I have been vegan for seven years. Last year, I went to give blood and was turned down because my iron levels were a bit too high! When I was a meat eater, I was turned down for the opposite. Greens made the difference. 💜
Thank you for sharing @donnellallan, very interesting, I also had the same effect of having upper limit iron levels when followed plant based nutrition. As I child my hemoglobin was super low and I was struggling a lot. Thought I was alone in this. Great to know that healthy nutrition ensures our red blood cells are abundant and supply the needed oxygen to the cells 🤩
Same here! I used to have anemia when eating meat, and I ate a loooot!). Now, 3 years vegan and my iron has never been this high. Much higher than a lot of my meat-eating or vegetarian friends and family members.
@skymoni1582 ,and how many people would advise us to "go eat a steak" to get our iron up? Hopefully, the day will come when the go-to advice will be to consume a bowl of kale, right? 😊
As a vegan who became iron deficient I always felt so bad trying to explain to people that the reason I was deficient wasn't because I was vegan- it was because I wasn't eating a proper amount of food in general. I'm doing so much better now that I'm independent from my parents and have my own kitchen. Loved the tier list!
@@LordOfSweden Lol by actually eating enough food. When I was working with a doctor I took iron supplements, but after then it's just eating foods with iron.
thanks for doing this! as a woman who has been iron-deficient, instead of focusing on one or two high iron foods, i make it a point to combine - ie (dried) parsley, tahini,arugula, potatoes, chickpeas or tofu (and usually pumpkin seeds) go into whatever main course i eat most days - lentils go into my morning porridge - and i make a kick-ass iron-rich cookie (low sugar) with oats, tahini, blackstrap molasses, raisins, dates and ginger. so even if each food only has a modest amount, it adds up - and also contributes to diet diversity which we need for healthy microbiome!
@@Simnettnutrition yes! also - when i found out that parsley was such a good source, i bought a large bag of dried in bulk, and that makes it really easy to add to pretty much every savory dish. the flavor isn't as strong and the nutrients are high!
Great finisher! Showing a simple vegan meal that gives you 100% of your iron needs! That is a slam dunk I can use for when people start pecking at me about my iron levels, just after I have batted away the protein question and followed up by asking THEM if they are getting enough vitamins and minerals in their diet. Hahahahahahahahaha! Canadian supermarkets look amazing in terms of variety, although expensive for sure. I live in Spain so hard to get a lot of stuff at ordinary small town supermarkets. To get kale, for instance I have to travel to find a French-owned hypermarket like Carrefour. I guess I need to start growing my own. I really have no excuses. Thanks Derek as ever for all your hard work. Your videos keep us all sane as we navigate daily through a horribly carnivorous world.
Dark chocolate is delicious but they also are high in heavy metals...so either buy ones that are heavy metal tested or reduce the amount you're ingesting..
I also went for dark chocolate (along with other things) but I have read that foods rich in polyphenols (and caffeine) affect absorption rates. Does anyone know more about this?
Regarding the parsley and eating enough it, there is an arabic recipe where we make a delcious salad primarily made from parsley and it is mixed with cous cous or quinoa, diced tomato and lemon juice, olive oil dressing and it is called "Tabbouleh", it is a very finely chopped salald where huge bunches of it are made into like tiny flakes. look it up everybody Tabbouleh salad
I know too many meat eaters deficient in iron, yet I've been vegan for over 9 years now and have healthy iron levels! Watching this video reminds me to stay in check :)
Cooked Teff is a really good source of iron. The grain is so freaking tiny that u can eat a lot of it. I either eat it as a porridge or I get some Ethiopian food with Injera (which is made from Teff)
Derek, as usual, awesome comprehensive presentation. I live over in Vancouver, 75, on chemo, and heart wonky from the cocktail. Send a kind thought to me, please. I've enjoyed your videos for the last year or so. You and Crystal can be completely hilarious without trying. Need your up beat input! And kitties! Kathy
Nettle is a great source of iron. Also, nettle tea as well. You can get it in the form of micro-greens, and it doesn't have oxalic acid, which spinach has.
I laughed when you talking about blackstrap molasses. Well as a 70 year old, I remember having molasses with bread & butter. Truthfully, I have some in my fridge right now. I haven’t used it for quite a while, but my husband loves it and every once in a while he’ll dive in. Just wanting to share because of you I use tahini for my salads every day and never touch oils Thank you for all your information. Enjoy your videos again thank you.👍❤️🙂
At 43 and perimenopause I now have a prescription for iron but it’s still great to know the best sources of iron so I can include more of them in my diet.
If you have heavy cycles, it's possible you suffer from adenomyosis. It's more common for perimenopausal women. Eating an antiinflammatory diet is very helpful to lessen symptoms!
16:23 It depends on the brand!!! 🤣 The organic blackstrap molasses you get at whole foods or the versions you get at farmer's markets are higher in calcium and iron than those you get in the baking aisle at Walmart. I'm talking about 10% differences. Also, through experimentation, I found that blackstrap molasses forms a savory trifecta with balsamic vinegar and tamari. Add alliums, miso, mushrooms, brown sugar, and parsley for the best vegan ramen base ever! 🤤
@@HillLeeHill Yes, definitely unsulphured, but I think that would be the default for most organic ones. Still check the different brands and the individual nutrition labels.
As someone not fully plant based primarily due to iron issues this was top notch. I do most of these and appreciate your comments around absorption. I'm very nutrition focused and track my food, however the haematologists thinks my body just gets rid of iron. I was vegetarian for 20 years until my levels became unmanageable. I take iron and focus on iron intake but my levels drop when I only eat plants after about a month. Frustrating.
That is awesome! I never realized that the tofu scramble i make in the mornings had so much iron between the tofu, black beans, kale, and hempseeds. Could you do a video about the best pre workout snacks to have? Maybe another tier video like this one?
Thank you so much for all of this great info. A next one would be for protein. W are having a hard time getting enough as we get old. You did a fantastic job
I was curious about the iron in rice and a google search suggested white rice being fortified. Although I didn't find any iron nutrition information on my rice packets and google search provided conflicting info. This video has convinced me that lentils should be a bigger part of my weekly meals and good ideas to increase iron in meals for my kids.
Went in for an annual checkup and the Doctor was very surprised that I was not deficient in anything and was very shocked that he couldn't prescribe me any pills!! On the check in paperwork they ask if you are following any type of diet and of course I checked the box for plant based. He was very skeptical and couldn't understand why I was in such great health until he asked me what I was doing. Eating a variety of plant foods and even some vegan alternatives with moderate exercise can be a game changer get it??👈💚🌱💪✌️
Thanks so much, Derek! Am watching this, again, for a refresher. BTW, have you considered doing a similar video for plant-based sources of calcium? Thanks! - Claire
These tier lists are great. Calcium (other than iodine, b12 and omega 3) is one of the few things vegans need to keep an eye on. Please make that one, I would like your viewpoint.
Dry Black wood ear( a type of fungi that is very commonly seen in China) has 40-50% of iron and its not difficult to eat 30-40 g. Though it has to cooked in some specific ways or i can imagine western people don’t get used to its taste. I guess you can find it in Asian supermarkets. And black sesame has very high content of iron too.
I like these tier videos. Good info in a nutshell and helps us make sensible choices. Moringa, which enjoyed its limelight for some time, is a great source of iron. The leaves(greens) contain 17.5gms of iron/100gms of dry weight. When cooked, they reduce in volume. The moringa fruit/vegetables are called drumsricks and are a great source of fiber. The moringa tree grows in the tropics and very easy to grow in your backyard. In colder places, they tend to die in winter but can be trimmed and brought back to life. (I live in the US and have 4 trees in my backyard)
Thank you for the video, very informative! I love how you show yourself making a high iron meal after. It helps me visualize what I can make at home. You should make a video on folate too lol
I soak and lightly sprout pumpkin seeds and almonds… then dehydrate them dry. They become different to eat, digest and enjoy because they are crisper and more alive. Thanks for the info. Iron is one thing especially for vegans to take care of daily… in the correct ways. It’s probably one of the biggest reasons people might go back to a meat diet.
Hi Derek, My name is Vi (rhymes with "pie"). I am a 67 year old woman and am anemic and do take an iron supplement, recommended by my hematologist. Love this video! Very educational and helpful. Thank you!
I really enjoyed this video! Such helpful info presented in such an engaging and understandable way. I couldn't help but notice, as an iron-deficient woman, that when you made reference to rdi throughout the video, you only mentioned the rdi for men, despite mentioning at the start that women have higher rdi and are more likely to have iron deficiency. It seemed odd to default to talking about the half of the population that don't need the info as much! That's a small note though in the scheme of how much I appreciated the info, thanks for making this video 😊
1.5 bar of chocolate sounds yum, but expensive! I wonder which are the most cost-efficient high-iron sources? 🤔💭💸 Like, what's the minimum $$ foods to reach the daily iron recommendations?
These types of videos are just genius.The Plant based information you provided via your channel Derek is truly incredible. I love you're channel, bro ❤
Lentils contain a large amount of ferritin-iron (up to 70%) which is absorbed through a separate ferritin port. Even phytic acid or tannins don't reduce the absorption of ferritin-iron. So lentils are for sure number 1
I recently found out that pasta made from Canadian or American wheat is usually fortified in Iron ( among other things ) so it can be a very cheap source of iron.
I would love to hear your opinion regarding alkaline and acidic foods and the effects of them on our health. Thanks you😊🌸 I always watch and enjoy your videos!
This was very interesting. I love these video comparisons. thank you for making them. I did find it challenging w/the grams (tho I know others recommended this, so that;s fine); thought it was difficult to invision how much parsley I would actually eat to get what amt of actual iron. Still, amazingly done!!
The “before” shot in the thumbnail had me rolling 😂 Love these videos man! Keep them coming. Maybe do fat sources next?! (I recognize you just did omega 3s so that might not work) Or carbohydrates might be an fun one given pretty much everything has carbs.
Also I think the white rice on cronometer is probably from enriched white rice? I just checked the rices I have and that’s the case for me. Also a touch of molasses is great on soy curls or in seitan for coloring!
You're dead-on about macro- and micronutrients in plant-based eating coming down to having a varied diet and making sure you eat enough. I've had many friends and coworkers throughout the years with this or that deficiency as vegetarians or vegans because they'd have an unhealthy relationship to food or otherwise have very restricted eating habits and portion sizes without concrete fitness or athletic performance goals. Food is what literally keeps you alive, folks, we have to eat! Might as well make your meals something you enjoy.
Yes, I spread my food throughout the day and never deny myself of anything. I don’t count my protein grams and don’t have to because I know that eating what I do provides, on average, all of the protein I need. If I start lifting weights, I add a daily smoothie using vegan organic “Garden of Life Meal” to a glass of Ripple or Forager plant based milk. Just those two ingredients provides an additional 28 grams of protein & micronutrients. All of this has become second nature, including my eating one each of every organic fruit or vegetable that I have in the house first each day. I also casually intermittently fast for a day here or there and the science all says this is amazing for you longterm. I grow my own organic greens at home using an inside 6-level Farmstand with glow rings and I’m about to add a second for more daily greens. I’m planning to put in potted organic fruit trees and covered raised beds of vegetables as soon as I move back to California. I hope people think about growing more of their own organic vegan food at home. It’s the best way to go for infinite reasons.
I was wondering if you have any opinions on sea moss? Have you ever considered consuming that? Thank you for your amazing content you inspire me every time
Thank you for your videoes and good work on promoting vegan life style! Regarding tihis video - what about fresh berries and raisins? I've always thought that they are high in iron content (and a lot of other good stuff) and that the iron is easy absorbed..
Heey, love your videos, super useful, e.g. had no idea chocolate has so much iron, or that vit C is so heat-sensitive! thanks! (but as a biochemist I feel like might be helpful to say that myoglobin is in muscle cells to receive oxygen from hemoglobin, instead of carrying it itself; and 'denature' as a word works best when talking about proteins, wouldn't use it with vitamins. not saying it to be rude or anything, just thought that in a video like this might be helpful to stick to science as accurately as possible) x x
Great review. I also remembered reading apricots, especially dried Turkish apricots, were a good source of iron. So I looked it up. 2.8mg/100g. Not bad. Great snack. Actually part of the almond family too. FYI Don often cuts his tongue eating foods that are too dry. So we pour boiling water on almonds, let them sit a bit, then pop the skins off. Easier to chew bc softer and less bitter without skins. ~ Tracy
I eat my oatmeal raw, with a plant milk. I love the taste so it goes down really good. I have about 40g of raw oatmeal in my yogurt in the morning, but have lately been eating ~150-200g in the evening because I'm struggling to gain weight. Just now i noticed how that helps me overshoot my iron needs by so so much lol, thanks
we add parsley to our smoothies (not the Italian flat leaf but the curly parsley). Every single day we have a smoothie bowl and the way we do it is to add handfuls packed down (in our Vitamix) of leafy greens: most often it's kale but we also use spinach, parsley, carrot tops, beet tops, etc. -- even Romaine if it's in danger of not being used. So that's just in our morning smoothie bowls. And those are just the leafy greens but sometimes I also add a handful of pumpkin seeds maybe once a week to our smoothies. We also add other vegetables from time to time such as zucchini, carrot, beet, etc. And yes, we actually DO add fruit to our smoothies. 😃
Hey, Derek! Thanks so much for making this :D One thing to ponder re: tahini is whether it's made from hulled seeds or non-hulled seeds? Hulled seed tahini is way less bitter and more palatable, but also less nutritious. Then again, people probably aren't going to be eating gallons of it, so I don't know how much difference that makes, in the end. I discovered this discrepancy when I was researching non-dairy food sources of calcium, BTW. Sesame seeds are normally listed as being a good source of calcium, but I had to dig a little deeper and it turns out that they are not really, without those bitter hulls. Blessings!
For me pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate would be in the A category. I love adding a generous sprinkle of pumpkin seeds onto my pancakes along with nut butter, berries, coconut yogurt and of course maple syrip. My daughter loves chocolate chips in her pancakes. Just a couple in each one and she is thrilled. Homemade treats like nut butter cups are a great way to get more dark chocolate or dates stuffed with nutbutter (almond 😉or peanut) and drizzled with melted chocolate. I also add hemp seeds to my cashews to soak when making sauces or dressing. Thank you for makimg these videos and sharing all this information. Do the almonds have to be whole or does almond butter count? Oh! I just remembered a favorite snack. Carrot sticks dipped in almond butter. Don't knock it til you've tried it. 😂
As a fellow almond-hater, I understand that Walnuts and Pistachios are higher in iron (fact-check me?) and are much more delightful snacks. Very helpful video, too. I'm also here bc I got turned away from donating platelets/blood bc of low iron. And I'd love more videos showing creative examples of complete high-iron, high-protein vegan meals!
Thank you for being one of the few that says that you need vitamin C to absorb iron better. Especially with plant based food, because animal and plant based sources have a different type of iron, the animal being much more easily absorbed. Eating vitamin C helps absorb even the plant based ones. For those interested in biochemistry, animal products have haem iron (Fe2+) while plant based foods have non-haem iron (Fe3+). What is happening with vitamin C, is that it reduces Fe3+ to Fe2+. So while normally the body wouldn’t be able to absorb Fe3+, thanks to the vitamin C it is. Our body already converts some of it in Fe2+ thanks to the acids in our stomach (vitamin c also is an acid), but it’s not nearly enough
Loving these nutrition based videos. So informative. My husband and I are both vegan and learn so much from you. Have you/would you do a video on BCAAS/leucine and if there is a need to supplement this as vegans for muscle growth?
Do beans lentils seeds also have tannins? Been vegan 15 years and my iron is low. I eat all these foods everyday. I gave up tea, so hopefully that was all I need to do.
Derek, I noticed that my stomach is more friendly with lentils and mung bean sprouts than with cooked. I hope that raw food is as beneficial in iron as cooked and I may give it the same spot in your scale. Love your videos and don't miss anything 👍
Thank you! Thank you for all your hard work that goes into these videos! I have been a vegetarian most my life and a vegan for over 15 years (for the animals). I have been unable to raise my iron with vitamins and had to have iron infusions. I am now trying to maintain it through my vegan diet. So many people commented that it must be from my diet. I think it is due to kidney stone complications Also, my hematologist said she has many patients who are anemic and I am the only vegan!
I want more tier lists! Maybe lists for b12, or other vitamins that vegans are told we can't get. A tier list of just generally nutrient packed vegan foods would be great too.
I donate blood three times per year to keep my iron levels low for the purpose of blood viscosity, and hematocrit kevels. I enjoy eating plenty of greens. At age 70, my issue is having too much iron.
I have been vegan for seven years. Last year, I went to give blood and was turned down because my iron levels were a bit too high! When I was a meat eater, I was turned down for the opposite. Greens made the difference. 💜
Awesome!
Thank you for sharing @donnellallan, very interesting, I also had the same effect of having upper limit iron levels when followed plant based nutrition. As I child my hemoglobin was super low and I was struggling a lot. Thought I was alone in this. Great to know that healthy nutrition ensures our red blood cells are abundant and supply the needed oxygen to the cells 🤩
Same here! I used to have anemia when eating meat, and I ate a loooot!). Now, 3 years vegan and my iron has never been this high. Much higher than a lot of my meat-eating or vegetarian friends and family members.
@skymoni1582 ,and how many people would advise us to "go eat a steak" to get our iron up? Hopefully, the day will come when the go-to advice will be to consume a bowl of kale, right? 😊
@@Simnettnutrition ,thank you for helping to spread the word! 💜
As a vegan who became iron deficient I always felt so bad trying to explain to people that the reason I was deficient wasn't because I was vegan- it was because I wasn't eating a proper amount of food in general. I'm doing so much better now that I'm independent from my parents and have my own kitchen. Loved the tier list!
Sending a hug ❤️
How did you get it up then?
@@LordOfSweden Lol by actually eating enough food. When I was working with a doctor I took iron supplements, but after then it's just eating foods with iron.
thanks for doing this! as a woman who has been iron-deficient, instead of focusing on one or two high iron foods, i make it a point to combine - ie (dried) parsley, tahini,arugula, potatoes, chickpeas or tofu (and usually pumpkin seeds) go into whatever main course i eat most days - lentils go into my morning porridge - and i make a kick-ass iron-rich cookie (low sugar) with oats, tahini, blackstrap molasses, raisins, dates and ginger. so even if each food only has a modest amount, it adds up - and also contributes to diet diversity which we need for healthy microbiome!
That's great! You're right, it all adds up!
@@Simnettnutrition yes! also - when i found out that parsley was such a good source, i bought a large bag of dried in bulk, and that makes it really easy to add to pretty much every savory dish. the flavor isn't as strong and the nutrients are high!
@claire4688 I like to finely chop a handful of parsley & put it onto my avocado toast & top it with slices of tomato...so delicious.
Woot 🎉
@@SimnettnutritionWhat about beets?
You have to try Tabbouleh, the best salad, it will change your opinion on parsley being simply a herb to sprinkle dishes with...
I have had it before and love it! I should make it..
@@Simnettnutrition I went shopping today with the idea of making it, and I forgot to buy parsley🙃
Great finisher! Showing a simple vegan meal that gives you 100% of your iron needs! That is a slam dunk I can use for when people start pecking at me about my iron levels, just after I have batted away the protein question and followed up by asking THEM if they are getting enough vitamins and minerals in their diet. Hahahahahahahahaha! Canadian supermarkets look amazing in terms of variety, although expensive for sure. I live in Spain so hard to get a lot of stuff at ordinary small town supermarkets. To get kale, for instance I have to travel to find a French-owned hypermarket like Carrefour. I guess I need to start growing my own. I really have no excuses. Thanks Derek as ever for all your hard work. Your videos keep us all sane as we navigate daily through a horribly carnivorous world.
bar and a half of chocolate to get 11.9 milligrams of Iron? light work. ill never have to worry about my iron. ever.
Dark chocolate is delicious but they also are high in heavy metals...so either buy ones that are heavy metal tested or reduce the amount you're ingesting..
@@scienceislove2014 great point! i get a specialized purified and organic one for that very reason!
I also went for dark chocolate (along with other things) but I have read that foods rich in polyphenols (and caffeine) affect absorption rates. Does anyone know more about this?
I don’t feel like this video is getting enough hype. These type of videos are so helpful!
Regarding the parsley and eating enough it, there is an arabic recipe where we make a delcious salad primarily made from parsley and it is mixed with cous cous or quinoa, diced tomato and lemon juice, olive oil dressing and it is called "Tabbouleh", it is a very finely chopped salald where huge bunches of it are made into like tiny flakes. look it up everybody
Tabbouleh salad
This particular series is S tier
Quite a comprehensive list! Apparently dried apricots are also pretty good source of iron, as well as raisins.
Yeah they are so many foods with some iron in them, dried fruits for sure! I had to keep the list somewhat short so the video wasn't an hour long haha
@@Simnettnutrition absolutely😄
I had no idea about dried apricots - thanks!!
I know too many meat eaters deficient in iron, yet I've been vegan for over 9 years now and have healthy iron levels!
Watching this video reminds me to stay in check :)
Cooked Teff is a really good source of iron. The grain is so freaking tiny that u can eat a lot of it. I either eat it as a porridge or I get some Ethiopian food with Injera (which is made from Teff)
I always put teff in my chili. Fantastic for texture, fillingness and nutrition.
Derek, as usual, awesome comprehensive presentation. I live over in Vancouver, 75, on chemo, and heart wonky from the cocktail. Send a kind thought to me, please. I've enjoyed your videos for the last year or so. You and Crystal can be completely hilarious without trying. Need your up beat input! And kitties! Kathy
Sending you lots of love! Thanks for watching :)
💞
Nettle is a great source of iron. Also, nettle tea as well.
You can get it in the form of micro-greens, and it doesn't have oxalic acid, which spinach has.
I laughed when you talking about blackstrap molasses. Well as a 70 year old, I remember having molasses with bread & butter. Truthfully, I have some in my fridge right now. I haven’t used it for quite a while, but my husband loves it and every once in a while he’ll dive in. Just wanting to share because of you I use tahini for my salads every day and never touch oils Thank you for all your information. Enjoy your videos again thank you.👍❤️🙂
At 43 and perimenopause I now have a prescription for iron but it’s still great to know the best sources of iron so I can include more of them in my diet.
If you have heavy cycles, it's possible you suffer from adenomyosis. It's more common for perimenopausal women. Eating an antiinflammatory diet is very helpful to lessen symptoms!
Wheatgrass powder, 2mg in 1tsp. Barley grass juice powder, 1.76mg in 1tsp. Easily added to smoothies.
I use barley grass most days as well. Very alkaline.
@@vegangreatlifeme too!!!
+moringa 4mg per 10g
16:23 It depends on the brand!!! 🤣 The organic blackstrap molasses you get at whole foods or the versions you get at farmer's markets are higher in calcium and iron than those you get in the baking aisle at Walmart. I'm talking about 10% differences. Also, through experimentation, I found that blackstrap molasses forms a savory trifecta with balsamic vinegar and tamari. Add alliums, miso, mushrooms, brown sugar, and parsley for the best vegan ramen base ever! 🤤
From what I've heard, it should be unsulphured.
@@HillLeeHill Yes, definitely unsulphured, but I think that would be the default for most organic ones. Still check the different brands and the individual nutrition labels.
As someone not fully plant based primarily due to iron issues this was top notch. I do most of these and appreciate your comments around absorption.
I'm very nutrition focused and track my food, however the haematologists thinks my body just gets rid of iron. I was vegetarian for 20 years until my levels became unmanageable. I take iron and focus on iron intake but my levels drop when I only eat plants after about a month. Frustrating.
Thank you, Derek! Exactly what I needed after blood test showing low iron... practical info I can use! You are the best!
Please do one of these tier lists for calcium! I subscribed after watching your protein and omega 3 tier lists
Recently went vegan and all of your videos have been super helpful, thank you!
You're welcome! Thanks for watching :)
That is awesome! I never realized that the tofu scramble i make in the mornings had so much iron between the tofu, black beans, kale, and hempseeds. Could you do a video about the best pre workout snacks to have? Maybe another tier video like this one?
One of the smartest I have ever done is subscribing to your channel.
Hey thanks, I'm happy you're here.
So happy you are reviewing this! Just recently found out my lab values are low.
1/2 cup of Grape Nuts cereal has 16.2 mg of iron. I usually try to either eat an orange or put one in my green smoothie. Also as usual, great video!!
Thank you, Derek. It's perfect timing for me as my blood work shows I need more iron ❤
Same & this is WAY clearer info than all else! Thanks to Derek!
Thanks, man, even before I started eating a plant-based diet I had chronic, sub-clinical anaemia. I appreciate you folks' work.
Thank you so much for all of this great info. A next one would be for protein. W are having a hard time getting enough as we get old. You did a fantastic job
He did one on protein! should be easy to find.
I was curious about the iron in rice and a google search suggested white rice being fortified. Although I didn't find any iron nutrition information on my rice packets and google search provided conflicting info. This video has convinced me that lentils should be a bigger part of my weekly meals and good ideas to increase iron in meals for my kids.
Went in for an annual checkup and the Doctor was very surprised that I was not deficient in anything and was very shocked that he couldn't prescribe me any pills!! On the check in paperwork they ask if you are following any type of diet and of course I checked the box for plant based. He was very skeptical and couldn't understand why I was in such great health until he asked me what I was doing. Eating a variety of plant foods and even some vegan alternatives with moderate exercise can be a game changer get it??👈💚🌱💪✌️
Doctors aren’t nutritionists. Don’t ask their non expert opinions of foods and nutrition.
Thanks so much, Derek! Am watching this, again, for a refresher. BTW, have you considered doing a similar video for plant-based sources of calcium? Thanks! - Claire
These tier lists are great. Calcium (other than iodine, b12 and omega 3) is one of the few things vegans need to keep an eye on. Please make that one, I would like your viewpoint.
Dry Black wood ear( a type of fungi that is very commonly seen in China) has 40-50% of iron and its not difficult to eat 30-40 g. Though it has to cooked in some specific ways or i can imagine western people don’t get used to its taste. I guess you can find it in Asian supermarkets. And black sesame has very high content of iron too.
I like these tier videos. Good info in a nutshell and helps us make sensible choices.
Moringa, which enjoyed its limelight for some time, is a great source of iron. The leaves(greens) contain 17.5gms of iron/100gms of dry weight. When cooked, they reduce in volume.
The moringa fruit/vegetables are called drumsricks and are a great source of fiber.
The moringa tree grows in the tropics and very easy to grow in your backyard. In colder places, they tend to die in winter but can be trimmed and brought back to life. (I live in the US and have 4 trees in my backyard)
Can I ask you a favor? Would you please post some recipes on lentils, beans, tofu recipes for lids and picky eaters? Thank you🙏 🤲
Thank you for the video, very informative! I love how you show yourself making a high iron meal after. It helps me visualize what I can make at home. You should make a video on folate too lol
This was so helpful as I’m semi-new to wfpb vegan and have battled with anemia. Subscribed 👍
Love love love this video series!!! Would love a video on potassium!!
I soak and lightly sprout pumpkin seeds and almonds… then dehydrate them dry. They become different to eat, digest and enjoy because they are crisper and more alive.
Thanks for the info. Iron is one thing especially for vegans to take care of daily… in the correct ways. It’s probably one of the biggest reasons people might go back to a meat diet.
Hi Derek, My name is Vi (rhymes with "pie"). I am a 67 year old woman and am anemic and do take an iron supplement, recommended by my hematologist. Love this video! Very educational and helpful. Thank you!
I really enjoyed this video! Such helpful info presented in such an engaging and understandable way. I couldn't help but notice, as an iron-deficient woman, that when you made reference to rdi throughout the video, you only mentioned the rdi for men, despite mentioning at the start that women have higher rdi and are more likely to have iron deficiency. It seemed odd to default to talking about the half of the population that don't need the info as much! That's a small note though in the scheme of how much I appreciated the info, thanks for making this video 😊
1.5 bar of chocolate sounds yum, but expensive! I wonder which are the most cost-efficient high-iron sources? 🤔💭💸 Like, what's the minimum $$ foods to reach the daily iron recommendations?
These types of videos are just genius.The Plant based information you provided via your channel Derek is truly incredible.
I love you're channel, bro ❤
Great video. Good to see you are coming to the campout this year xx
Yeah we are, and we can't wait! It's going to be so fun.
Thank you Derek. I love this series. It's really what I need.
Thanks! I'd be interested in seeing a video like this for B12. 🙏
Lentils contain a large amount of ferritin-iron (up to 70%) which is absorbed through a separate ferritin port. Even phytic acid or tannins don't reduce the absorption of ferritin-iron. So lentils are for sure number 1
I recently found out that pasta made from Canadian or American wheat is usually fortified in Iron ( among other things ) so it can be a very cheap source of iron.
I would love to hear your opinion regarding alkaline and acidic foods and the effects of them on our health. Thanks you😊🌸 I always watch and enjoy your videos!
This was very interesting. I love these video comparisons. thank you for making them. I did find it challenging w/the grams (tho I know others recommended this, so that;s fine); thought it was difficult to invision how much parsley I would actually eat to get what amt of actual iron. Still, amazingly done!!
I'm not a vegan but like your content for purpose of adding more plants to my diet!!
Thanks! Just recently diagnosed with low iron. I am taking a supplement but just today was wondering about foods. Perfect timing 😃
Brilliant thanks Derek. I am iron deficient due to a gastric bypass & on supplements but as a WFPB eater, I focus heavily upon these foods.
Great timing. Our GP had both of us start taking iron supplements this year. We aren’t “low”, but we are both at the bottom end of acceptable.
THIS!!!
The “before” shot in the thumbnail had me rolling 😂
Love these videos man! Keep them coming. Maybe do fat sources next?! (I recognize you just did omega 3s so that might not work) Or carbohydrates might be an fun one given pretty much everything has carbs.
haha thank you!
Also I think the white rice on cronometer is probably from enriched white rice? I just checked the rices I have and that’s the case for me.
Also a touch of molasses is great on soy curls or in seitan for coloring!
haha me too!!
Soaked pumpkin seeds blended up make a really good omelette or scramble! Thanks for the video as always ❤
You're dead-on about macro- and micronutrients in plant-based eating coming down to having a varied diet and making sure you eat enough. I've had many friends and coworkers throughout the years with this or that deficiency as vegetarians or vegans because they'd have an unhealthy relationship to food or otherwise have very restricted eating habits and portion sizes without concrete fitness or athletic performance goals. Food is what literally keeps you alive, folks, we have to eat! Might as well make your meals something you enjoy.
Yes, I spread my food throughout the day and never deny myself of anything. I don’t count my protein grams and don’t have to because I know that eating what I do provides, on average, all of the protein I need. If I start lifting weights, I add a daily smoothie using vegan organic “Garden of Life Meal” to a glass of Ripple or Forager plant based milk. Just those two ingredients provides an additional 28 grams of protein & micronutrients. All of this has become second nature, including my eating one each of every organic fruit or vegetable that I have in the house first each day. I also casually intermittently fast for a day here or there and the science all says this is amazing for you longterm. I grow my own organic greens at home using an inside 6-level Farmstand with glow rings and I’m about to add a second for more daily greens. I’m planning to put in potted organic fruit trees and covered raised beds of vegetables as soon as I move back to California. I hope people think about growing more of their own organic vegan food at home. It’s the best way to go for infinite reasons.
Agreed!
Derek ! I think the white rice has more iron because it’s usually fortified with nutrients
Ohhh interesting! I'll have to look into that more.
This is great thanks! I read that hearts of palm also has a lot of iron. What would you rate that?
Also, I'd love a video like this on calcuim next!
I looked it up and they have approx 3.1 mg/100g.. so not bad considering that's like 30 cals worth of food!
I am ready to learn my amazing friend now that I am back on my healing journey ❤
Was literally going to ask for this!!!! I need it. It’s why I haven’t quit meat….. because I have issues with low iron
The channel Plant Chompers did a fantastic video on iron absorption, and meat is actually not the best source of iron!
I was wondering if you have any opinions on sea moss? Have you ever considered consuming that?
Thank you for your amazing content you inspire me every time
I absolutely love tabouleh so I'm definitely getting my parsley. 😊
Thank you for your videoes and good work on promoting vegan life style! Regarding tihis video - what about fresh berries and raisins? I've always thought that they are high in iron content (and a lot of other good stuff) and that the iron is easy absorbed..
Heey, love your videos, super useful, e.g. had no idea chocolate has so much iron, or that vit C is so heat-sensitive! thanks! (but as a biochemist I feel like might be helpful to say that myoglobin is in muscle cells to receive oxygen from hemoglobin, instead of carrying it itself; and 'denature' as a word works best when talking about proteins, wouldn't use it with vitamins. not saying it to be rude or anything, just thought that in a video like this might be helpful to stick to science as accurately as possible) x x
Great review. I also remembered reading apricots, especially dried Turkish apricots, were a good source of iron. So I looked it up. 2.8mg/100g. Not bad. Great snack. Actually part of the almond family too.
FYI Don often cuts his tongue eating foods that are too dry. So we pour boiling water on almonds, let them sit a bit, then pop the skins off. Easier to chew bc softer and less bitter without skins. ~ Tracy
I eat my oatmeal raw, with a plant milk. I love the taste so it goes down really good. I have about 40g of raw oatmeal in my yogurt in the morning, but have lately been eating ~150-200g in the evening because I'm struggling to gain weight.
Just now i noticed how that helps me overshoot my iron needs by so so much lol, thanks
oatmeal is awesome, glad you are enjoying it so much! It's so versatile :D
we add parsley to our smoothies (not the Italian flat leaf but the curly parsley). Every single day we have a smoothie bowl and the way we do it is to add handfuls packed down (in our Vitamix) of leafy greens: most often it's kale but we also use spinach, parsley, carrot tops, beet tops, etc. -- even Romaine if it's in danger of not being used. So that's just in our morning smoothie bowls. And those are just the leafy greens but sometimes I also add a handful of pumpkin seeds maybe once a week to our smoothies. We also add other vegetables from time to time such as zucchini, carrot, beet, etc. And yes, we actually DO add fruit to our smoothies. 😃
Always appreciate your videos! Thank you! 😊
Glad you like them! Thanks for watching :D
Hey, Derek! Thanks so much for making this :D One thing to ponder re: tahini is whether it's made from hulled seeds or non-hulled seeds? Hulled seed tahini is way less bitter and more palatable, but also less nutritious. Then again, people probably aren't going to be eating gallons of it, so I don't know how much difference that makes, in the end. I discovered this discrepancy when I was researching non-dairy food sources of calcium, BTW. Sesame seeds are normally listed as being a good source of calcium, but I had to dig a little deeper and it turns out that they are not really, without those bitter hulls. Blessings!
So happy to have found this video, thank you Derek!!
Great video! Waiting for a Fiber tier list 🙏🏼
For me pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate would be in the A category. I love adding a generous sprinkle of pumpkin seeds onto my pancakes along with nut butter, berries, coconut yogurt and of course maple syrip. My daughter loves chocolate chips in her pancakes. Just a couple in each one and she is thrilled. Homemade treats like nut butter cups are a great way to get more dark chocolate or dates stuffed with nutbutter (almond 😉or peanut) and drizzled with melted chocolate. I also add hemp seeds to my cashews to soak when making sauces or dressing. Thank you for makimg these videos and sharing all this information. Do the almonds have to be whole or does almond butter count? Oh! I just remembered a favorite snack. Carrot sticks dipped in almond butter. Don't knock it til you've tried it. 😂
As a fellow almond-hater, I understand that Walnuts and Pistachios are higher in iron (fact-check me?) and are much more delightful snacks. Very helpful video, too. I'm also here bc I got turned away from donating platelets/blood bc of low iron. And I'd love more videos showing creative examples of complete high-iron, high-protein vegan meals!
Thank you for being one of the few that says that you need vitamin C to absorb iron better. Especially with plant based food, because animal and plant based sources have a different type of iron, the animal being much more easily absorbed. Eating vitamin C helps absorb even the plant based ones.
For those interested in biochemistry, animal products have haem iron (Fe2+) while plant based foods have non-haem iron (Fe3+). What is happening with vitamin C, is that it reduces Fe3+ to Fe2+. So while normally the body wouldn’t be able to absorb Fe3+, thanks to the vitamin C it is. Our body already converts some of it in Fe2+ thanks to the acids in our stomach (vitamin c also is an acid), but it’s not nearly enough
Well done with this video. 👏👏👏. Thanks for all your hard work in providing this info!🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻😊😊😊
Do one with sources of antioxidants!
I read that cooked Spinach is higher in iron than uncooked.
Dr. Klapper said that to make your greens have a higher absorption rate - add citrus to it
New to your channel and love it. At 72 am eating more this way. Love your ideas and charts.
Green juices with parsley and kale are amazing to boost iron levels and all other nutrients !
Loving these nutrition based videos. So informative. My husband and I are both vegan and learn so much from you. Have you/would you do a video on BCAAS/leucine and if there is a need to supplement this as vegans for muscle growth?
Derek, 1.7 cups of parsley? Easy! Just add it to your morning smoothie together with any other greens like spinach or kale. Yummy 🤤
haha I have done that before and do enjoy it! Same with cilantro!
Yep Cilantro is my favorite as it is yours 😊@@Simnettnutrition
always love your videos, Derek! Thank you.
Thank you Derek! 🙏 You are amazing 👍
Do beans lentils seeds also have tannins? Been vegan 15 years and my iron is low. I eat all these foods everyday. I gave up tea, so hopefully that was all I need to do.
Derek, I noticed that my stomach is more friendly with lentils and mung bean sprouts than with cooked. I hope that raw food is as beneficial in iron as cooked and I may give it the same spot in your scale. Love your videos and don't miss anything 👍
This one will help me on my life journey
THIS! This is the kinda stuff I've been looking for. Thank you 👍👍👍
You're welcome!
I always have my pumpkin seeds in my smoothies. They taste like nuts when you mix them with something with vanilla flavor. You could try this!
Thank you! Thank you for all your hard work that goes into these videos! I have been a vegetarian most my life and a vegan for over 15 years (for the animals). I have been unable to raise my iron with vitamins and had to have iron infusions. I am now trying to maintain it through my vegan diet. So many people commented that it must be from my diet. I think it is due to kidney stone complications Also, my hematologist said she has many patients who are anemic and I am the only vegan!
I want more tier lists! Maybe lists for b12, or other vitamins that vegans are told we can't get. A tier list of just generally nutrient packed vegan foods would be great too.
Great ideas!! I love the nutrient packed food idea.
Thank you so so much for doing my request! You have no idea how much I appreciate it. Thank you, this is really helpful ♥
You're so welcome!
Thank you for this informative video. Another tip for Iron : you can use a pan made of iron. It goes into the food. This is much healthier than teflon
Thank you so very much as always I always learn a lot and try
follow your recommendations. I love all your videos and appreciate it so very much.❤❤❤🙏
Love these types of videos! Thank you so much Derek!
May be a bit hard to find in the U.S., but check out the iron content of parasol mushrooms!
Great idea for the tier list.
I donate blood three times per year to keep my iron levels low for the purpose of blood viscosity, and hematocrit kevels. I enjoy eating plenty of greens. At age 70, my issue is having too much iron.
I love these videos! So informative❤