Top Vegan Sources of Nutrients

HCLF (high-carb-low-fat) whole-foods vegan is 80/10/10 or similar. So 80% carbs, 10% fat, 10% protein of your total daily calories. Keeping the fat low and around 10% is the important part. Protein isn't an issue to worry about. Protein will fall naturally in line with the recommendations when you eat HCLF plant foods. Notice the overlap of foods that are high-carb and high-protein. High-fat foods should be eaten sparingly or avoided completely.

• High-carb foods: bananas, melons, potatoes, rice, grains, beans
• High-protein foods: peas, beans, grains, potatoes, rice
• High-fat foods: avocado, raw nuts, peanut butter, plant milks, hummus

List of Vitamins

• Vitamin A: sweet potato, winter squash, dark leafy greens like kale, asparagus, broccoli, peas, carrots, red bell peppers, spinach, romaine lettuce, mango, cantaloupe, watermelon, papaya, etc.
• B vitamins: peas, asparagus, spinach, squash, beans, mushrooms, potatoes, rice, corn, tomatoes, sweet potato, bananas, onions, etc.
• Vitamin C: strawberries, cherries, papayas, kiwi, oranges, bell peppers, melons, dark leafy greens, broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, etc.
• Vitamin D: sunlight, mushrooms, fortified orange juice, fortified plant milks, fortified cereals, etc.
• Vitamin E: mango, papaya, dark leafy greens like spinach, kale, olives, avocado, nuts/seeds, etc.
• Vitamin K: dark leafy greens, broccoli, kiwi, green peas, cabbage, etc.
• Vitamin B12: B12 supplement pill, fortified plant milks, fortified cereals, fortified nutritional yeast, seaweed, etc.

Also realize that most of these foods have several vitamins at once. So even if you are eating a certain food for vitamin A, you're still likely getting a bunch of other vitamins at the same time! That's why eating a variety of fresh plant foods gives you all of the nutrients you could ever need. Beans, leafy greens, and potatoes have the most variety of nutrients of any foods.

List of Minerals

• Potassium: sweet potato, tomato, potatoes, beans, bananas, carrots, orange
• Chlorine: table salt, tomatoes, celery, olives, lettuce, seaweed, (but all plant foods contain trace amounts)
• Sodium: table salt, celery, olives, seaweed, (but all plant foods contain trace amounts)
• Calcium: dark leafy greens, beans, fortified plant milks, fortified orange juice, nuts/seeds, fortified tofu
• Phosphorus: beans, rice, oats, whole grains
• Magnesium: spinach, beans, bananas, rice, whole grains
• Iron: beans, leafy greens, potatoes, rice, whole grains
• Zinc: beans, whole grains, nuts
• Manganese: green leafy veggies, beans, oats, rice, whole grains
• Copper: kale, mushrooms, beans, whole grains, nuts/seeds
• Iodine: seaweed, iodized table salt
• Chromium: broccoli, sweet potato, corn, oats, whole grains
• Molybdenum: beans, peas, leafy greens, oats, whole grains
• Selenium: beans, leafy greens, rice, mushrooms, whole grains
• Cobalt: leafy greens, attached to B12

Technically, you do not need table salt at all (except for iodine) because almost ALL plant foods contain small amounts of natural sodium. AKA you are getting the correct amount of sodium each day without adding any table salt. The minimum recommended amount of sodium per day is 500mg (less than a 1/4 of a teaspoon), but normal adults are known to thrive on numbers as low as 115mg in temperate climates. You'll easily hit 500mg just eating whole plants, but if you want to add a pinch of salt, that's fine. Just realize you don't need to cover it in salt. A little goes a long way. I do recommend iodized salt in particular, since iodine is much harder to find outside of specific sources like seaweed.
The maximum limit of daily salt recommended by the American Heart Association is 2,300mg (1 tsp). So think about it. You need less than a teaspoon of salt per day. Don't be a salt addict.

Complete Amino Acids (Protein)

Eat a varied diet of different plant foods and you will automatically get all of the required protein amino acids. AKA peas, beans, grains, potatoes, rice, etc.

Fatty acids, Omega-3s

• Avoid saturated fats, trans fats, and dietary cholesterol. AKA don't eat processed foods or animal products.
• Avoid plant oils (omega-6 acids)
• Only eat avocado and raw nuts (omega-3 acids), but eat sparingly. A little goes a long way!
• Omega-3s are found in tiny amounts in most plant foods (beans, leafy greens, winter squash, berries, rice, mangos, etc).

The human body will transform the Omega-3s you get from eating plant foods into EPA/DHA. Supplements are not needed.
Eating trans fats, saturated fats, cholesterol-laden foods, caffeine, alcohol, and smoking negatively affects the body's ability to transform Omega-3s into EPA/DHA. So avoid these items.
Technically, you do not have to eat any avocado/nuts if you don't want to since Omega-3s are found in tiny amounts in most plant foods (beans, leafy greens, winter squash, berries, rice, mangos, etc). If you are eating enough quantity of plants, then you are getting enough fatty acids without eating avocado/nuts.

List of Foods you should never eat

• Dietary Cholesterol: meat, dairy products, eggs
• Trans/Saturated Fats: meat, dairy products, eggs, oils, cakes, cookies, crackers, etc.

Processed sugar is less of a crime compared to the items listed above, but obviously it lacks nutrition and is nothing but empty calories, so avoid it too. Processed sugar includes processed foods, and other "sugar" products like agave syrup, honey, maple syrup, etc. This stuff is just sugar in another form. If you want to sweeten something, use applesauce or "date sugar", which is really just ground up dates. Things like fruit juice and juicing are also bad because fiber is a good thing and should not be removed from food! Things like fruit smoothies, applesauce, and grounded dates are WHOLE foods because the fiber is still present. Things like syrups and juices have the fiber removed and are really nothing but sugar. While these processed sugars will not clog up your arteries like fats and cholesterol will, they're still empty calories. Feed your body good nutrition, not empty calories. You're either feeding your body to fight disease or create disease.