This is from the July issue of Vegetarian Times, p. 80:
"Although the iron stores of vegetarians may be relatively low, the
incidence of iron-deficiency anemia in vegetarians is not significantly
different from that in omnivores, according to the American Society of
Clinical Nutrition. True, most animal protein is rich in iron. But iron
is abundant in plants as well, and your body isn't particular about the
source. In fact, the latest research coming from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) is bearing out what nutritionists have suspected for
years: that the lower your iron levels, the more your body absorbs from
food, keeping you in a constantly regulated state of balance. Besides,
high stores of iron aren't necessarily desirable. New evidence also
suggests a link between excessive iron stores and heart disease and cancer."
This is from an article entitled "8 Nutritional Myths" (pp. 78-80).
The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine lists green leafy vegetables, dried
beans, blackstrap molasses, dried apricots and other dried fruits (why
"dried" specifically?) as foods rich in iron, and says that vitamin C
supplementation has been shown to enhance absorption of dietary iron.
Interestingly (at least I thought so), the various "natural" health books
I consulted (with the above exception--and it included meat among the
sources of iron) all recommended either iron supplementation or eating
more meat with no mention of plant foods as sources, and one was a
brand-new book put out by the folks at Prevention magazine.
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Victoria Modarresi Dept. of English
vmodrsi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx University of Arizona
(520)621-1836 FAX (520)621-7397 Tucson, AZ 85721
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