59 Powerful Iron-Rich Plant Foods for Vegetarians and Vegans

Iron-rich plant foods are a must-have in every vegetarian and vegan diet.

Getting enough of this mineral is essential for you to feel your best. Luckily, there are plenty of plant foods that can help you meet your daily iron needs.

Read on to discover why you need iron in your diet, how to tell if you’re currently getting enough, and which vegan foods contain the most iron.

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Table of contents

• Why is iron essential on a plant-based diet?
• Iron from plants versus animals; what’s the difference?
• Daily iron needs: adapted for vegetarians and vegans
• Iron-rich plant foods every vegetarian and vegan should eat
• How to increase your iron absorption from plant foods
• How to tell if you’re getting enough iron
• Are iron supplements necessary for vegetarians and vegans?
• To sum it all up

Why is iron essential on a plant-based diet?

Iron plays an important role in many body processes.

It’s most well-known is that it’s part of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a protein whose role is to transport oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body. You can also find iron in myoglobin – another protein which transports oxygen to your muscles and connective tissues.

Your body also needs iron for physical growth, brain development, cell function, and to make certain hormones (1).

So it’s truly important to get enough of this important mineral from your diet. Unfortunately, getting enough iron can be especially challenging for vegetarians and vegans if you’re not proactive about it.

This is likely occurring because of the following reasons.

Iron from plants versus animals; what’s the difference?

The iron found in foods exists in two forms: heme and non-heme iron.

Heme iron is found in animal products whereas non-heme iron is found in plant-based foods (1).

Generally speaking, vegetarians and vegans tend to have lower (sometimes even critically low) blood iron levels when compared to meat eaters. And that’s despite getting as much, or sometimes even more iron from their diets (2).

That’s in part because heme iron tends to be more easily absorbed from foods when compared to non-heme iron.

To account for this, vegetarians and vegans are encouraged to eat ± 1.8 times more iron than meat-eaters (1).

Daily iron needs adapted for vegetarians and vegans

The following table reflects the amount of iron needed to meet this increased recommendation.

That is, 1.8 times the amount of iron the National Institute of Health recommends that omnivores eat.

This may seem enormous. However, you can easily meet these recommendations by including a few iron-rich plant foods at every eating opportunity.

If you’re raising plant-based family, read more about how you can help your vegetarian or vegan child meet their iron needs in this article.

I’ll discuss a few simple ways you can try to help your body absorb the iron found in plants more easily in a another section down below.

In sum: Iron is essential for your health. The iron found in plants is more difficult for your body to absorb, so you need more if it. To meet your iron requirements, you’ll need to include iron-rich plant foods to each meal and snack, in addition to helping your body more easily absorb them.

Iron-rich plant foods every vegetarian and vegan should eat

Below, you’ll find a selection of the 59 plant foods that are richest in iron.

Feel free to adjust the portion based on your individual needs. Your goal should be to get as close as possible to 100% when adding up everything you eat in a day.

You may find it helpful to try planning your meals, especially in the beginning. This can make it easier for you to meet your daily iron needs until it becomes automatic.

The 59 plant foods that are richest in iron

In sum: There are plenty of iron-rich plant foods you can eat. To meet your daily iron needs, make sure to include a few of these foods in each of your meals and snacks. At the end of the day, your total percentage should get as close as possible to 100%.

How to increase iron absorption from plant foods

The iron found in plant-foods tends to be more difficult for the body to absorb.

This is why vegans mamas are often encouraged to consume 1.8 times more iron than the current recommended daily intake.

In practical terms, this means that your daily recommendation would jump up to 14 mg if you’re an adult male, 32 mg if you’re an adult female, and a whopping 49 mg of iron per day if you’re pregnant.

Non-menstruating women, whether due to breastfeeding, menopause or certain types of birth control, should aim for around 14 mg per day (1).

It’s worth mentioning that there’s still some debate on whether such high amounts of iron are truly necessary. That said, until more research is done on this topic, it’s worth learning about the ways you can help your body absorb non-heme iron more easily.

Here are a few simple ways to increase your iron absorption from plant foods (1, 3, 4, 5, 6):

• Add vitamin C-rich foods: Combining iron-rich plant foods with those containing vitamin C can increase iron absorption by up to six times.
• Avoid coffee and tea: Drinking coffee and tea with meals or snacks containing iron-rich plant foods can decrease iron absorption in some cases by up to 72%.
• Soak, sprout, ferment, mill, and cook: These ways to process grains and legumes can reduce the amount of anti-nutrients they contain, which can help boost iron absorption
• Get a cast iron pan: Cooking foods in a cast iron pan can increase the iron content of meals up to three fold compared to the iron content of meals cooked in non-iron cookware.
• Add garlic and onion to your meals: These vegetables, whether fresh or as spices, contain allium. Allium is a compound that may help your body absorb the iron found in leafy vegetables more easily.

In sum: The non-heme iron found in plant foods is less easily absorbed by the body. The tips above can help boost its absorption.

How can I tell if I’m getting enough iron?

There are a few ways to tell whether you’re getting enough iron from your diet.

Track your iron intake using an online food journal

First, you can fill out a few days worth of meals and snacks in an online food journal, such as Cronometer. Make sure to select your foods from one of the available food databases. Doing this instead of selecting foods from specific brands or ones that you’ve entered yourself will produce more accurate results.

Your can then compare your average iron intake across a few days to the increased recommended intakes for vegetarians and vegans I’ve mentioned above.

Get familiar with symptoms of iron deficiency

Another way to tell whether you’re getting enough iron is to keep an eye out for symptoms of iron deficiency.

There are three stages of iron deficiency. The bigger the iron deficiency, the more severe the symptoms tend to be.

Common symptoms of iron-deficiency anemia (the most severe form of iron deficiency) include (1, 7):

• Tiredness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Getting sick more often
• Pale skin
• Shortness of breath
• Frequent headaches
• Ringing, buzzing, or hissing noises inside your ears
• Hair loss
• Spoon-shaped nails
• Cravings for non-food items like ice, dirt, or clothing detergent
• An uncontrollable urge to move your legs

Keep in mind that earlier stages of iron deficiency can be present with few to no symptoms. So you may only notice a problem when it’s already quite progressed.

Get your blood iron levels checked

An arguably better way to check whether you’re getting enough iron from your diet is to get a blood test. More specifically, getting both your blood hemoglobin and ferritin levels checked regularly. I recommend getting these tested on a yearly basis, especially if you haven’t gotten them tested recently.

Your test results may confirm that you’re getting enough iron from your diet. Or they may help detect low iron levels before they progress to iron-deficiency anemia.

Early detection is great, because it’s easier to reverse slightly low iron levels through diet changes alone without having to resort to supplementation or iron infusions.

If your yearly hemoglobin and ferritin levels consistently come back within the normal range, feel free to test them less regularly.

In sum: Ways to tell whether you’re getting enough iron in your diet include tracking your diet, keeping an eye out for relevant symptoms, and regular blood tests.

Are iron supplements necessary for vegetarians and vegans?

Supplements are often necessary when you need to increase your iron levels or reverse iron-deficiency anemia quickly.

They can also be tremendously helpful if you are unable to maintain adequate iron levels through your diet alone.

For instance, due to the increased requirements of pregnancy. For children that are picky eaters. Or if you have allergies or other dietary restrictions that make it difficult to meet your daily iron needs.

That said, too much of a good thing can be harmful.

Unnecessarily taking iron supplements can lower your body’s ability to absorb other nutrients from your diet.

Excess iron supplementation can also damage your cells. In severe cases, it may even lead to organ failure, coma, or death (1).

These side-effects can happen in both adults and children. However, they are especially fatal in children. This is why it’s always a good idea to check with your healthcare provider before starting to take high dosages of iron supplements.

They can keep a close eye on your blood iron levels, adjust the dosage accordingly, and tell you to stop taking your supplements when they are no longer necessary.

In sum: Iron supplements can be helpful for vegetarians or vegans with low iron levels. However, they are not necessary if you are able to meet your iron needs through your diet alone.

To sum it all up

Iron is an essential nutrient and many plant foods are loaded with it.

While the iron found in plants is more difficult for the body to absorb, proactive vegetarians and vegans can meet their daily iron needs from iron-rich plant foods alone.

It’s just a matter of picking the foods that appeal most to you, and including a few to each meal and snack.

Helping your body increase its ability to absorb the iron found in plants can further help you maintain adequate blood iron levels.

If you’re struggling to meet your iron requirements despite following the tips outlined in this article, an iron supplement may be in order.

Just make sure to discuss which type and dosage would work best for you with your healthcare provider first, before starting to take any supplements.