Vegetarian help??!
Vegetarian help??
So I have been a vegetarian for almost 8 years in 2 months. But I am very low on iron in my blood and hate pills, and will not eat meat again. Does anyone know of any foods that can help my get my iron count up?
Answers:
Hi, Here is some iron information for you. I left the meat on so you can see that you weren't getting an amazing amount before. We are raised under the misconception that flesh is some kind of *miracle food,* when it actually does not provide much of anything at all... at least not any more than we were getting out of veggies.
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MEAT AND POULTRY
Chicken (breast roasted) 3 oz. 1.00
Duck (flesh only, roasted) 3 oz. 2.00
Sirloin (lean, broiled) 3 oz. 2.00
Turkey (breast, roasted) 3 oz. 1.20
Turkey (drumstick) 3 oz. 2.00
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LEGUMES
Lentils (cooked) 1/2 cup 3.30
Lima beans (cooked) 1/2 cup 2.25
Dried beans (cooked) 1/2 cup 2.30
Split Peas (cooked) 1/2 cup 1.25
Tofu (raw) 1/2 cup 6.65
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GRAIN PRODUCTS
Cream of Wheat (reg, cooked) 1/2 cup 6.00
Fortified breakfast cereal (Total, e.g.) 1/2 cup 18.00
Pasta (cooked) 1/2 cup 1.00
Wheat germ, toasted 2 Tbsp. 1.30
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FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Apricots (dried) 1/4 cup 1.50
Broccoli (cooked) 1/2 cup 0.6
Brussels Sprouts (cooked) 1/2 cup 1.00
Peaches (dried) 1/4 cup 1.60
Peas (cooked) 1/2 cup 1.26
Potato (cooked, with skin) 1 medium 2.35
Prunes 1/4 cup 1.00
Raisins 1/4 cup 1.00
Spinach (raw) 1 cup 1.00
Spinach (boiled) 1/2 cup 2.00
Squash (winter, acorn, cooked) 1 cup 1.37
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How much do you need?
Women (ages 19-50) 18 mg per day
Pregnant Women 27 mg per day
Men (ages 19 and older) 8 mg per day
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Did your doctor actually say you are low in iron?
Also, vitamins are good for everyone; many women's vitamins contain iron as well. However, if you are not actually low on iron, you should not take any additional iron.
:)
Have you looked into spirulina? Its a supplement made from algae that is higher in protein than meat.
If you haven't already, switch to whole-grain pastas and breads. Nuts and beans, and just about any vegetarian "protein" food will also have iron. The iron in those foods is difficult to absorb, but lots of vitamin C helps with this.
Also, and I find this very hard to believe, cooking these foods in an iron pot is supposed to help them retain their iron. I suppose it can't hurt.
Would you be opposed to taking vitamins? Flinstones or other chewables are pretty tasty, unless you are opposed to the idea of pills.
Hey!
Iron for women vegetarians is hard but you can get it by eating tahini, tofu, beans, hummus, soymilk, almond butter, quinoa, wheat germ, wax beans, patatos with skin, hijiki, prunes, eggs, blackstap molasses,...
also, try not to have ironrich food with calcium. calcium limits the absorbtion of iron, but vit c helps it so always vit c with ironrich food!
You could eat Indian food. It's vegetarian but you should eat daal that gives alot of iron. hope that's good!