00:00
Hi there it's Jen, and welcome to this week's podcast episode. So this week I'm going to be talking about whether vegans need to be concerned about the fact that the iron from plant-based food isn't absorbed as well as the iron from heme iron like red meat and things like that and things like that. Now, before I get started, I just wanted to talk to you about my brand new recipe book that is out now, called Super Boosted Snacks. So it's full of over 70 vegan recipes that have been specifically developed to be high in iron and zinc and calcium, as well, as there are recipes with extra veggies in them and lots of beans and things as well, so they've been specially developed to be really healthy for vegan kids. They're also really delicious and all of my kids love them, and they're not just for kids. I love them and all of my friends who I've made them for love them as well. So make sure that you grab a copy of my book down below. I've put the link down in the show notes and so, yeah, make sure you grab that, all right? So today's episode. Now I'll just let you know in case the sound quality isn't as good in this one as normal. 

01:21
I'm currently on a trip to the UK at the moment and I'm recording in my hotel room, so I'm having to be a bit quieter this time than normal and I'm having a great time. I love all of the vegan food over here in the UK. There's so much more than there is in Australia and it's very inspiring, giving me lots of different ideas of things that I can make back home. But I'm actually going on a vegan hike, which is really exciting, over in Cornwall, so I'll be leaving for that tomorrow, which I'm really excited about, and I'll be putting lots of photos up on my Instagram, so make sure you follow me there if you want to see what I'm doing. 

02:03
All right, so back to today's topic is should we actually be worried about the fact that  non-heme iron isn't absorbed as well as heme iron? So I have been putting some posts and things up on Instagram lately talking about different sources of iron for vegans, and I invariably get a response from people telling me that the iron from red meat is absorbed better and so we should all be eating that, which I sort of think. I only studied nutrition at university, do you think? I'm not aware of the fact that that that exists, but it does raise a valid question of should we actually be worried about it? So the first thing I guess is is the iron from bread meat absorbed better? And the basic answer is yes, it is. That's because it's closer in its form, its formula sort of thing to the iron that we have in our body, so our body is able to absorb it better in general. 

03:22
But there are a few caveats with that. So they're finding now with the research that our bodies actually have mechanisms that can switch on and off the absorption of iron depending on whether we need more or not. But this only really happens with plant-based irons. Our body isn't able to do this as much with iron from meat. So if we need to absorb more iron, then our body will switch on the mechanisms to make sure that we absorb more and if we already have enough, then it will actually tone down how much we absorb so that we don't get too much. Because we can actually have too much iron, which can lead to iron toxicity, which can cause a lot of problems in our bodies. If we have too much iron then it can cause damage to our liver, our joints, our hearts and in some cases very extreme cases it can actually cause death. Extreme cases it can actually cause death. So, yeah, there is an upper limit to how much iron we can have, and the truth is that if you're getting most of your iron from animal, from heme iron, then it's actually harder for your body to regulate this iron absorption than it is if you're getting it from plant-based iron. So the first thing to remember is that just because we absorb iron from animal foods more easily doesn't actually mean it's a good thing. 

04:56
So the next thing to look at is what do sort of the dietary guidelines and things say? Now you really do need to remember that the dietary guidelines are actually. They have hundreds of experts all get together and they develop these over years, so it's not like people just kind of make them up on the spot, which I think that a lot in the diet culture and stuff. A lot of people do kind of imply that there's not a lot of merit behind what the dietary guidelines say, but the reality is a lot of research goes into them. And the other thing to remember is that if you actually look at the dietary guidelines, they do promote a pretty plant-based diet. So when you're looking at really healthy vegan diets. They actually fit in with the dietary guidelines very well. Yes, the dietary guidelines include dairy and milk and eggs, but they have plant-based alternatives for milks in there. Some of them, like the Canadian one, doesn't even have milk anymore, and you also have all non-meat options for proteins as well. So it's actually really easy to follow a vegan diet with the dietary guidelines, and they definitely do promote what is what could be a very healthy vegan diet as well. So if we actually look at the dietary guidelines now I'm basing this off the Australian ones because I'm Australian, but other ones like the UK and the American one and the Canadian ones are all quite similar as well. 

06:46
So they state that adults should be having at most seven serves of red meat per week, so that basically comes out at most a maximum of one serve of red meat a day. So what is one serve of red meat a day? So what is one serve of red meat? So one serve of red meat is actually 65 grams of cooked meat, which gives us 1.6 milligrams of iron. Now we're actually supposed to be aiming for 10 milligrams a day for most people and 18 milligrams if you're menstruating. So there is a lot of iron there that's not supposed to actually be coming from red meat. 

07:31
So where are we supposed to be getting the majority of our iron from? Well, we're supposed to be getting it from non-heme plant-based iron sources things like grains, legumes, vegetables iron sources things like grains, legumes, vegetables. So even the dietary guidelines are definitely not telling us that we should be getting the majority of our iron from red meat, now heme iron. So, coming back to the fact that the iron from meat is absorbed better than the iron from plant-based sources, which is right. So we actually absorb about 35% of the iron from meat. So, as I said, you're supposed to be getting 1.6 milligrams of iron a day. So 35% of that is I just paused then to do some calculations in my head is going to give you about half a milligram of iron. 

08:36
Now, the other thing to know also is that, um, yeah, so there's, we absorb about 35% of the iron from red meat and then we absorb about 10% of the iron from non-heme from plant-based sources. But again, when they did the calculations, they actually took this into consideration as well, because the reality is we need one milligram of iron of actual iron per day, or 1.5, if you're, if we're menstruating. So when they recommend that we're getting 10 milligrams of iron a day, that's actually taking into consideration the fact that we only absorb 10 of it. So that means that when they give the calculations and everything, they're already taking into consideration how well the iron is absorbed when they give us the 10 or the 18 milligrams of iron. So the thing to remember here is that the experts do actually know what they're talking about. The thing to remember here is that the experts do actually know what they're talking about, and the lower absorption rate of iron from plant-based sources has actually been taken into consideration when the amounts have been calculated out. So again, we need to be aiming for around 10 milligrams for most people and most kids, and then 18 for anyone who's menstruating, and as long as we're aiming for that from our food, then we're going to be able to actually be getting enough iron, whether it's plant-based or from meat as well. 

10:26
Now, if you would like more help in how to actually make sure that your family is getting enough iron, getting that 10 milligrams or the 18, I have a brand new vegan membership that I have started. It's called Nourish and Grow. Started it's called Nourish and Grow and inside it's got. We've got so much information about everything you need basically in order to flourish on your vegan diet. I've got heaps of information on nutrition. 

10:59
There's lots and lots of information in there about how to actually make sure your kids are getting the nutrition they need, and you as well. There are hundreds and lots of information in there about how to actually make sure your kids are getting the nutrition they need, and you as well. There are hundreds and hundreds of recipes as well Lots of kid friendly recipes too. And then there's also things on how to meal plan and meal prep, because I know that, just because you know which sort of foods and nutrients your kids need, that that's only sort of half the um, half the battle. The other half is actually being able to make these things quickly and easily as well, and so there's lots of information in there on how to do meal planning and meal prepping to make sure that everything is really easy and you can make really quick, healthy meals for your family and we also. 

11:49
Each month we have a different topic, so this month just gone, we actually looked at iron and zinc. But that's okay, because there's a Facebook group you can work through at your own pace, and I am in there. You can ask me any questions you want in the Facebook group, and then we have Q and a sessions as well every now and then where you can ask me live as well. So I will put the information for nourish and grow down below, and I would absolutely love to have you in the membership, um, and it's a great place to make sure that you know exactly how to make sure your kids are getting that 10 and 18 milligrams of iron that they need. Alrighty, that's all for this week and I'll be back next week with another topic. 



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