ive been a vegetarian for a few months now and i seem to be low in iron. i eat plenty of vegetables and legumes. i don't know what i should eat to increase the amount of iron i eatshould i just take iron supplement tablets?
If your eating a balanced diet you should be getting enough iron, but talk to your doctor about this. Our bodies store iron so you should be fine even if you were just eating white bread for the last few months.
the spinach theory is actually wrong, it has very low iron, it was calculated wrong but was never corrected. Lentils have a huge amount of iron so does parsley. don't take pills unless you're sick badly. ALL types of medication have a small side effect. Even doctors try to avoid unecessary medication. Lentils, raw (Dry Weight) Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) Energy 350 kcal 1480 kJ Carbohydrates 60 g - Sugars 2 g - Dietary fiber 31 g Fat 1 g Protein 26 g Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.87 mg 67% Iron 7.5 mg 60% -------- 100g of lentil, that's not even a portion of food. Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.
I've been a vegetarian since 1998, and even back then, my dad will make me take liquid form of iron (i.e. Ferrol - a product from Guyana) to make up for any loss vitamins/minerals. Just remember, the darker the vegetable, the better results it will have for your body. When I was pregnant, my iron was ''dangerously'' low as the doctor told me. She said to cook everything as much as possible in an iron cast pot. So at home, I have both cast iron frying pans and pots. You can get them at Macy's - Martha Stewart collection.
