Vegan nutrient pyramid

The wide base is what covers the plate most days. The tip is the short list that a fully plant diet usually adds on purpose.

• Vegetables and fruit: volume, folate, vitamin C, potassium.
• Whole grains, potatoes and other filling plants: energy and fibre.
• Lentils, beans, chickpeas, tofu and tempeh: protein, iron, zinc.
• Nuts and seeds: a small daily portion, including ALA from walnuts, flax or chia.
• The tip is not a food group you eat by the kilo. It is the reminder for B12, vitamin D, iodine and, if you want EPA/DHA, algae oil.

Guidelines have moved toward plants

Several public guidelines now put plants in the centre and cut the share of animal foods. They have not turned into vegan rules. They do say, in plain language, that a healthy plate is mostly plants.

• Canada’s Food Guide (2019) builds the plate from vegetables and fruit, whole grains and protein foods, with water as the drink. Plant protein is named alongside animal protein. Dairy is no longer its own group.
• The EAT-Lancet Commission (2019) describes a planetary health diet that is mostly plants, with only small amounts of meat.
• The German Nutrition Society (DGE) published revised food-based guidelines in March 2024. A health-promoting and more sustainable diet is, in their words, more than three quarters plant foods and just under a quarter animal foods. Meat and sausage are capped at 300 grams a week, one egg a week is enough, legumes get their own recommendation of at least one portion a week, and nuts a small daily handful. Milk is one daily portion lower than before.

The direction across these updates is the same: more vegetables, legumes and whole grains, less meat, especially less processed meat. Reviews keep finding that a higher share of whole plant foods goes with lower risk for several common diseases. That is a strong public-health signal. It is not a promise that every person gets healthier in a straight line the more plants they add, and it does not replace B12, iodine or vitamin D on a fully vegan diet.

What the studies show

Shorter bar means a more favourable direction in the studies, not a measured percent. Green is the plant-forward pattern in cohorts. Brown is the usual mixed pattern that is high in processed meat. Causal evidence is solid for LDL cholesterol, blood pressure and body weight. Heart attacks, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer outcomes come mostly from observational studies, which cannot rule out every other lifestyle difference.

The one figure we print as a number: IARC, 26 October 2015, about 18 percent higher colorectal cancer risk per daily 50 grams of processed meat. DGE, March 2024, for the shift in the German guidelines. The bars themselves stay qualitative on purpose.