Weekend Q&A: Can I Get All My Essential Nutrients on a Vegan vs. Animal-Based Diet?

Can you thrive on a vegan diet (zero animal-based foods)? The question we're answering is: "What nutrients are essential for life and can only be found in animal products? I guess it would be more about vegan and vegetarian diets and the assumptions that you can’t get certain nutrients from plants. Maybe more context would be what essential nutrients are often regarded as only coming from animal sources, and are there plant sources of those nutrients? Could a person eat a vegan diet withou...