How-To Get Enough Iron

I was sitting in Starbucks the other evening, as I often do, chatting with the baristas during the only slow part of the day. In walk two women. As they are waiting for their order, Girl A overhears Barista S and I continue our conversation about veganism. The conversation went something like this:

Girl A: "I support eating that way... except for women. Women just need to eat meat."
Barista S shoots me a look like I can't wait to hear how you're gonna handle THAT comment.
Me: "Why do you say that?"
Girl A: "Well, they need more energy. It's so easy to become iron deficient without meat."
Me: "Hmm, I haven't noticed."
Girl A: "After not eating meat for a while, that's just what happens."
Me: "Well, I've eaten a vegan diet for over 20 years. I've had 4 vegan pregnancies and I never once had low iron levels during that time. All 4 kids are vegan too and they're fine. I guess I'm lucky."
Girl A: "I know when I have low energy, meat makes me feel better. I get anemic if I don't eat meat."
Me: "Meat-eaters are as likely to become anemic as vegetarians. Some people absorb iron better than others, often depending on what else they eat."
Girl A: "Or maybe something's wrong with me and I need meat to get enough iron."
Me: (shrugs) "Who knows." (Smiles.)

They took their drinks and went to the tables outside. I was left thinking about the horrible low energy that two decades as a vegan has given me... I definitely didn't have enough energy two weeks ago to participate in a 1-mile memorial swim race, then drive to another state and go on a 2 hour ocean sea cave adventure, then go for an evening swim in the harbor with bioluminescent plankton. Yep. Sucks about vegan food depleting one's energy like that. *massive sarcasm*

So what happens if you are one of those folks who has trouble maintaining adequate iron levels? Sure, once a month I pop an iron pill because I'm female and I have to rebuild a bunch of red blood cells. There are lots of tricks to increase iron absorption, such as eating citrus foods with iron-rich foods, cooking in cast iron cookware, and avoiding manganese and calcium-rich foods when eaten iron-rich foods.

While Popeye's message to eat spinach is generally a healthy one, the high levels of oxalic acid (the cause of that funny feeling you get on your teeth after a meal of spinach or swiss chard) also inhibit absorption. Best to stick to other leafy greens like kale and collards.

Ironically, since this discussion took place in Starbucks, I should have mentioned to them that coffee and tea also block iron absorption. Perhaps, it's time she cut back. Maybe we all should. It's not one of my better habits either!

Here's a quick comparison chart of iron-rich foods from both plants and animals. And here's a good overview of iron and other essential nutrients and how to obtain them on a plant-based diet.

(Slightly OT: My 8 year old (pictured at left a few years ago picking greens) is composing an email to Starbucks asking them to make recycling available to customers in their stores and/or to switch to compostable plastics.

There is also a new petition at Change.org asking Starbucks to offer vegan food options. Please, consider signing!)