As many vegans know, not all healthcare providers support vegan diets. Lack of protein, iron, vitamins B12 and D are specters that doctors, friends and family members often raise. I’ve personally felt like my doctor ordered blood tests, gleefully trying to catch me out on a vegan-related deficiency. Okay, maybe I was a tad paranoid or sensitive, but my doctor’s dubious comments about veganism didn’t make me want to take the test.

Please get your protein somewhere else! Like maybe from a bean.

That’s why I was excited to learn about HealthLabs.com’s new vegan test panel. I hadn’t heard about this company before, but they offer a whole slew of tests that individuals can order privately rather than getting a doctor’s referral. You pay for your chosen test online, then choose a conveniently located lab to take the test. HealthLabs.com promptly contacts you with the results.  I appreciate that they encourage people to take health responsibility and action into their own hands. HealthLabs.com sponsored this post to help get the word out about their new tests.

HealthLabs.com offers two new vegan-related tests. The Vegan Nutritional Maintenance Panel is for current vegans, to assess their nutrient levels. The other is for people considering veganism for health reasons. This latter test, referred to as the “Should I Be Vegan?” panel, tests for common meat, egg and dairy-related allergies, including beef, casein, pork and shrimp. It comes in three levels—basic, standard and comprehensive, depending on how detailed you want to get.

Laurelei Litke of HealthLabs.com answered my questions about these new vegan tests.

Teresa:  How did HealthLabs.com decide to add two vegan tests to its offerings?

Laurelei:  Honestly, our office has quite a few vegans working here. We’ve learned that there’s a misconception, that the vegan diet is unhealthy. The most common question that we hear vegans asked: “But, where do you get your protein from?”

We wanted to create something that promoted an informed lifestyle choice to switch over to a plant-based diet.

Teresa:  How has response been to the vegan tests so far?

Laurelei:  The response to our vegan tests has been absolutely great. We’ve heard numerous times that this is something people wish had been around sooner.

Teresa:  What are the most common deficiencies you find in vegans?

Laurelei:  Our testing services are 100% confidential, so I’m actually not able to give any kind of statistics based off of our tests. The most common vegan deficiency, in general, is known to be B-12.

Teresa:  In your “Should I be vegan?” test, what are the most common allergies you’re detecting?

Laurelei:  Same goes for this question, I’m not at liberty to share test result statistics. However, many people in today’s society are lactose intolerant to some extent, they just don’t know it.

Teresa:  What should a vegan do if they take your test and find out they’re deficient in important nutrients? Do you offer any guidance or support?

Laurelei:  HealthLabs.com does offer over the phone doctors consultations for certain diseases, however, as this has to do more with a nutrient-rich diet, rather than a disease, we recommend getting in touch with your healthcare provider or nutritionist if you are concerned in any way by your results.

If you do come up as deficient for anything in our vegan tests, there is usually a very easy fix. It can be as simple as adding something more regularly to your diet or taking a daily supplement.

Teresa:  Anything else I should know about your new vegan tests?

Laurelei:  The fact is, vegans often take even greater care of their nutrition than most, because of all of the speculation that surrounds veganism. We created these tests not for people that are malnourished, but for people that are already thinking about what kind of foods they’re putting into their body.

Teresa Bergen owns the Veg Travel & Fitness site. Vegetarian since childhood, she’s an expert in traveling while vegetarian or vegan. Teresa’s the author of Vegetarian Asia Travel Guide, is the vegetarian editor for Real Food Traveler, and regularly contributes to Chic Vegan.