Iron on a low meat diet

Chayacandoit
Chayacandoit Posts: 67 Member
edited 2:21PM in Food and Nutrition
how do you meet you iron goal if you do not eat meat too often?

Replies

  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
    Spinach
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
    I haven't eaten meat in nearly 20 years and I meet my iron goals most days. My typical sources:

    tofu
    beans
    peas
    green veggies
    seeds
    quinoa
    tomato paste
    and...
    DARK CHOCOLATE FTW!
  • Chayacandoit
    Chayacandoit Posts: 67 Member
    Thanks
  • AsISmile
    AsISmile Posts: 1,004 Member
    Keep in mind that a lot of labels don't necessarily include iron content of food, and therefore those entries might be incomplete in the database.
    So most of the time you are probably eating more Iron than MFP shows.
  • Chayacandoit
    Chayacandoit Posts: 67 Member
    Oh, hm. Interesting.
  • kvansteen
    kvansteen Posts: 82 Member
    I take a daily multivitamin just to be safe but I don't usually have a problem eating lots of greens and whole foods. Also cooking in a cast iron skillet helps.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    An iron supplement is an easy way, if you're worried about it (but lemurcat12's post has a lot of foods that are easy to integrate).
  • HM2206
    HM2206 Posts: 174 Member
    edited August 2015
    I've worried about the same thing. I don't eat a lot of red meat.

    Looking at these statistics you also see the real contents, not just "foods with iron";
    http://www.webmd.com/diet/iron-rich-foods

    As you can see, beef is the only major source of heme iron. And how often you eat clams or oysters?

    I eat quite a bit of salmon, chicken and ham but the amount of iron doesn't come close to beef. It does say 20% of women doesn't get enough of iron, and I'm probably one of them.

    I don't look supplements either as I believe in the natural way. I might try sardines.
  • Furbuster
    Furbuster Posts: 254 Member
    Mushrooms are pretty good too....
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    A lot of veggies list a high iron content and they have it, BUT we can't absorb it, so you don't get as much iron from them as you might think.

    Meat is the easiest way to get iron. Red meat and, better, organ meats (if you can eat them, which I cannot!) have a good amount of iron. Cooking in cast iron is helpful - the black kind, not enameled cast iron.

    I wouldn't start supplementing unless your doctor tells you to do that. If you live in a place where it is possible to do it, get regular checkups. You'll be told if you're low and what to do about it. :)
  • Chayacandoit
    Chayacandoit Posts: 67 Member
    I never knew about cast iron pans good for iron source. Also mushrooms is an interesting one. I personally love organ meats but they are high in calories, cholesterol and all that other stuff.
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