How to use Cronometer (vitamin A, RAE)

[brimstoneSalad]

Cronometer is a great tool, but its default settings have a flaw: it doesn't show Retinol Activity Equivalent by default for Vitamin A.

This is easy to fix:

Go to the profile tab at the top:

profiletab.jpg

Scroll down a bit to Nutritional Targets

nutritionaltargets.jpg

Select the vitamin Tab

vitaminsRAE.jpg

Scroll down to Vitamin A, and click the check box that says "Visible" across from Retinol Activity Equivalent.

All done.
Now in the diary tab, the vitamin layout should appeal like this:

vitaminsmodified.jpg

This is important because not all Vitamin A is equal. You usually need to eat something like carrots, pumpkin, or sweet potatoes to get enough Retinol Activity Equivalent for Vitamin A. It doesn't take very much. Of course, a fortified plant milk, or a multivitamin is also going to contain quite a bit (usually in the form of vitamin A palmitate, which is fine).

Because Vitamin A is lipid soluble (fat soluble), it's a good idea to eat your vitamin A source with some fat, like nuts, seeds, avocado, or even a bit of oil etc. to help it dissolve and be absorbed.

[Jebus]

I've never used Cronometer but maybe I should. Do you have to weigh all the different foods separately before using it.

[brimstoneSalad]

I've never used Cronometer but maybe I should. Do you have to weigh all the different foods separately before using it.

ideally weigh them for input, but there are also volume measures (less reliable for non-liquids).

[Minos]

This is important because not all Vitamin A is equal.

How do you recommend to set Retinol activity equivalent target?

[brimstoneSalad]

How do you recommend to set Retinol activity equivalent target?

I have it at 900 (you can see the target in one of the images). You can probably look up the RDI based on your gender, age, and/or weight. I'll usually set thing at whatever the highest recommended amount is.

[Minos]

Thanks for your answer, I missed it on the images :]

I set my goal according to this site https://www.nrv.gov.au/nutrients/vitamin-a and upper level to 3000

[brimstoneSalad]

Thanks for your answer, I missed it on the images :]

I set my goal according to this site https://www.nrv.gov.au/nutrients/vitamin-a and upper level to 3000

No need for an upper level for plant based vitamin A, since once you have enough your body will stop converting it. Beta carotene in ridiculous amounts can be, but you'd only reach those amounts with supplements (you couldn't possibly eat enough carrots to do that).

Vitamin A is only dangerous from animal sources and supplements (I'm not anti-supplement, but you only really need to worry about the upper bounds if you're taking a multi or a vitamin A supplement with seriously large amounts).

[Minos]

No need for an upper level for plant based vitamin A, since once you have enough your body will stop converting it.

Thank you, that is very good to know, I was bit worried as my average intake of vitamin A is around 250%.

[PrincessPeach]

I don't recommend chronometer it can and never will be accurate and it can lead people to believe they are eating a nutritionally adequate diet and meeting all their RDAs when in fact they aren't. people use cronmeter instead of getting a blood test from their doctor and this is dangerous. Many vegans rely heavily on wheat and soy which both inhibit iron absorption and can lead to many many iron deficient anemic vegans.. Why ask your dr for an iron test if you chronometer says you've reached your RDA for iron...?

[brimstoneSalad]

I don't recommend chronometer it can and never will be accurate and it can lead people to believe they are eating a nutritionally adequate diet and meeting all their RDAs when in fact they aren't.

It draws from the USDA database primarily. It's not 100% accurate, but it's close enough for most people's needs.
There's no better source available, so to be completely safe you just need to overshoot your targets a little and include a lot of variety. Foods naturally vary in nutritional content from crop to crop anyway.
As long as you aren't eating the same thing all of the time, you should be fine, any small errors and natural variation will tend to even out.

The main concern with regional differences are things like selenium, which can vary drastically depending on the soil. This is why an occasional multivitamin might be a good idea. And, of course, avoid organically grown food.

people use cronmeter instead of getting a blood test from their doctor and this is dangerous.

Getting regular blood tests if you have no history of health problems is not necessary, and if people think they need to get regular blood tests as vegans (they don't) it may make them less likely to go vegan.

It's not even recommended to get B-12 blood tests: just take an adequate supplement, and don't risk it to begin with.

As long as you're covered according to a nutrient tracking program like cronometer and you're eating a varied diet to cover for any small errors, your chances of any serious nutritional deficiency are probably around the same as being struck by lightning.

Iron is a special situation for some women:

Many vegans rely heavily on wheat and soy which both inhibit iron absorption and can lead to many many iron deficient anemic vegans.

Spinach is much worse; most vegetables contain some level of oxalates and phytates.
Wheat and soy are both sources of iron -- less ideal than if they were lower in phytates, but they do contribute iron.

It's said that the phytates in soy may reduce absorption by around 60%. Sounds like a lot, but soy is so rich in iron it's not a deal breaker by any means.
2k calories of soybeans contain 743% of your RDI for iron. At only 40% absorption, that's still almost 300%.
Wheat is not as good as soy, but 2k calories of whole wheat bread still have 245% of your RDI for iron, which even with poor absorption is going to be fine for most people.

Vitamin C can substantially increase absorption. So, if you're worried about it, make sure to get some extra vitamin C with an iron rich meal. But soy and wheat are both great sources of iron (unless you're allergic or have celiac).

Coffee is actually a much larger concern, and should never be consumed with a meal.

Don't believe everything you read on the internet.
There's just not any good evidence that vegans are more likely to be anemic than the general population. Anorexics, however, are.

Norris talks about the studies here: http://veganhealth.org/articles/iron#status

Would it be a good idea for vegan women who have heavy periods to increase their iron targets? Probably. That's true for ALL women, though. This is something specific to heavy bleeding. Only if concerns and symptoms are ongoing should they seek a blood test.

Here's Norris' summary in that article:

Summary

You do not need to worry about iron if you are otherwise healthy and eat a varied vegetarian or vegan diet. If you think your iron stores might be low, you can increase iron absorption by:

Adding a source of vitamin C at meals (see Table 2 of good vitamin C sources below).
Avoiding tea and coffee at meals.
Increasing legume (peanuts, beans, lentils, peas) intake.
Cooking foods (especially water based acidic foods like tomato sauce) in cast iron skillets.

If your concerns persist, you should have a doctor measure your iron status. If your iron stores are too low, your doctor might suggest eating meat or taking an iron supplement. Anemia in meat-eaters is normally treated with large doses of supplemental iron, not with eating more meat. Similarly, vegetarians with anemia do not need to start eating meat but can also be treated with supplemental iron and vitamin C. If your doctor insists that you eat meat, you might want to show him or her this article.

It is important for any vegan with iron deficiency to correct it because during iron deficiency, the body has a tendency to absorb too much manganese. Luckily, vitamin C increases iron absorption but does not increase manganese absorption.

Why ask your dr for an iron test if you chronometer says you've reached your RDA for iron...?

You should only need to get your iron tested if you're showing symptoms of anemia which are not quickly remedied by practicing tips for increasing iron in the diet. But if you're showing symptoms, it's pretty easy to correct by just eating more legumes and pairing them with a vitamin C source.

If you want to recommend that women increase their iron targets if they bleed heavily, that's totally cool. Cronometer lets you set your own targets.
There's no reason to abandon an otherwise very useful tool, though, because some people may need larger amounts of certain nutrients than normal due to personal physiology.