A balanced diet consisting of equal amounts of vitamins, proteins, minerals and nutrients is essential to maintain a healthy body. Iron, for example, is one such micronutrient that is important for the production of haemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood. Most non-vegetarian foods contain a good amount of iron. However, this doesn’t mean that vegetarian foods don’t contain iron. This article will discuss the vegetarian foods rich in iron.
Being a vegetarian often comes with a host of questions: How do you get protein? How do you get iron? Aren’t you tired all the time? The answer is always no (except when it comes to being tired all the time, but that has nothing to do with avoiding steak). There are actually more than enough ways to get these essential nutrients in your diet without eating animal products. In fact, here are eight vegetarian foods that are actually higher in iron than meat.
Three cheers for dark, leafy greens! Not only are they the most nutrient-dense of all the veggies, they are also extremely tasty and versatile. If you eat three cups of spinach, that’s about 18 mg of iron—more than an 8-ounce steak (which, by the way, is way over the recommended serving size of 3-4 ounces). Spinach wilts down easily, so you can get your recommended daily allowance of iron with some sautéed spinach or a hearty spinach salad topped with protein-rich foods like hardboiled egg or nuts and seeds.