Grocery List for Plant-Based Nutrient Deficiencies
How to get the hard-to-find nutrients in a plant based diet, including what foods, where to get them and how much they cost.
Foods for Missing Nutrients
B12
Symptoms I’m trying to avoid: fatigue
- Nutritional yeast (iherb)
Also for Vitamin D / calcium:
- Soy milk (grocery store)
- Fortified cereals, esp. bran (supermarket)
- Fortified candy (grocery store)
Iron
Symptoms I’m trying to avoid: fatigue, weakness
- Fresh edamame (street market)
- Dried beans: lentils, baked beans (supermarket)
- Dark chocolate / cacao: bar, nibs, powder (cacao: iherb, cocoa: supermarket)
Zinc
Symptoms I’m trying to avoid: immune system impairments
- Wheat germ (citysuper)
- Seeds: pumpkin, squash, sesame (prizemart)
- Bonus: Hemp seeds or milk (on discount only)
Omega 3
Symptoms I’m trying to avoid: inflammation
- Walnuts (prizemart) 158 for 1.4 kg
- Seaweed snacks (759)
- Seeds: chia $38 for 500g
Probiotics
Symptoms I’m trying to avoid: digestive problems
- Yogurt (supermarket)
- Kombucha (citysuper)
- Pickles (prizemart)
Snacks
More for avoiding overnutrition (i.e. low-calorie density snacks)!
- Corn kernels for popping (supermarket?)
- Grapes (street market)
- Snack bars (supermarket)
- Apricots / prunes, $36 for 200g (prizemart)
- Pistachios $100 for 900g (prizemart)
Beverages and condiments
Again, low-calorie pleasures
- Decaf coffee (supermarket)
- Fruit teas (decaf)
- Sugar-free drinks, especially lemon-lime bitters (supermarket)
- Sweetener, e.g. Agave (supermarket)
Sources in Hong Kong
In general, if I stumble across any of these items on clearance, I’ll just buy them. Also gives me a good excuse to try different versions of the same foods.
Dried goods
- Prizemart — nuts
- 759 — Asian snacks, e.g. seaweed
- Live Zero bulk store — especially nutritional yeast and chocolate nibs
- iherb
Perishables
- Fancy grocery stores: look for “dairy” items on clearance
- Or just get low-tier stuff at normal supermarket / grocery
Other
- Cans, chocolate, cocoa powder, pickles, kimchi — convert credit card points to super market coupons
- Kombucha — haven’t found an affordable source, usually shops like Justgreen for now
The nutrient trail mix recipe
I love cereal-type food like muesli, granola and trail mix. But generally they’re really high in calories, sugar and may not be particularly good for you. I’m getting around this by creating a trail mix that is specifically designed to fill in nutrient gaps in a plant-based diet, so I can enjoy it guilt-free!
Ingredients
- B12: bran flakes
- Iron: cacao nibs
- Zinc: wheat germ
- Omega-3s: chia seeds
- Optional adds for low-CD bulk: puffed grains, dried fruit (and chopped fresh fruit!)
- Accompanied by: yogurt if I want it cold, soy milk with oats if I want something hot
