How To: Put more iron into a vegan diet

How to Put more iron into a vegan diet

You don't have to eat meat to get all the iron you need. There are many very iron rich vegetables that can be eaten on their own or juiced and drank to make sure you have appropriate amount of minerals in your blood.

Step 1

Add iron to a vegan diet by eating the right types of cereals and grains. Substitute regular flour with rice bran in any vegan recipes. Bake with rice bran, for an extra 12mg of iron for each one cup of rice bran you use. The next best options are wheat bran, which contains 10mg of iron per cup, and oat bran which contains 4mg of iron per cup.

Step 2

Expand your vegetable menu by adding iron-rich vegetables and herbs to your recipes. One cup of canned butterbur, for example, will add 42mg of iron to a vegan diet. Freshen up your vegan dishes with the clean taste of parsley. The parsley herb contains 40mg of iron in a 200-calorie serving. Go for the greens by adding beet leaf or pumpkin leaves to your favorite vegan salads or soups. Both are rich in iron.

Step 3

Pick the fruits that are highest in iron for the vegan diet. Mulberries, cherries, lemons and apricots are the top fruit picks for this diet. Grapes, currants, elderberries and strawberries have a fair share of iron for the vegan diet.

Step 4

Snack on seeds and nuts to add iron to a vegan diet. Or, use sesame seed flour, with 9 mg of iron per 200-calorie serving, in vegan baked goods and breads. Replace peanut butter with sesame butter to add more iron to a vegan diet, as it has more iron. Pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds are also the best snacking choices for adding iron to a vegan diet.

Step 5

Eat a breakfast that is rich in iron when you add enriched bran flakes or wheat bran cereal to your vegan diet. Transition to these iron-rich cereals by substituting half of your regular cereal with one of these cereals with more iron. Add puffed rice cereal to your snack menu, as they contain 22mg of iron per 200-calorie serving.