The Gießen Vegan Food Pyramid

Peer-reviewed | Manuscript received: 13.06.2017 | Revision accepted: 25.04.2018

Introduction and objectives

With the increasing public interest in plant-based diets, the number of scientific publications studying vegan diets has increased as well (PubMed search, title ‘vegan’ [title/abstract] up to Dec 2010: 388 results, up to Dec 2015: 501, up to July 2018: 662) [1, 2]. Exact data on the number of vegans in Germany is lacking, but according to estimates, approximately 0.1–1.6% of the population in Germany is living vegan, with a rising tendency [3–7].

The current literature reveals that vegans tend to meet official dietary recommendations more often than the general population, especially regarding the intake of vegetables, fruit and (whole) grain products [8]. On average, vegans are often more closely in accordance with the reference values for energy, protein, fat and carbohydrates intake (percentages of energy [%E] and g/d), compared to omnivores whose intakes of fat and protein exceed the recommendations whereas their intakes of carbohydrates are below the reference values on average. The average intakes of beta-carotene, vitamin C and E, thiamine, folate, biotin, pantothenic acid, potassium, magnesium, dietary fiber, and phytochemicals are mostly higher or at least similar to those of omnivorous control groups [9].

Abstract

The number of vegans has probably increased in the last few years. For a well-balanced vegan diet with an adequate nutrient intake, scientific based dietary recommendations are necessary. With this background in mind, the Giessen Vegan Food Pyramid has been developed. It is based on the calculated nutrient intake of a 14-day vegan meal plan. Particular focus was on meeting the German Dietary Reference Values (DRV) for potential critical nutrients of a vegan diet, e. g. protein, long-chain n-3-fatty acids, vitamin D, vitamin B₂, vitamin B₁₂, calcium, iron, zinc, iodine, and selenium. Based on the calculated mean intake quantities of the meal plans, food groups and the daily intake recommendations were derived. For almost all nutrients, the DRVs were reached or exceeded, except for vitamin B₁₂ and vitamin D, as expected. As a next step the Giessen Vegan Food Pyramid should be tested and evaluated in practice.

Keywords: vegan diet, nutrient intake, nutrition counseling, Giessen Vegan Food Pyramid

Full text PDF (free version)