The nutrients we need are not animal-based
Perhaps the biggest, most persistent nutrition myth is that the nutrients we need are animal-based.
We’re told we should get calcium from cow’s milk, omega-3 fatty acids from salmon, and protein from meat.
In fact, the nutrients we need are plant-based. Not animal-based.
The only nutrient we need that’s not plant-based is vitamin B12, but it’s not animal-based, either. It’s synthesized by bacteria.
Skip the middle animal
We need to skip the middle animal and go directly to the source of these nutrients: plants. When we do, we skip the saturated fat, dietary cholesterol, animal protein, and lactose.
When we skip the middle animal, we also go straight to the vitamins, minerals, fiber, folate, antioxidants, and phytochemicals that enable us to live and thrive.
Listen to this podcast episode about why it makes absolutely no sense nutritionally, ethically, or ecologically to go through an animal to get to the nutrients that the animal got because the animal (theoretically) ate plants.
HOW TO LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE TO FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
- Click PLAY on the player above.
- Listen and subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Soundcloud, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
- Subscribe to the RSS feed.
Food for Thought Podcast is listener-supported. Please join other supporters by going to Patreon.com/ColleenPatrickGoudreau and becoming a patron.
Related Posts
Skipping the Middle Animal: The Nutrients We Need are Plant-Based.

Tuscan Italian Cuisine — Beans, Biscotti, Bread, and Olive Oil (Part Three)

Halloween and Plant-Based Food Traditions

About Colleen
Hello, and welcome. I’m Colleen, aka The Joyful Vegan, and I’m here to give you the tools and resources you need to eat, cook, travel, and live compassionately and healthfully.
Donating = Loving
For over twenty years, my work and podcast have remained free (and ad-free) and vibrant thanks to support from listeners, followers, and readers. I have no staff, no interns, and no assistant. What you see (and hear and watch) is a one-woman labor of love that is also my life and my livelihood. If this labor has impacted your life in the past year (or the past decades), please consider aiding its sustenance by becoming a patron or by making a one-time donation. Your support makes all the difference.
Favorite Things
Joyful Vegan Messageware
Wear your compassion on your sleeve (or chest or head!) by choosing any number of my message products.