Vegetarian Diet and Iron Rich Foods

Vegetarian and Vegan foods can easily supply your body with all the Iron you need. Iron deficiency can lead to anemia, but with a well balanced vegan diet, this plus many other health problems can be avoided.

Dark leafy greens provide abundant iron and should make up a good part of your diet. Also consuming vitamin C with your Iron will assist in absorption, but those consuming dark leafy greens don't need to worry too much, as the vitamin C is already present, just the way nature intended.

A wonderful way to start the day and get a large dose of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and energy is with a green smoothie.

Green Smoothie Recipe (rich in everything, including Iron)

Ingredients:

1 Large banana

1 medium apple

1 cup of pure water

1 bowl of chopped spinach or kale

1 teaspoon of supergreens mix

Directions:

Combine all ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth

Drink and enjoy!

The above recipe is an excellent source of iron and it tastes good too.

Iron Requirements for Vegan and Vegetarian Adults

Vegan men and women who have been through menopause (post-menopause) should consume 14 milligrams of Iron per day. Women who have not been through menopause (pre-menopause) should consume around 33 milligrams per day.

Iron Requirements for Vegan and Vegetarian Children

0-6 months- Breast milk provides enough Iron, 0.27 mg/day

7-12 months- 11 mg/day

1-3 years- 7 mg/day

4-8 years- 10 mg/day

9-13 years- 8 mg/day

14-18 years (boys)- 11 mg/day

14-18 years (girls)- 15 mg/day

Iron Supplements

Our preferred way to make sure a person is getting enough Iron in the diet is by consuming a lot of greens, whole grains and nuts, or by adding dried greens to the diet such as barley grass powder, spirulina, kelp, wheat grass and others. These highly concentrated powders can be added to cooking or consumed in drinks such as the green smoothie recipe above, or even just stirred though fruit juice.

The added benefit of supplementing the diet in this way, is that you also get all the other nutrients, as opposed to just taking an iron pill from the chemist.

For people who would prefer an iron tablet however, we recommend the food state iron tablets as they include all the co-factors necessary for absorption which are present in the wholefood.