Tag: hemoglobin

Last week I wrote about the powerful antioxidant potential when you combined ellagic acid and quercetin. This week’s dynamic duo is targeted toward vegetarians: iron and vitamin C.

Getting enough iron for vegetarians can be difficult. If your diet is mostly plant-based, you probably rely on tofu, legumes and spinach to get the iron you need. These are all iron-rich foods, however, your body actually only absorbs about 20% of the iron found in plants (non-heme iron). The solution: vitamin C.  Vitamin C triples the bioavailability of non-heme iron  by changing it to a more absorbable form called ferrous iron.

Iron is an essential mineral and its most important job is to carry oxygen throughout the body. Without enough of it, your body can’t make enough healthy oxygen-carrying red blood cells. A lack of red blood cells is called iron deficiency anemia – and is perhaps one of the reasons you may be feeling exhausted. So make sure that you if you rely on veggies or legumes for your iron source, you are combining them with some foods rich in vitamin c.  Continue reading “How to Boost Iron for Vegetarians”