Vegan Nutrition with Marty Davey

Marty Davey is a Registered Dietitian and has a Masters degree in Food and Nutrition from Marywood University. Currently, Marty is working on a book for elderly vegetarians/vegans discussing daily nutrition needs and including issues with acute and long term facility care when following a plant-based diet. A website is being built for Marty to further educate people about plant-based diets. She also has a private practice specializing in assisting clients transitioning from the conventional Western foods to a plant-based regime.

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My pediatrician recently told me that my two year old daughter has low iron. I was surprised because she usually enjoys eating a variety of dried fruits, tofu, and fortified cereals. She is now on an iron supplement and I'm making more of an effort to increase her vitamin C, but do you have any other suggestions of toddler-friendly foods or recipe ideas that could help increase her levels of iron?

Not knowing what your child's iron levels are is a challenge, but I'm Irish and I always have an answer.

It's great that you know that vitamin C increases iron absorption. However, tofu and many dried fruits are not great iron sources. On the other hand, green leafy veggies such as spinach (>3mg/1/2 cup) have iron in addition to vitamin C which makes them all the more nutritious. Also, I don't know why, but white beans, tomatoes and lentils (>3mg/1/2 cup) are always overlooked as a great sources of iron. And, quinoa packs a wallopping 7.8mg of iron in every 1/2 cup. What's not to love? Well, how about feeding a toddler new foods?

I hid everything in soups and burritos. I'm not sure how you serve your tofu, but if you cook stir-frys you can use quinoa there. My son liked rice and would accept mix grains, but not necessarily new grains as a solo act. He would eat a baked potato (4mg) and watermelon (6" slice, 3mg) with no problems.

Here is a link to the USDA Nutrition Data Bank on iron. There are animal and vegetable sources in the list, but you can see where your food choices rate. http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR18/nutrlist/sr18w303.pdf

I did not ask my first question at the beginning of this which is: Are you vegan or lacto-vegetarian? If your child drinks cow milk that may be the issue. Milk has almost no iron. In fact, even if your child drinks soy or rice milk, if they are drinking these milks instead of eating foods that could be the issue. Neither of these is a good source of iron. Many parents have their children drink milk over eating foods. If kids drink milk at the beginning of a meal, they won't be hungry for the rest of the food.

The Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) or the amount your kid should get a day is around 7-10mg. With the choices mentioned above and a check on the USDA link, your child should be in the pink. (Well, red actually since iron is what gives blood its red color.)

Disclaimer: The advice given here is for eductional purposes only. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.

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