Iron needs are fulfilled for vegetarians

Contrary to popular belief, many plant foods are abundant in iron.  In fact, typical eating patterns of vegetarians indicate they actually consume more iron than meat eaters, and that vegans -- who eschew all animal products -- eat the most iron of all, according to Virginia Messina, M.P.H., R.D., and Mark Messina, Ph.D., authors of The Vegetarian Way (Crown, 1996).  Thus, although the heme iron from meat may be better absorbed than the non-heme iron from plant foods, vegetarians seem to make up for the difference by taking in more total iron; vegetarians also tend to consume above-average levels of vitamin C, enhancing the absorption of the iron they eat.

Moreover, research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (51:301-8, 1990) indicates that iron from plant foods may be more responsive to the needs of iron-deficient people than iron from meat.  In this study, iron-deficient subjects absorbed twice as much hem iron as non-deficient people, but they absorbed 10 times the amount of non-heme iron as non-deficient subjects.  The study’s implications go against everything you learned back in Home Ec 101.  If you’re low on iron, eating a helping of iron-rich lentils (especially with a glass of O.J. - vitamin C) can boost your levels as much as a piece of steak -- and without steak’s fat and cholesterol.  And there’s no difference in the way your body uses heme and non-heme iron.