Plant-Based Sources of Iron
• Iron helps your body do things like move oxygen around, grow hair and skin, strengthen immunity, and keep muscles functioning properly.
• There are two types of iron you can find in food: heme, found in animal sources, and non-heme, found in plant sources.
• Non-heme iron is not as easily absorbed by your body, so it’s recommended that vegans and vegetarians get a daily iron intake that’s higher than meat-eaters.
• That doesn’t mean it’s harder to meet those requirements - you just have to know where to look.
Here are some great plant-based sources of iron:
Lentils, soybeans, tofu, tempeh, chickpeas, lima beans.
Quinoa, oatmeal, brown rice, fortified cereals.
• Nuts and Seeds:
Pumpkin, pine, pistachio, sunflower, cashews, hemp.
Tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, kale, swiss chard, collard greens.
Dried apricots, dried figs, raisins, prune juice, olives.