I was wondering if I really need to take supplements. I bought Freeda's multivitamin, iron, calcium and B12, but they are so nasty (mutlivitamin and calcium) that I hate taking them. I drink tons of Silk Soymilk, which is heavily fortified, and try to follow the vegan food pyramid as laid out in Becoming Vegan. So, should I take the vitamins?

do you feel healthy? if so, i'd say don't take them. it sounds like you pay attention to what you eat so you shouldn't worry too much. certainly you're getting enough calcium and b12 if you drink a lot of silk's soymilk. you may just want to keep track of how much iron and maybe omega 3's you're getting to make sure.

Ive been putting ground flax seeds in my smoothies. I wonder what else I can put it in..... What else can I eat besides flax for o3fa?

If you drink 3 glasses of soy milk daily, no you dont need anything else. If you drink less, then investigate to make sure you're covering calcium and B12.



Most nuts have omega 3 in them; walnuts being the best choice. You don't need many - 3tbsp or so.

i eat lifestream's hemp plus waffles almost everyday for breakfast, they have 1500 mg of omega 3's.. i think flax is by far the best source of it though so it sounds like you're doing well

where do you get those waffles?

i get them at whole foods. i know the hemp plus waffles are vegan but i'm not sure if all their waffles are. btw, they also have flax plus, soy plus, hemp plus, mesa sunrise, and other waffles. very delicious..



http://www.naturespath.com/products/

click on waffles, you should see the six kinds at the bottom..

The vitamin which is critical is B12. See that you have a good, reliable source. Others you might substitute when you have a defiency. I would take iron only if I had a detected deficiency.

I put ground flaxseeds/meal in anything I can think of - pancakes, shakes, on salads... I also try to down a tablespoon of flax oil now and then (yuck). I buy walnuts occasionally and snack on a few or sprinkle them over salads. I drink enriched soymilk or rice milk to get my other nutrients.



I got my iron tested when I was pregnant last spring (am a vegan) and they were fine. Lots of veggie foods are a great source of iron.



I tried the hemp waffles, they're good (a big different texture than regular waffles), but I'm trying overall to eat less processed frozen foods, so I make myself pancakes when in the mood (like this morning). I can find those waffles at my local health food store, at Whole Foods, and at Byerlys.



I myself take a multi-vitamin supplement occasionally as I plan to get pregnant again, but I really don't think I need to, I try to eat foods with all these nutrients in, or enriched with them.