Transcript Episode 6: Proven Strategies to Meet Iron Needs in Vegan Kids

Karla Moreno-Bryce: How do I meet my child’s iron needs?

What are examples of plant-based foods that provide iron?

How do I get my vegan child to eat their iron-rich foods like beans? 

If any of these questions have ever kept you up at night, then my dear friend, you and many other vegan parents are not alone. 

One of the biggest concerns—if not the number one concern—of vegan parents is how to actually meet their vegan child’s iron needs while following an exclusively plant-based diet. And I get it, iron is one of the nutrients we hear about a lot when it comes to childhood nutrition. You don’t hear about making sure they meet manganese or potassium. While these nutrients are essential in our child’s diet, there’s a very good reason iron is emphasized in online discussion boards, social media, and at your child’s wellness visits. 

And in today's episode, we’re going to talk about 3 specific strategies that you can implement at home to help meet your vegan child’s iron needs. 

But before we talk about why iron is discussed a lot, I want to make sure we are all on the same page here in terms of what iron is. Iron is a mineral that the body uses primarily to make hemoglobin, which is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body. And if you can imagine your vegan child growing, as they grow, they’re producing more and more red blood cells to support their growth and development. 

Which brings me back to the topic of why iron is highly emphasized in children and the reason being is because childhood anemia, as it relates to iron deficiency, is highly prevalent in children—regardless of the diet they may follow. Simply put, anemia is when there aren't enough red blood cells in the body. 

Some children with mild anemia may be asymptomatic, meaning they don't show any signs and symptoms. But if you’re wondering how to know if your child may be anemic, some of the common signs and symptoms of anemia are pale skin or pale lips, irritability, weakness, or very tired and requiring to nap frequently. If you’re ever in doubt, speak to your healthcare provider about your concerns and a blood test may be recommended to confirm. 

Alright, now that we covered the reason iron is so important and what to look for in children who may be anemic, let’s talk about how to actually meet iron requirements for your vegan child. 

The first strategy is to offer and focus meals around legumes like beans, lentils, and tofu. This strategy may sound a little obvious to some of you but you’d be surprised at how many vegan parents overlook this simple and critical strategy when meal planning. 

Some parents often focus their attention on making sure vegetables and fruits are part of the meal. And while they’re important and should be part of meals, they lack calories and iron to help support adequate growth and development. When we look at building meals for our vegan child, we want to ensure it revolves around iron-rich plant foods. This is the one key nutrient I want you to always keep in mind when you’re planning and preparing meals for your kids.

And perhaps you may be saying “Karla, I’m just starting out solids with my baby. I don’t even know where to start and you’re saying to focus meals around legumes”. Well, I get it, this may already sound overwhelming but hear me out because I’d like to say that you’re actually in the best position of all because you get to set your baby’s vegan feeding journey up for success by implementing this key strategy from the start.

If you need some ideas or inspiration, just take a look at my instagram page. I share actual meals that I serve my family where each one of them focuses on an iron-rich food to show you what adequate meals for a vegan child looks like. And this is something I teach you following a formula inside the Vegan Kids Nutrition Blueprint course so that you learn how to create iron-rich meals using your own preferred foods and favorite meals.  

The second strategy is to include plant foods rich in Vitamin C. If you’re a member of the Vegan Kids Nutrition Blueprint course then you already know how to implement this strategy into your family’s meals. And the reason vitamin c is important with a diet centered around plant-based foods is because it helps better absorb iron from plant foods. 

There is a lot of misinformation out there about how the bioavailability or the rate at which a nutrient is absorbed in plant foods is not very good. I hear this all the time from actual nutrition experts who disagree that a vegan diet is not adequate for children because of this belief that nutrients in plant foods are not absorbed very well. 

To some extent, some nutrients like iron from plant foods are not readily absorbed but the addition of vitamin c makes it a very easy and simple practice for the body to absorb iron. And this can be as simple as adding some strawberries to your kids oatmeal or squeezing some lemon juice in your meals. 

Studies show that children who follow a vegetarian and especially a vegan diet actually show intakes of iron above the recommended levels. While studies show that iron stores in vegan children may be low but within normal levels, in the most recent German VeChi Youth study, children have iron intakes almost twice as much as that of non-vegan children. In fact, through this study, they found that the risk of iron deficiency in vegetarian and vegan children is quite low. And it’s my professional opinion that it’s because of plant-based diets naturally being high in foods rich in vitamin C from fruits and vegetables. So, if there’s anything that you take away from this episode, I want you to keep including fruits and vegetables to your child’s meals to help them absorb iron from their diet. 

Alright, moving right along with strategy number three is to cook and prepare food with cast iron cookware. Many vegan parents have often asked me about the efficacy of using cast iron pots in their home to help their vegan kids meet their iron needs. If you have one available to you and it’s one you enjoy using, then certainly it’s a great approach. There is mixed research around the efficacy of using cast iron pots in home cooking as a way to prevent and treat iron deficiency anemia. Some observational studies show that when used properly, foods consumed after being prepared in iron-containing cookware increases hemoglobin concentrations in children. Other studies show that there is no evidence showing that cast iron pots are effective in treating iron deficiency anemia. So, while we need more research around this, I think it’s also important to point out here that the majority of these studies are primarily conducted in developing countries. Where perhaps acceptability of such cookware may be a limitation if it’s not a traditional cookware used in these communities. But if you have one at home and it’s something you enjoy cooking with, then there’s nothing wrong in using iron-containing pots simply for the purpose of cooking enjoyment. There may be some nutritional benefits in using one when preparing meals for vegan kids. 

Alright, so to recap these simple three strategies in helping your vegan kids meet their iron needs, number one, is to focus each of your daily meals around iron-rich foods which primarily are going to be your legumes. Second, is to include plant foods that provide vitamin c to help enhance absorption of iron from what your vegan child consumes at meals. And third, if you enjoy cooking with cast iron pots, that may be a good approach in helping your family meet your iron requirements. 

If you’re interested in learning more about meeting your vegan child’s iron needs, grab the Vegan Kids Cookbook with the link in the show notes. It features recipes that the entire family can enjoy with a focus on helping your infant, toddler, and/or child meet their nutritional needs while following a vegan diet, especially iron needs. And to help you a little further, the digital cookbook includes a 3-day meal plan complimenting the recipes in the cookbook. 

Alright my friends, I hope that these simple strategies help you feel more at ease around meeting your vegan kids iron needs. I’ll see in the next episode. Bye for now.