These 7 vegan (non-fortified) iron rich foods make it so easy to hit your daily iron target it *almost* feels like cheating:

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Scientifically Proven! The 7 Best Vegan Iron Sources

Worldwide, more people suffer from iron deficiency than any other deficiency. In developing countries, up to 40% of the female population are severely iron deficient.

In western countries, the population that is at highest risk for iron deficiency are fellow vegans. In a 2021 study, up to 8% of the participants were shown to be iron deficient.

Iron is an essential nutrient that does require special attention.

Even studies that show that vegetarians and vegans are not at higher risk of iron deficiency than meat eaters...

... always highlight that they talk about vegetarians eating a well balanced diet.

Let's dive right in:

1. Iron: Plant Foods Vs Animal Foods

To understand why vegans are typically at higher risk of iron deficiency, we have to look at the iron found in animal foods and plant foods.

Animal foods contain heme iron, while plant foods only contain nonheme iron.

What differentiates these two forms of iron is the body's ability to absorb them. Because heme iron is similar to the iron in our own body, it's absorbed up to 6x better than non heme iron.

2. Lower Iron Stores: More Absorption Of Iron In Plant Foods

A big factor that influences the iron absorption of plant foods is how high the current body storage is.

If the body has a lot of iron, it will absorb less iron.
If the body has little iron, it will typically absorb more.

3. Phytate Affecting Iron Absorption

Another factor that influences iron absorption is phytate: Phytate is a component known to reduce iron absorption.

Phytate is found in grains, seeds, legumes and cereals. Which are unfortunately often the foods that are highest in iron.

Phytate binds strongly to iron, so it will inhibit iron absorption in the small intestine.

4. Vitamin C Rich Foods And Iron Absorption

Vitamin C is the most significant enhancer of iron absorption.

Vitamin C taken with a meal can increase absorption of iron up to 6 fold in people with low iron stores.

5. Iron Deficiency

Because generally, iron in plant foods are on average less likely to be absorbed than iron in animal products vegans with non-planned diets are more likely to be deficient in iron.

So, should we all just immediately worry about iron to prevent iron deficiency anemia? Hold on one second. Let's first see if you're in the high risk population of vegans:

6. The high risk population of vegans

Typically, the highest risk population of vegans are:

1. Women: Because of menstruation.
2. That are obese: As obesity typically goes along with higher inflammation levels that decrease iron absorption.
3. That are not on contraceptives: As contraceptives reduce the total amount of blood that you lose during menstruation by up to 50%.

So you're at risk of iron deficiency - if you're an obese, vegan woman that is experiencing higher than average blood loss.

If you fit that high risk population, it is worth to pay special attention to iron in your nutrition and regularly check your iron levels with a doctor.

So here are the 7 healthy, non-fortified, vegan iron rich foods that makes it so easy to hit your daily iron target it *almost* feels like cheating:

7. 7 Healthy Non-Fortified Plant Based Foods High In Dietary Iron

The best vegan iron sources to guarantee that you're having enough iron in your nutrition naturally are the following:

1. Amaranth: One cup of cooked amaranth contains 5.2 mg of iron

Btw, if you eat 2 cups of cooked amaranth per day, you already got your required dietary intake. Which is around from 10 to 13mg/day.

2. Lentils, dried peas or beans: Cooked lentils dried peas or beans contain 3.8mg per cup.

3. Tofu: Half a cup of tofu contains 2.9mg.

4. Quinoa: 1 cup of cooked quinoa contains 2.8mg.

5. Nutritional Yeast: 5g of nutritional yeast contains 1.8mg.

6. Rolled Oats: 1 cup of rolled oats contain 1.3mg.

7. Almonds: And 20-25 nuts of almonds contain 1.1mg.

This gives you a total non-heme iron intake of 16.1mg. Which is all the iron you need.
Watch another great video called 'As A Vegan You Need To Know These 3 Things To Lose Weight':
https://youtu.be/3-m5O3cZpXY

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