What Can an Adolescent Vegan Eat to Increase Iron Intake?

Teen vegans can meet their iron needs as long as they consume a healthy amount of vegetables, whole grains and legumes.


Adolescents who follow a vegan diet can meet their iron needs by consuming iron in vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fortified cereals and other foods, nuts and seeds. Adolescent males and females need extra iron; for females, the need for extra iron continues up to the time of menopause. Combining foods high in iron with foods high in vitamin C increases the absorption of iron. Vegans need to consume twice the iron that non-vegetarians do to meet their daily requirements because of the decreased absorption of nonheme iron.

Iron Absorption

Iron in the diet comes in two forms: heme iron, which comes from animal sources, and nonheme iron, which comes from plants and other non-animal sources. Heme iron has higher bioavailability, meaning that your body absorbs more of it than nonheme iron. You absorb between 15 and 35 percent of the iron in heme foods and just 2 to 20 percent of the iron in nonheme foods, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements. Heme iron absorption is efficient and other foods don't affect it. Other foods do affect nonheme iron absorption; some, like foods high in vitamin C, improve it up to six-fold, according to The Vegetarian Resource Group. Others, such as tannins that are found in tea, calcium and substances found in vegetables and legumes, can decrease iron absorption.

Foods High in Iron

Iron-fortified cereals can supply as much as 18 milligrams of iron to a vegan's diet. Having a bowl of instant, fortified oatmeal, which contains 11 milligrams of iron, with a glass of orange juice can help meet your daily iron needs. A cup of soybeans contains 8.8 milligrams of iron. Legumes such as pinto beans, black beans, navy beans or kidney beans supply between 3.6 and 5.2 milligrams per 1-cup serving. Quinoa, a whole grain also high in protein, contains 6.3 milligrams per cooked cup. Even a large potato can help meet your iron needs, with 3.2 milligrams of iron. Tofu, a favorite food in many vegetarian diets because it takes on the flavor of other foods, supplies 6 milligrams of iron per 4-ounce serving. Dried fruits, such as raisins, also contain iron, around 1.6 milligrams per 1/2 cup.

Daily Requirements

Iron needs rise during adolescence because of the increased growth and development that takes place during these years. Girls need more iron than males because they lose iron each month in red blood cells during menstruation. Adolescent males between the ages of 14 and 18 need to absorb 11 milligrams of iron per day, while females need 18 milligrams per day. Between the ages of 9 and 13, boys and girls need to absorb 8 milligrams of iron per day.


Adolescents in general often have poor diets; female adolescents, who are often watching their weight in addition to losing iron each month during their menses, have a higher risk of developing iron-deficiency anemia whether they follow a vegan diet or not. A small Swedish study published in "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" in 2002 found that adolescent female vegans and omnivores had similar rates of iron deficiency, 20 and 23 percent, respectively. A German study published in the 2004 "Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism" of vegan women under the age of 50 found that 40 percent were iron deficient, showing that consuming enough iron is an ongoing concern for female vegans even after the adolescent years.

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