This vs That - Iron in steak vs spinach
That's a lot of spinach Popeye was eating!
Iron is important for transporting oxygen around your body - if your iron stores and dietary intake is low you might be feeling more tired than usual and have more fatigue or poor recovery.
A standard palm sized piece of steak (110g raw) has approximately 1.8mg of iron.
To get the same amount from spinach, its a whole dinner plate worth at 170g!
Challenge is though, that only a fraction of the non-haem iron in spinach is absorbed compared to the haem iron in steak thanks to nutrient bioavailability.
It's recommended that for a plant based diet, you may need to eat up to 80% more iron from the foods in your diet.
It's definitely possible to meet your iron needs from plant foods alone, it just takes more planning and intention with the types, amounts and frequency of foods eaten.
Gemma
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