It’s no secret that the plant-based diet is a nutrient powerhouse.

If you look at the nutritional profiles of the most common foods in a particular diet, the clear winner, across the board, is fruits and vegetables (including nuts, seeds, legumes, and the like).

But still, there are a few hard-to-get nutrients for vegans, most talked about, Vitamin B12.  

But as much as some plant-based advocates hate to admit it, B12 is not the only hard-to-get nutrient.

Below I break down seven hard-to-get vitamins and minerals not commonly found in abundance in plant foods, and how to get them through whole foods.

Vitamin B12 helps to keep the body's cells healthy and helps to create your DNA (the genetic material found in your cells).

While you may theoretically be able to derive B12 from dirty vegetables, when you recognize the critical importance of B12, you realize that method is quite risky.

You can, alternatively, maintain adequate B12 stores by intentionally eating foods fortified with the vitamin — nutritional yeast is a great example, but many common breads and cereals are also fortified. This, of course, is just another form of supplementation, but one that some people prefer.

Your body relies on iodine in order to create essential thyroid hormones. Without those, you would be unable to properly regulate metabolism and other vital functions. This process is even more important for pregnant women and children because a growing human relies on thyroid hormones for skeletal and brain development.

Iodine exists seaweeds like kelp, hiziki, kombu, or wakame, but may not be adequately consumed as part of a typical, Western plant-based diet.

Aside from these marine plants, there are land-grown iodine sources like cranberries and potatoes, but beware: the iodine content largely depends on the cultivation practices, soil quality, and the iodine levels in that particular plot of land.

Our body utilizes zinc in a variety of ways. In fact, the mineral helps stimulate the activity of more than 100 enzymes. It also supports proper immune function, plays a role in ensuring normal growth, enables processes like gene regulation, and even helps neurons communicate, thereby enabling memory formation and learning.*

Zinc is available from a wide range of plant-foods, including legumes, tempeh, and tofu, along with many nuts, seeds, and grains. It can also be derived from a variety of fortified products, like plant-based milks, many cereals, and even certain meat-substitutes.

It makes this list, however, because most of these foods that are rich in zinc also contain phytates, which hinder our bodies’ ability to absorb zinc. Some medical researchers suggest that, as a result, vegans and vegetarians may need to increase their zinc intake by as much as 50% in order to compensate for the diminished absorption.*

Magnesium helps with absorption of other minerals (like Iodine), improves brain function, and aids with sleep.* In fact, it's a hot mineral right now because we're learning so much about the benefits.

Magnesium can be found in a lot of common plant foods like avocados, legumes, and even bananas, but once again, soil depletion is holding us back. Some studies suggest that up to 80% of the U.S. population — vegans and omnivores alike — are deficient in the nutrient.

But once again, soil depletion means is leaving many of us deficient, vegans and omnivores alike.

Like the Omega-3’s, Vitamin K comes in multiple forms. One of those, K2, is critical to enable your body to properly manage calcium, moving calcium away from soft tissues, like your brain and your heart, and towards your bones and teeth.

There are only a few plant-based foods rich in K2. The notable examples are certain fermented foods, like natto, a Japanese dish made from soybeans (which is a pungent and polarizing dish even in Japan).

Fermented foods like miso and tempeh are not high in K2. That’s the challenge with relying on foods for bacterially derived compounds: There’s no real way to know how much you might be consuming in any given bite, and you may go days or weeks without adequate intake.