Vegetarian needing advice on iron

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moby_chick
moby_chick Posts: 86 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello. Can any of you vegetarians/vegans advise me on how to get more iron? My intake of it is very low.
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Replies

  • whatjesseats
    whatjesseats Posts: 228 Member
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    I'm not a vegetarian, but beans, lentils, and leafy greens (especially spinach) are great sources of iron.

    Here's an article you might find useful: http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.php
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I'm not a vegetarian, but beans, lentils, and leafy greens (especially spinach) are great sources of iron.

    Here's an article you might find useful: http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.php

    Yep, beans and greens!
  • junipearl
    junipearl Posts: 326 Member
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    I am vegan and here are some of the things that gave me the most iron this week (incidentally, most of them also a good source of protein:

    - spinach
    - organic energy bars such as Vega or Clif or Luna
    - hemp hearts
    - chickpeas/tofu and other soybean products/other beans (use these in chilis, salads, stirfries, whatever I can!)
    - nutritional yeast
    - silver hills gluten free omega flax bread
    - cashews and almonds
    - sesame seeds (I add these to my protein shakes to give me my mono and poly fats)
    - fortified breakfast cereal
    - CINNAMON! - 2 tsp is only 12 calories and has 10% of your daily iron intake.... add it to anything!

    and of course a multi-vitamin for days that i still fall short.
  • moby_chick
    moby_chick Posts: 86 Member
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    @ whatjesseats Thank you, that's a really good link! :D
  • BonnieFife
    BonnieFife Posts: 104 Member
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    Green Veg, im not a veggie but not a big meat eater either i love my brussels, broccoli & cabbage :)
  • links_slayer
    links_slayer Posts: 1,151 Member
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    low to medium, light steam if you need to get a lot of wrinkles out.
  • Lemonade2013
    Lemonade2013 Posts: 17
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    that is a really good link - thank you - I didn't know that about cinnamon! will put it on my porridge of a morning with a couple of apricots.
  • moby_chick
    moby_chick Posts: 86 Member
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    @ bcattoes Yeah, I'll have to start eating my greens! :O)

    @ junipearl Thanks for the list. I didn't know that about cinnamon. I already use it a little, but will use more now. :D
  • Melo1966
    Melo1966 Posts: 881 Member
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    When checking out one of my vegetarians friends dairy her tofu was a good source.
  • romyhorse
    romyhorse Posts: 694 Member
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    I take a maintenance dose of ferrous gluconate every day, no matter how hard I try I can never get enough iron in my diet. This way I don't have to worry about it.
  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
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    definitely spinach. just throw it on everything. you could try taking some ferrous sulfate. i think also avoid eggs with your spinach, because i remember reading before giving blood that eggs inhibit the uptake of iron.
  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
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    low to medium, light steam if you need to get a lot of wrinkles out.
    :laugh:
  • MakingChangesToday
    MakingChangesToday Posts: 15
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    It might be helpful to take a supplement. My doctor always recommends to take one next to the green stuff. It seems meat would fill up the long-term storage better than plants therefore the pills.
  • staceycanada
    staceycanada Posts: 54
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    Eat something like oranges with your iron rich foods. Vitamin c helps iron absorption.
  • bluebug53
    bluebug53 Posts: 86 Member
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    well, I learned something new today! I am plant strong and had not realized that cinnamon, not only contains iron, but C, K, calcium, and manganese.. I put it in my coffee every morning, and didn't realize I was doing so much for myself : ). Does that out way the caffeine I wonder...hmm!
  • Insanity2bSane
    Insanity2bSane Posts: 204 Member
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    Not a vegetatian but beans and lentils are a good source of iron. When I was pregnant and low in iron I actually craved lentils which I didn't like before. Beets are also high in Iron. I juice some beets with carrots and orange on the weekend mornings for the kids. Pretty tasty.
  • daffodilsoup
    daffodilsoup Posts: 1,972 Member
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    Another vote for lentils!
  • moby_chick
    moby_chick Posts: 86 Member
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    Thank you everyone, for all your replies with great advice! :D
  • moby_chick
    moby_chick Posts: 86 Member
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    @ Seena511 Yeah, that tickled me too. :happy: As long as it gets rid of the wrinkles, but leaves the laughter lines alone. :smile:
  • BamBam125
    BamBam125 Posts: 229 Member
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    Cook with seasoned (not enabled) cast iron. The iron will leak from the pan into your food as it cooks.

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