I was just wondering what are the best sources of Iron on a raw diet? I heard that Spinach has a great amount but a lot of it is inhibited...

Tahini, cashews, apricots, sprouted quinoa, pumpkin seeds and most leafy dark greens.



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Sesame seeds (unhulled: the brown seeds) contain a lot of iron but,

About tahini: Most tahini is made without the hulls. Since most of the iron is in the sesame hulls, I would be cautious about tahini as an iron source.

About apricots: Apricots are high in iron for a FRUIT, but generally speaking, fruits don't contain much iron. Of course, dried fruits contain more iron per gram than fresh fruits. But fresh mulberries, elderberries, passionfruit, avocado, and jackfruit contain more iron per gram than fresh apricots.

Here's some data (from www.nutritiondata.com):

100g Sesame seeds (unhulled): 15mg iron; 1 Cup sesame seeds (unhulled): 20.9mg iron
100g Pumpkin seeds: 15mg iron
100g Dried apricots: 3mg iron
100g fresh apricots: .4mg iron; 1 Cup fresh apricots: .6mg iron
100g dried figs: 2mg iron
100g fresh mulberries: 2mg iron; 1 Cup fresh mulberries: 2.6mg iron
100g fresh elderberries: 2mg iron
100g fresh passion fruit: 2mg iron
100g avocado: 1mg iron
100g jackfruit: 1mg iron
100g parsley: 6mg iron
100g raw green soybeans: 4mg iron
100g sprouted lentils: 4mg iron
100g scotch kale: 3mg iron; 1 Cup scotch kale: 2mg iron
100g spinach: 3mg iron

(sorry, I didn't convert all the grams to Cups, but there should be enough Cup conversions up there to get the general picture)

USDA recommends around 18mg iron a day.

Researchers have found that Vitamin C enhances iron absorption and helps negate much of the inhibitory factors of iron-rich raw vegan foods. Most raw fooders get a lot of Vitamin C from the foods they eat, so inhibitory factors shouldn't be a problem, as long as you're getting your iron from a sufficient source.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/2008 10:50PM by suncloud.

There's a chart here outlining some raw sources:


[whfoods.com]

By calories, dark leafy greens. Even spinach, chard, and beet greens, yes it isn't as available as in other greens but there is so much there that they still provide some of it.