Vegetarians and their Iron intake

OutwardSix
OutwardSix Posts: 11
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Not necessarily a question just for any other vegetarians or vegans out there, but does anyone have any shiny new ways for me to get iron into my food without having to resort to taking supplements? I'm fully against taking anything in pill form that I can get through other means, but sometimes actually managing to have what is considered enough iron each day can become a right challenge.

I know most of the usual suspects, beans and leafy green veg. and sticking with wholemeal breads and the like, but I never quite get enough much of the time and would love to find some new ways to work it into a meal.

Any suggestions? What do you do, personally?

Cheers!

Sam.

Replies

  • queenmedusa
    queenmedusa Posts: 247 Member
    I have the same problem Sam - each day on my MFP diary I come up short. I don't any miracle fixes though - can only suggest looking up high iron foods on Nutritiondata.com and work more of them into your diet. I should do the same! LOL

    Kim x
  • Rainboots80
    Rainboots80 Posts: 218 Member
    Depends on if you are Vegan or not. Eggs have Iron in them if you eat eggs. Also a lot of cereal's have Iron. Some of the best one's are Frosted Mini wheats, Oatmeal squares, Kix, cheerios ect.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Drink fortified soy, almond, or rice milks, look at the labels on cereal a lot are fortified with iron. Another thing you can do is cook with a cast iron frying pan, the iron gets into your food as you cook it. Black strap molasses (not Fancy molasses) has 40% daily intake if I am not mistaken. Pumpkin seeds, Potato skins have good sources of iron as well. Vitamin C helps with the absorption of iron.
  • ivyjbres
    ivyjbres Posts: 612 Member
    I'm not vegetarian, but I am iron deficient anemic, so I need a lot more iron than normal. If I have a salad, it always involves spinach, that helps a little. Soy is pretty high in iron, and low in calcium (which blocks the absorbtion of iron). Luna bars have the highest iron content of any of the nutrition bars that I've found. I drink soy protein shakes. I mix it in soy milk instead of water, that way, I get extra iron, and the vegatable fat in the soy milk helps make the mix less gritty (less, but not un). Bolthouse Farms has a great line of protein drinks, they're really tasty and not gritty at all.
  • islandnutshel
    islandnutshel Posts: 1,143 Member
    I do take a low dose chilated iron suppliment with vitamon C. It is about 1/3 of the daily recommended amount. The rest is difficult to get on a 1200 calorie diet. Beet tops, Swiss chard, Dark lettuce, Spinach and I use organic Molasses in cooking. Mixed with Maple syrup and sambal for heat it makes a spicy terriaki sauce. Very rich in vitamon B's and Iron. Black beans mixed in that sauce is high proteing high iron with very little fat too. Make a great side dish. Good for you to keep nutrition in mind while losing. That is my key motivation with this site.
  • islandnutshel
    islandnutshel Posts: 1,143 Member
    I do take a low dose chilated iron suppliment with vitamon C. It is about 1/3 of the daily recommended amount. The rest is difficult to get on a 1200 calorie diet. Beet tops, Swiss chard, Dark lettuce, Spinach and I use organic Molasses in cooking. Mixed with Maple syrup and sambal for heat it makes a spicy terriaki sauce. Very rich in vitamon B's and Iron. Black beans mixed in that sauce is high proteing high iron with very little fat too. Make a great side dish. Good for you to keep nutrition in mind while losing. That is my key motivation with this site.
  • missboriken
    missboriken Posts: 52 Member
    Blackstrap molasses & warm almond milk before going to be = good night sleep!
  • OutwardSix
    OutwardSix Posts: 11
    Never knew about cooking with a pan! I'll try and work some more of this stuff into my meals, little things soon add up. Molasses and beans are things I don't use much of at all, so I'll check into that as well. Now to find a nice fortified milk - soy milk always tastes a bit like blended cardboard to me.

    Thanks everyone for your great suggestions so far!
  • kickitlarson
    kickitlarson Posts: 204 Member
    Most iron problems are an issue with absorption rather than intake - if you are absorbing all your iron you don't need as much, as the RDA accounts for those not absorbing everything. Eating vitamin c with your iron rich foods increases absorption tremendously especially when getting your iron from plant based sources. Eat a huge baby greens salad with orange slices and a lemon avocado dressing!! Dried fruits - prunes, raisins, dates, apricots are also great sources of iron....pop some with a big glass of fresh oj.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories