In 2016, Public Health England published the Government Dietary Recommendations to provide general nutritional reference information for people in all age groups.
This 12-page resource has information about calorie needs, macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and dietary fat), and micronutrients (vitamins, trace metals and minerals).
This public health document is succinct and much easier to navigate than the comprehensive Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025, which is 164 pages long. Both documents provide similar recommendations for dietary iron.
How Much Iron We Need Each Day
The recommendations for daily iron intake depends upon a person’s age, health condition, pregnancy status and birth gender.
If a person is already iron-depleted or deficient, a licensed healthcare provider can provide guidance for supplementation.
For a person who is not already low in bodily iron reserves, the range for dietary iron is 6.1 to 14.8 milligrams per day.
As described in this 2021 Norwegian research study comparing the iron status of vegans, vegetarians and pescatarians, iron is a trace metal found in many different plant and animal foods.
Not All Iron Is Equal
The main forms of iron are:
- Heme: found in animal products
- Non-heme: found in both animal and plant foods
While heme iron is absorbed rather well by the body (13 to 35%), non-heme iron has a lower absorption amount of 2 to 20%.
There are also certain food components that can limit or enhance the body’s absorption of non-heme iron. Although grain foods are a significant source of non-heme iron, phytate (a form of the mineral phosphorus) can partly limit the absorption of iron.
Calcium can interfere with iron absorption, so you may want to eat foods containing calcium and iron separately.
Foods rich in vitamin C, such as citrus and broccoli, can help support the body’s absorption of iron.
Do Vegans Need Iron Supplements?
In the 2021 study listed above, researchers found that within the group of 191 participants, most of them had sufficient levels of iron in their blood, regardless of whether or not the person took an iron supplement. This suggests that vegan diets have enough nutritional variety to support healthy levels of iron in the blood.
Here are a few plant foods that contain higher sources of non-heme iron, referenced from Food Sources of Iron:
- Ready-to-eat Whole Grain Fortified Cereal (1 serving) – 16.2 mg
- Hot Wheat Fortified Cereal (1 cup) – 12.8 mg
- Spinach, cooked (1 cup) – 6.4 mg
- Soybeans, cooked (½ cup) – 4.4 mg
- Lentils, cooked (½ cup) 3.3 mg
- Beets, cooked (1 cup) – 2.9 mg
- Mushrooms, cooked (1 cup) – 2.7 mg
- Collard Greens, cooked (1 cup) – 2.2 mg
- Baked Potato with Skin (1 medium) – 1.9 mg
- Cashews (1 oz) – 1.9 mg
- Pinto Beans, cooked (½ cup) – 1.8 mg
- Sweet Potato, cooked (1 cup) – 1.8 mg
When considering which food combinations can help to improve iron absorption, it might be beneficial to look at a few recipe resources from experienced nutritional writers.
Gena Hamshaw, a Registered Dietitian practising in New York, has a number of fantastic examples available on her website, The Full Helping. A few featured recipes on this list include Cream of Broccoli and Quinoa Soup, Lemon Pepper Tempeh Cubes, and Protein Packed Black Bean and Kidney Bean Quinoa Salad.
Recipe developer and photographer Richa Hingle has some appetising recipes on her website Veganricha.com on this topic, including Stuffed Butternut Squash with Lentil Apple Filling, Malai Tofu, and Buffalo Chickpea Salad Sandwich.
Olive Magazine also has a recipe roundup with iron-rich options such as Spinach, Chickpea and Potato Curry, Pumpkin Seed Butter on Rye and Buddha Bowls with Shredded Sprouts and Beets.
Suggested read: 7 Vegan Iron Powerhouses for Instant Energy
The Best Iron Supplements To Take
If you prefer to supplement iron in addition to eating balanced plant-based meals and snacks, there are a few products available that are third-party verified and might be better tolerated than other forms of supplemental iron.
Thorne Iron Bisglycinate has NSF certification and is a preferred brand of California Registered Dietitian Caitlin Beale, as described in her post on Everyday Health.
New York based Registered Dietitian Tamar Kane also recommends this product in her post on VeryWell Health. This iron supplement has 25 milligrams of iron in a form that is well-tolerated by many people.
If you prefer a liquid form of iron, Mary Ruth’s Liquid Iron is a reputable brand listed in the VeryWell Health article and in this Good Housekeeping article by New York-based Registered Dietitian Stefani Sassos. This liquid iron product is third-party tested by The Clean Label Project and contains 18 milligrams of iron per serving.
People who follow a vegan nutritional approach have many options for supporting their continued good health.
Related Posts:
- Are Vegan Processed Foods Healthy? A Nutritionist Weighs In
- 14 Things to Know Before You Choose Vegan Supplements
- The Essential Supplements That Every Vegan Should Consider
Jennie is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist providing targeted dietary counseling services in telehealth and in-person settings. She has almost 20 years of experience in a leadership role supporting high-performing teams in grocery retail stores and a child nutrition school foods department. Her counselling approach focuses on gently encouraging clients to incorporate plant-forward meals and snacks into their daily eating habits. Jennie’s recent projects have been focused on healthy recipes and evidence-based nutrition articles for health and lifestyle publications such as Authority Magazine, Newsweek, and Eat This, Not That! You can learn more at Norton Nutrition PNW.
Really enjoyed the bit about vegans not necessarily needing iron supplements! It’s reassuring to know you can maintain healthy iron levels with a well-planned diet. Looking into vegetarianism myself, this was quite an eye-opener!
Absolutely, a varied diet is key. Been vegan for years and my iron is solid. It’s all about those leafy greens and legumes.
But what about heme iron that’s only in meat? Isn’t that supposed to be better absorbed?
Fascinated by the forms of iron mentioned. Could someone elaborate on the differences between heme and non-heme iron, particularly in absorption rates?
always thought you gotta eat loads of red meat for iron. this is kinda new to me. got any tips for iron in a protein shake?
This article’s a gem! Trying to navigate through various supplements for my family and this breaks down a lot of myths about iron. Will definitely look into those plant-based options more.