular diet, it is actually necessary to ensure an adequate intake of certain nutrients and also to control these via blood levels. Unfavourable food choices could easily result in a lack of the following values.

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vitamin B12

Unfortunately, vitamin B12 is not found in plants in a form that humans can use and is therefore one of the critical nutrients of a vegan diet. Therefore, it is recommended to supplement with vitamin B12 if you follow a vegan diet and avoid animal foods. The vitamin B12 level in the blood provides an orientation regarding our vitamin B12 status.
Holo-transcobalamin is the active form of vitamin B12 that is actually effective in the body. This value is therefore a sensitive indicator of the extent to which you are currently supplied with vitamin B12.

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Iron status

By avoiding animal products, the body does not need a “simple” source of iron. Since it is harder for the body to utilize iron from plants, if the food composition is not sufficiently balanced, vegetarians and vegans can become deficient in iron. Using a small blood count, iron and ferritin, we can get an idea of your iron status.

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vitamin D

Our bodies can produce vitamin D themselves when enough sunlight hits our skin. During the winter months, the production of vitamin D may be limited, meaning that your body can also depend on its supply “from outside.”

The dietary intake of vitamin D is actually lower among vegans and vegetarians than among people with mixed food diets. However, since there are actually only a few foods rich in vitamin D (e.g. high-fat fish such as salmon, eel, herring), these differences play a somewhat minor role in vitamin D status. It is therefore not the diet that is decisive for vitamin D levels, but above all the latitude at which you live, your everyday life (time spent with sun exposure), skin color and whether or not you use supplements. The 25-OH-D blood value (25-hydroxyvitamin D serum concentration) gives us information about your supply status.

An unbalanced selection of purely plant-based foods can also lead to deficiencies in vitamin B2, folic acid, iodine, zinc and selenium. Here, you would discuss on a case-by-case basis whether a check is necessary.

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What can I do myself?

Do you feel weak, tired, unable to perform well enough and see a connection with your diet? Do you feel uncertain about an adequate intake of relevant nutrients through your diet?
Feel free to talk to our team of doctors. We provide nutritional recommendations and plan relevant laboratory tests to identify possible nutritional deficiencies.

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Good to know: Currently, laboratory regulations are only covered by statutory health insurance if there is a specific medical indication and not as a preventive measure, e.g. for a vegan or vegetarian diet without symptoms.