(Newswire.net — April 29, 2015) Los Angeles, CA — Eating vegetarian and especially eating vegan diets can be very difficult. There are many too foods and drinks to list that people assume are vegan but in fact contain ingredients that come from animals. To make matters worse some things are listed as vegan or vegetarian friendly but contain ingredients that are not suitable for these types of diets. Many vegans and vegetarians add nutritional supplements to get the required minerals and vitamins their diets lack. However, if the ingredient labels are not carefully read these supplements may contain hidden ingredients that conflict with dietary restrictions of vegans and vegetarians.
In Athletic Greens’ new video they discuss some common ingredients other companies may put in their green powder supplements but are not for people who conform to veganism. Two ingredients that are increasing in popularity and showing up more frequently are royal jelly and bee pollen. Both are believed to be beneficial to a person’s overall health but come from bees. There is some debate over whether either of these ingredients violate a vegan diet but it eventually comes down to personal choice. However, if bee pollen or royal jelly are against a person’s vegan diet than they must look carefully at all the ingredients in their greens supplement. A product may say it is vegan friendly but contain one or both of these ingredients.
Another, lesser known, vegetarian and vegan diet culprit is Vitamin A. If the greens powder does not list where the vitamin A is sourced from then it may come from fish or animal livers. In order for vitamin A to be vegetarian it must come from the carotenoid beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is what the body converts into vitamin A, is plant sourced, and is only converted by the body as a rate in which it is needed (this prevents getting too much of it). Specifically, if the source of vitamin A is from retinals the greens must be avoided because this is always sourced from animals. If the dietary greens powder (or any other supplement) does not say Vitamin A as beta-carotene then it most likely is derived from animals and should be avoided by vegans and vegetarians.
Lastly and probably the most frequently seen ingredient on a supplement fact label is gelatin. Supplements in capsules are very frequently made from gelatin that is not vegan friendly. Unless the label specifies that it is a vegetable capsule then it most likely is created from the ground up hooves, ligaments, and other tissues or various animals. While gelatin capsules will not be found in green powders, unless they are in pill form, it is often an ingredient listed in multivitamins, probiotics, and digestive enzymes. Before you take any supplement you should be carefully looking at the ingredient list even if it is advertised as vegan or vegetarian.
Athletic Greens carefully selects all the ingredients found in their green superfood powder. It is completely vegan and none of the aforementioned ingredients will be found on their ingredients list. Along with the video Athletic Greens is offering a free guide that lists their choices for the top energy producing foods.
It can be accessed free for a limited time here: www.UltimateEnergyGuide.com