Personal Dietary Assessment

If you are concerned that your diet may not be giving you everything you need, your diet has changed recently, or you are simply curious to see how healthy your diet is, you may wish to consider having a personal dietary assessment. Vegan Volumes is happy to be able to offer this service, specially designed with vegans and vegetarians in mind (although the service is available to anyone), to help you make sure your diet is the best, nutritionally, for you (everyone’s needs are different).

We will analyse your diet to find out exactly which nutrients you are receiving in sufficient quantity and which you may benefit from increasing, or reducing. You will receive a personal report, with advice about any changes you could make, to ensure you get what you really need. Each assessment is undertaken by our very own vegan nutritionist, Helen Edwards, who frequently features in The Vegan, the magazine of the UK Vegan Society.

To obtain your own personal dietary assessment, you would be asked to keep a food diary of everything you eat and drink for a set period, of 1, 3 or 7 days, depending upon the level of assessment you choose. Our specialist vegetarian and vegan nutritionist will then carry out a detailed analysis of your food diary, to provide you with your personal report.

Which assessment should I choose?

There are three levels of assessment - silver, gold and platinum. The higher level reports look at an increasingly comprehensive range of nutrients, and require you to complete longer food diaries (see this table for more details).

Some nutrients are only included in higher levels of assessment, as they are generally consumed less frequently, or are found in a limited number of foods, and therefore, a shorter food diary is not representative of intakes of these nutrients.

What will be in my personal report?

The daily amount of each of the specified nutrients you have consumed during your food diary, is compared to the appropriate UK dietary reference value for that nutrient (1), taking into account your age, gender, weight and activity (based on the information you provide).

If you have a low intake of some nutrients (compared to the reference value appropriate for you), a selection of foods, which you can eat to increase your intake, will be suggested in your report.

For any nutrients you have an undesirably high intake of, the main sources of these nutrients in your diet will be highlighted, to enable you to make positive changes.

If requested, your report can also include your body mass index (which can indicate if your weight is likely to be putting your health at risk).

To select your choice of dietary assessment, click here.

If you have any questions, please email us.

1. Department of Health (1991) Dietary Reference Values A Guide. London: The Stationery Office