Hello All!
For those of you who are vegetarians, you may or may not know that you could be at increased risk for iron deficiency. That's because meats are an excellent source of heme-iron. This iron is the central part of the our blood's hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in our blood. This is particularly important for metabolism and exercise. Women and small children are the highest risk as women menstruate every month, losing some blood volume and young children are still developing.
Although vegetables do provide a great source of iron, they provide only the non-heme iron which is not as readily absorbed by the body.
So here are some ways the get your daily dose of iron:
Eat dark leafy greens like kale, bok choy, swiss chard, spinach and collards.
FYI- Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is LOADED with iron and a superfood to boot!
Eat beans like soy, black, pinto, garbanzo and lima.
Add these foods rich in vitamin C to your diet to increase the absorption of iron from vegetarian sources: broccoli, cantaloupe, kiwi, oranges, peppers, pineapple, pink grapefruit and strawberries.
You may also choose to supplement. Although I always prefer real food in its whole natural state to provide the primary source of nutrition, supplements can help to fill in the gaps.
So there you have it! Your Wednesday Wellness Tip of the Day.
You are Strong. You are FIT. You ARE WORTH IT. GOD IS ABLE!
~D
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