To illustrate just how high in iron vegan foods are, take a look at my menu today. I did some calculations and was amazed at how much iron I took in from food alone today!
Breakfast:
1 cup whole grain oatmeal - 20% of recommended daily amount of iron
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds - 40% of RDA iron
3 tbsp hemp seeds (hulled, raw) - 30% of RDA iron
raisins (40g = 6%, I estimate I had half of that) - 3 % RDA iron
banana
raspberries
blackberries
almond milk
Wow! At breakfast alone I had 173% of the recommended daily amount of iron, and I ate it with assorted berries full of vitamin C to increase absorption. This was one huge bowl of oatmeal! I didn't even have a morning snack today. I lasted until lunch time!
Lunch:
Visited Extreme Pita for a quick and healthy lunch on the go.
Falafel pita 49% RDA of iron
(Whole wheat pita (large) with falafel and raw chickpeas & kidney beans, spinach, lettuce, black olives, dill pickles, roasted red peppers, raw mushrooms, onions, green peppers and a little mustard)
Spinach, pineapple & orange smoothie - No iron information on website, however apparently spinach is high in iron so I'll just put a ++.
So lunch again was great! 49% ++ recommended daily amount of iron
Dinner:
Whole grain Chia & supergrain bread- 2 slices- 15% RDA iron
Garlic, fried tofu - 30 % RDA iron
Butternut squash with sunflower seeds & toasted almonds - 3% + 15% + 6% RDA iron
Romaine lettuce salad with avocado, tomatoes & green olives - 5% + 3% + 1%
lemon water
Dinner: 88% of recommended daily amount of iron
In total my daily recommended intake of iron was completely surpassed! I took in 310% of the RDA in iron and that wasn't even including my spinach smoothie, which would have bumped it up higher.
Mind you, I wonder who the RDA is based for... a male or a female? A female who is menstruating requires more iron than a male. Even if the RDA is higher- I think 310%++ is pretty impressive!
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