Metal Mouth Message Board

I'm a vegan

How do the veg/vegan folks get enough iron?

I tried veg. for about a year and became clinically anemic, so now I respond to my body, but shop at stores that do not support commercial farms or animal cruelty.

I am almost vegetarian. I eat chicken sometimes. Not a lot but still. I do want to become completely vegetarian so I try to eat chicken as little as possible... I don't eat and other meat or fish though.

missingu wrote:How do the veg/vegan folks get enough iron?

I tried veg. for about a year and became clinically anemic, so now I respond to my body, but shop at stores that do not support commercial farms or animal cruelty.

Meat is not the only source of iron. You should be able to get enough iron by eating dark green leafy stuff like spinach. I also take a multi-vitamin which contains iron. It's not a problem for me; I'm actually sensitive to iron. Too much iron in my diet makes me ill, so I have to be careful not to overdo it.

Many people aren't aware that the calcium in dairy foods blocks iron from being absorbed. Some folks, upon trying a vegetarian diet, overdo it on the dairy because they're overly concerned about "getting enough protein" and might become anemic because of that.

As Karen said, it's definitely important to balance iron-enhancing and iron-inhibiting foods. My mom eats plenty of red meat and -- surprisingly to some, but not really to me --became severely anemic a couple of years ago.

Calcium -- either from dairy or a pill -- blocks both iron *and* zinc. So a multivitamin that contains all three (and they usually do) is something of a waste. I agree: water is the best thing to drink any time!

Of course, coffee's also good But, just to complicate things even further, coffee (caffeine) blocks and depletes *calcium* from your body.
Darn it all!

In the spirit of fair representation for those of us who love all dairy, but hate pills, a quick PubMed search revealed:

"Calcium from milk or calcium-fortified foods does not inhibit nonheme-iron absorption from a whole diet consumed over a 4-d period"

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004, 80:404-409
(research out of Norway, not US, but published in US journal)

I'm not very technical, but I hope this is the link:
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/80/2/404

I guess it is back to the saying, everything in moderation. [/i]

Im a vegeterian too!!!! but no one in my family is they all think Im crazy ha ha.. Im not the one eating dead animals =)

I am also amazed to see so many herbivores! I have been vegan for 2 years next month.
And I must say, I have to cook broccoli very well to be able to chew it without too much pain, and the florets get caught in my braces and stick out in all kinds of weird ways lol.
My kids are enjoying my braces lol.

Wow!!! I cant get over how many veggies are on this board. I started when I was 8 and fell off the wagon for a year or two in college (ate a little chicken here and there). I guess total I have been a vegetarian for 15 years.

My boyfriend makes the joke that I am the worlds chubbiest vegetarian since I got braces. Unfortunately, I have been living on mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli since some weeks I cant really eat.

I would give anything to eat carrots again

Alyssa

Veggie here, too. I have a weakness for raw milk cheeses; otherwise, I'd go vegan!

well im a strict vegan

*raises hand*

Both my husband and I are vegetarians

I eat raw carrots, no problem. The only things I don't eat with braces that I ate before is stuff like gum, caramels, and Bit O' Honeys. In the beginning, I had to really tough it out to eat some foods but I'm glad I did because now I can eat anything.

Ooo, ooo! Me too!!! I've been a vegetarian for... ummmm almost nine years now. Wow, time flies. And yes, on the iron thing: I do take a multivitamin, too, one with a good iron content. My mother's side of the family has a history of low iron, so I keep my eye on it. But just a couple of weeks ago I donated blood, and they test your iron level first to make sure you will be okay... and I passed with flying colours!