31 iron rich foods to add to your diet if you are vegan or vegetarian.

Iron is an essential mineral that is required by the body for oxygen transportation throughout the body. Without a sufficient amount of iron, our body cannot make healthy oxygen-carrying red blood cells.

For people who are vegan or vegetarian, iron deficiency anemia is a big problem.

Why the vegetarian diet has problems with iron deficiency?

• The main problem with the vegetarian diet is that dairy can decrease iron absorption. Milk interferes with the body’s function to absorb iron from food.
• Iron content is negligible in dairy products like cheese, milk. Yogurt, e.g., in 1 cup of milk, there is 0.1 mg of iron available. Cow’s milk is a poor source of iron. When children drink too much milk, they crowd out other foods and may develop “Milk Anemia.” The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no cow’s milk until after one year, at which point it should be limited to no more than 4 cups per day.

Why the vegan diet has problems with iron deficiency?

• Dietary iron comes in two forms Heme and non-heme. Non-heme is more challenging for your body to absorb, and all plant-based sources of iron are non-heme sources.
• Heme is more comfortable for your body to absorb, but it only comes from animal products.
• Vitamin c is essential for digestion and absorption of plant-based iron. Therefore, eating a lot of vitamin C with your food is a must ritual to include in your food.

Well, now we know the problem is not entirely the vegan or vegetarian diet. We can easily nourish our bodies with iron by eating healthy and tasty food. There is no shortage of iron-rich food items for vegans and vegetarians.

I will divide this Iron rich foods list into groups of Fruits, Vegetables, Legumes and Grains, and others.

Healthy food is the foundation of a healthy body.

Let’s take a look at this list of iron rich foods with some profound insight.

Fruits – We usually don’t think of fruits as an important source of iron. but change your thinking: Adding pomegranate, banana, and apple, prune, mulberries to your diet routine, you can include iron in your diet. Prune juice is a good laxative, along with an effective iron source. Overall, these fruits are an important source of fiber and many micronutrients such as potassium, zinc, vitamins, etc.

It is best to eat fruits as snacks; this way, you can also avoid eating junk food during snacking time. Please don’t take any tea and coffee with fruits.

Vegetables – There is no doubt that green vegetables are loaded with iron. For veggie lovers, there is a long list of tasty options available for iron-rich recipes. Beetroot, both red and green, is an excellent source of iron. Broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, spinach are few options easily available.

Green Salad with lemon dressing is always a good option for tasty lunch, a full iron package with vitamin c.

Legumes and grains –Everyone is familiar that lentils and beans are essential protein sources. But all kinds of lentils are excellent iron-rich food sources. Kidney beans, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, soybeans, navy beans provide a fair amount of iron. Amaranth and quinoa contain iron.

Squeeze some lemon on kidney beans curry and lentil gravy can enhance its taste as well as its absorption.

Dry fruits and seeds – Dry fruits and various nutritional seeds are an easy way to comprehend iron in our daily diet. Pumpkin seeds, hemp seed, flaxseed come up with a higher amount of iron. soaked raisins are outstanding iron sources.

Soaked 5-6 raisins / per person in the water overnight or for 6-8 hours.

Others – Tofu, Dark Chocolate, Coconut Milk, Dried Thyme, Coriander, and Parsley are good sources of Iron.