Ways to increase blood iron levels while eating a vegan diet or. Whole-grain breads, cereals, pasta, quinoa and oatmeal, avocado, cooked spinach, asparagus and green beans, baked potato, avocado, nuts, beans, legumes, soy, tofu and lentils, dried apricots, raisins and dates. Blackstrap molasses is the best source of non-heme iron. Just 2 tablespoons contain 7.2 milligrams of iron.
Molasses contains higher amounts of sugar, so its consumption should be limited. The findings of this review showed that vegetarians have a high prevalence of depleted iron stores, indicating that ferritin values are below the specified limits. In most cases, the limit values used were below the WHO criteria for determining iron (ferritin) depletion. There is a misconception that a vegan diet lacks iron; however, vegans are no more likely to develop iron deficiency anemia than the general population.
Studies show that among vegetarians (including vegans), most men exceed the recommended daily dose of iron of 8 mg from food, while many women between 19 and 50 years of age do not fully meet the recommended daily dose of 18 mg with food alone (Mangels, 202). Vegans with milder forms of iron deficiency should add foods high in iron and vitamin C to meals, and avoid tea and possibly coffee, red wine and cocoa one hour after meals. The good news is that you can get all the iron you need from a vegan diet because there are many plant foods that contain good amounts of this mineral.
