iron and calcium

[Lucy76]

I was just checking out the foods I eat every day on fitday, and I noticed that it's really hard to meet the daily requirements for iron and calcium. Unless I drink at least 2L a day of green juices, carrot juice etc, and eat a huuuge green salad, and lots of nuts and seeds.
I don't have time to do all that juicing every day though, and a lot of times, I can't afford it.
When I eat mostly fruit (which is what I enjoy mostly) and green salads, I don't meet the daily requirements.

Do you?

A friend told me that when you're on a raw diet, you don't need as much calcium and iron, because you absorb more from raw fruits and veggies. Is that true?

[Raw Angel Mom]

Gojji berries are excellent source of iron. They are packed of vitamin c too which make the iron absorb able by your body.

As for calcium, chia seed and sesame seeds are a good source that i know of. If you search Flax seed none refine are a good source and almond.

[fastfreedom]

A friend told me that when you're on a raw diet, you don't need as much calcium and iron, because you absorb more from raw fruits and veggies. Is that true?

I would agree with that. Though I couldn't verify it. I think that the majority of, "recommendations", out there are pertaining to people that largely eat SAD. IMO the reason people eating SAD need to supplement so much is not only because they aren't getting the nutrients/vitamins/minerals but also because their body is fighting what they are eating and literally tearing itself apart trying to counteract the diet which they consume.

I think if you really want to succeed with eating raw plant foods you need to find someone else that has been doing it for at least a few decades and listen to them. And IMO, you shouldn't listen to someone that is just surviving, but should listen to someone that is THRIVING. IMO, if the person needs to take lots of supplements, and/or tries to sell you supplements and the next best thing, then their diet isn't good enough and you need to find someone else to listen to.

[Lucy76]

Raw Angel Mom
I eat all of those thngs, but how many flax seeds can you eat? Well if I make crackers with them i can eat a whole bunch, but I try not to exceed 20% of fats in my diet. Goji berries are great, but too expensive to eat a lot of them.

Fastfreedom thanks for the suggestions. I guess you're right. I'm not so concerned about myself. I'm learning as I go. But I'm also trying to get my kids to eat mostly raw, and I want to be certain they're getting enough calcium and iron. All the other vitamins and minerals don't seem like a problem at all, to get enough of.

[Bihaku]

Is there anything else for iron instead of goji berries, because I think those things are nasty, besides the expensive part.

[MysticTree]

Lots of things. Check it out via Google.

[phak-i-tu]

Is there anything else for iron instead of goji berries, because I think those things are nasty, besides the expensive part.
The obvious things for iron are dark green vegetables. Collards and spinach, for example, are packed with it. A quick fix is a tablespoon of black strap molasses. Check out nutritional yeast too, which can be had a lot cheaper than goji berries. Just thought I'd give you something to go on besides google - where you'll see a lot of links telling you to eat a plate of liver and onions, so be prepared.

[Non]

Heh, I just cannot have collards. Too many goitrogens. I feel tired after eating them. Maybe it's just me. Also some people like to blend them into smoothies so perhaps that is a difference? a pound of kale greens would give you more than half the RDA of calcium. Dandelion greens also are good. Chia seeds. Sesame seeds. Poppy seeds. Hemp seeds are really, really good too for iron..

[Non]

Iron: parsley, pumpkin and sesame seeds. Mungs, lentils. again hemp.

These things add up. Especially if eaten with at least an lb of greens a day, and if you sprout these seeds.

[soulful]

A friend told me that when you're on a raw diet, you don't need as much calcium and iron, because you absorb more from raw fruits and veggies. Is that true?

Most food is stripped of vitamins and minerals when cooked so I'd say you're absorbing more from the raw type. A good thing to take in while getting your daily dose of calcium is honey. The molocules in honey transport calcium to your bones and aid it in sticking to them.

[SunshineMN]

We use fresh squeezed lemon juice in our dressings or I eat an orange along with my leafy greens to help absorb more of the iron. I haven't worried too much about calcium yet, but I'm often anemic. My last doctor check went well though and my hemoglobin was 13.5. :)

[Living Food]

Spirulina and chlorella have loads of iron, green juices are good for iron + calcium, green sprout juices are amazing for iron + calcium, lots of nuts and seeds (sprouted) are also very good sources. Weed juices are also good; nettles are probably one of the best things you can have for iron, although beet root juice is even better.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

I don't meet the daily requirements.

Do you?
l smash the daily requirements every day. lt is so easy to do.


A friend told me that when you're on a raw diet, you don't need as much calcium and iron, because you absorb more from raw fruits and veggies. Is that true?
lt can be true if a raw vegan diet done properly, but it can also be the opposite (many reasons for this, but l don't have time to explain...too busy).

lf you want excellent iron and calcium in easily absorbable form, try this:

* sprout poppy seeds or sesame seeds and make a cold pressed paste from it . Soak 5 tablespoons of these seeds (roughly 100 grams) and sprout....you will approximately reach the rda for both calcium and iron.

Reaching the rda from fruit and vegetables is very very difficult, especially if you buy them from shops.

[Lucy76]

Τhanks everyone!

I'll try that paste Mr Raw. :)

[Raw Angel Mom]

I think i understand now your concern. You are wondering how to replace the iron from the meat and the calcium from the dairy?

I bought a very inexpensive book that contain rich information about food contain with raw food and you even have recipe "RawSome" by Brigit Mars. I also found a copy from a laboratory research about nutrient contain on food. I went to whole nine yard to find the info that i need because my daughter was so young and i had to prove that she had her meet her daily need etc... She had blood work done when she only have smoothie from strawberries/banana/hemp seeds. She score above average with all the amino acid, and wasn't deficient anywhere. A little low in vitamin A, B12 and Iron but not deficient (Iron goes in hand with the B12, if b12 is low, the iron will be low). Because she didn't want to eat any other food, i continued to provide my milk with a pump up to 4 years, but once those result came and she started to accept different food, i stop. I started to add banana plantain, different berries such gojji berries, golden berries, sunflower sprout and supplement her with a B12 that i carefully researched and i knew was absorb-able for my child.

Here what i have learned, this concept to try to meet their dairy quota is only a guide line not the way to go. Children are incredibly attuned with their body. When my child started to accept different food, all she wanted is tomatoes (rich in vitamin A). Up to now, what i have learned is that a child doesn't need milk past 2 year old, and they should be fed abundantly with fruits and to have a source of the essential amino acid (hemp seeds are marvelous but not the only source). The child will tell you what he/she needs. They need to be introduce to many type of food and their body will develop a craving. My child had many period of craving dramatically for a specific food, at first tomato, then pears, then strawberries, then apple, then coconut water and young coconut meat, then blueberries, oranges, carrot/beet/celeri juice etc.... It goes with phase.

I no long try to impose food, and just let my child eat what she craves, i will make suggestion. She stopped wanted her smoothie for month, it raised concern but i decided to let go, she is now wanted her smoothie. I no longer use frozen fruit apparently as per Dr. Graham they can compromise the B12, i only use fresh and she is perfectly fine. Before she only wanted frozen strawberries, but not anymore.

So if you are giving fresh fruits and find a way to give them essential amino acid, your children are all set to go. I use to put gojji berries in her smoothie, now i make a trail mix with them and she loves these berries.

All the best!

p.s At time she cans eat only fruits, other time, she will eat more dense food such crackers, raw gourmet treat.

[Lucy76]

I think i understand now your concern. You are wondering how to replace the iron from the meat and the calcium from the dairy?

Well not exactly, I haven't had meat and dairy in almost 18 years, and I could get enough calcium and iron from a vegan diet just fine. I ate lots of lentils, cooked dandelions, spinach etc

With a raw diet, I can get more than enough for both, when I drink lots of juices. But sometimes i don't have the time to do that, and that's when I fall short. So I was wondering if the requierements for iron and calcium, are so high, because with cooked and sad diets you're not absorbing them as well. I think that may very well be the case.

Thank for all the suggestions. It's been a while since I used hemp seeds, I have to get some soon, they're awesome! :)

[Raw Angel Mom]

That's great!

[Non]

There are plenty of sources from where we get calcium,like milk,potato soup,puddings cheeses,cheddar,swiss and yogurt.And we get iron from,beef,pork,lamb,especially liver and other organ meats,chicken,ducks and turkey.They both are quite helpful for our health and body parts.

lol.....

[MysticTree]

lol.....

they are just setting up a string of cr@p posts that they can slide a sig onto in the future which will then populate all the posts they've seeded all over the forum. The forum has anti spam settings and posting rules that can be implemented but none of the admins seem to want to use them!

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

lf you want super high levels of iron, try fenugreek sprout juice. David Wolfe (woofy) says that cacao is the highest source of iron, but as usual he is WRONG!

[MysticTree]

who cares what the highest source is. We just need enough!

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Vegans can struggle to get enough iron due to it being hard to absorb iron from plant foods and due to them eating many green vegetables high in oxalic acid [which binds the mineral iron], so fenugreek sprouts is a really helpful source of iron without the negative effects associated with conventional greens. Any person low in iron would be highly recommended to consume fenugreek sprouts if they don't have diabetes.

[Crystal2870]

Thats really helpful information Raw Angel Mom, thank you for that, i have hemp protein powder which I have been putting in my kids smoothies but maybe the seeds would be better? do you use whole seeds or hulled ones? I do worry about my little boy as he is such a bad eater but I know its just a phase, I worry he is not getting enough nutrients all he seems to eat is just fruit ! (he isnt raw just vegan)..

[Zoefzoef]

I just posted a similar concern in a different thread. I am personally not too concerned with what official standards and levels are or supposed to be. What does matter to me is how I feel and if I see my daughter thrive and being healthy. I do eat most of the things mentioned above everyday, expect for the goji berries (same thing: expensive and nasty tasting...). I do juice collard greens, spinach, kale beet leaves and whatever other greens cross my path, and eat them in salads. I sprinkle hemp seeds over everything, started sprouting, eat different nuts and seeds the whole day, mix lemon or orange in the juices and salads
Nonetheless I am constantly dizzy and lightheaded. Dizziness and tiredness are gone on the days that I take some floridax liquid iron. Its all plant based, but I assume its not raw. So I was hoping to find alternatives and find what I need in my food.
I have been wondering about seaweeds. I used to eat much more before I went completely raw, but always in soups and stuff like that. i am not sure which seaweeds you can eat without cooking.

[delmar]

Rasins are high in iron. All manner of sprouts are high in calcium.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

I have been wondering about seaweeds. I used to eat much more before I went completely raw, but always in soups and stuff like that. i am not sure which seaweeds you can eat without cooking.

Yes, seaweed does't appear to have much calcium and iron in the analysis, but it is highly utilised and hence a respected source of iron and calcium. Kelp is supposed to have 1,000 times the calcium available to the body over dairy products.

A bunch of sea weeds can be eaten raw and they are really beneficial and make you feel great. l have the following:
* arami
* dulse
* nori
* wakami
* kelp

there are many more. Kelp powder is very handy and my favourite because it can be mixed as a liquid drink (quick to consume) and it has a strong taste and makes me feel l am down the beach. The others need to be eaten, but can be blended also. lt's best to not waste such high quality foods by blending them...best to carefully chew the seaweeds and get the full benefit.

Many vegan foods make it hard to utilise all the calcium and iron from them because of things like phytic acid and oxalic acid, but sprouting solves this problem and inhibitors are removed andf the phosphorous levels are brought into proper balance. The babies (seeds) and the mums (fully grown plants) are usually brutes that show no mercy, so what we need to eat are the young children because they are just right.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Other good sources of calcium and iron are weeds. Another good source is sunflower greens (not plane sunflower seeds)...growing the greens brings the phosphorous content way down (maybe 80%) and the calcium is very highly utilized, + the iron content is fantastic!

But if you really want the very best all-rounder for iron and calcium, look no further than sprouted poppy seeds. lt is easy to smash the RDA's for both minerals with this phenomenal food. Perhaps no other land foods are higher in the main minerals than poppy seeds.

* weeds
* sunflower greens
* sprouted poppy seeds

[Non]

Yes, seaweed does't appear to have much calcium and iron in the analysis, but it is highly utilised and hence a respected source of iron and calcium. Kelp is supposed to have 1,000 times the calcium available to the body over dairy products.

A bunch of sea weeds can be eaten raw and they are really beneficial and make you feel great. l have the following:
* arami
* dulse
* nori
* wakami
* kelp

there are many more. Kelp powder is very handy and my favourite because it can be mixed as a liquid drink (quick to consume) and it has a strong taste and makes me feel l am down the beach. The others need to be eaten, but can be blended also. lt's best to not waste such high quality foods by blending them...best to carefully chew the seaweeds and get the full benefit.

Many vegan foods make it hard to utilise all the calcium and iron from them because of things like phytic acid and oxalic acid, but sprouting solves this problem and inhibitors are removed andf the phosphorous levels are brought into proper balance. The babies (seeds) and the mums (fully grown plants) are usually brutes that show no mercy, so what we need to eat are the young children because they are just right.

Scary.

So what are fruits then considered, sex ogans? Why not eat the sex organs then?

nvm.

[Living Food]

I believe that all seaweed is edible raw.


So what are fruits then considered, sex ogans? Why not eat the sex organs then?

Flowers are the sex organs, and are perfectly fine to eat. I would think fruit is a "mum" because it contains the seeds.

I can see how the analogy could be confusing, but the key is that sprouts are the best possible food you can eat.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Scary.

So what are fruits then considered, sex ogans? Why not eat the sex organs then?

nvm.

What `Living Food' said....the fruit is the hybrid mum. She's one of the best mums out there if she's not sick, but mankind have made her more irrelevant in the modern age. Man has grown her to be extra sweet and man has become so new age that she now needs to be picked early and unripe, so she is nearly always sick. Because we are mean to this glorious mum, she strikes back and acidifies our body and takes away lots of our nutrients in an attempt to starve us (unripe) and she tries striking back with her high sugar content while giving back neglectable nutrition (picked hybrid fruit). She's a delicate mum and a real ole charmer who is really kind hearted, but if you mess with her she'll show her fangs.

[Non]

What `Living Food' said....the fruit is the hybrid mum. She's one of the best mums out there if she's not sick, but mankind have made her more irrelevant in the modern age. Man has grown her to be extra sweet and man has become so new age that she now needs to be picked early and unripe, so she is nearly always sick. Because we are mean to this glorious mum, she strikes back and acidifies our body and takes away lots of our nutrients in an attempt to starve us (unripe) and she tries striking back with her high sugar content while giving back neglectable nutrition (picked hybrid fruit). She's a delicate mum and a real ole charmer who is really kind hearted, but if you mess with her she'll show her fangs.

Lol. Microcosm/macrocosm.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Mum's don't like to leave the party early (be picked before they are ripe), that's why they fill us up with nasty surprises. + the babies want some fun before they are eaten...they want the chance to become kids, so if we eat them before they have some fun (the seed is their little fun booster, but as soon as the seed is used up they are happy to retire and be put to rest) they will give us nasty little surprises [also] be filling up up with toxins like phytic acid, uric acid and oxalic acid and various other nasties. You only eat the family when they are ready to be eaten, not when we are ready. They hold the cards, we don't. The fathers have never been on the scene.

[MysticTree]

Nature grows all fruits to be sweeter because animals and not just people like sweeter fruits. Over time the plants with the sweetest fruits are the ones favoured by the animals and so their seed is the seed that gets planted when animals defecate. There is nothing wrong with hybridisation. It's totally natural.

[SunshineMN]

I completely agree with you MT. I have a hard time understanding how anyone can think fruit is unnatural or bad for you. I also don't understand how anyone can think you can survive on only fruits.

[MysticTree]

I completely agree with you MT. I have a hard time understanding how anyone can think fruit is unnatural or bad for you. I also don't understand how anyone can think you can survive on only fruits.

I'm not sure why anyone would want to even try to survive on one kind of anything! Variety is key for me.

[robh]

I found I had this problem too. For a while, I my sense of smell started to diminish. I found I was lacking calcium, zinc and iron. After solving the issue, my sense of smell has returned in full force.

To solve it, I now eat two things everyday.

Chia Seeds
I start with 25 grams of soaked chia seeds. To make them yummy you can add things like raw agave, raw honey, dates and figs. For a treat, you can also soak them in fruit juice instead of water.

In addition to calcium and iron, chia seeds have high a omega-3 content. I do not get enough omega-3's. If this wasn't the case, I could probably get 100% of my calcium from my second source.


Ground Sesame Seeds

Each day, I also consume 75 grams of ground up, raw sesame seeds.

At $3/lb, they are cheap. That have a very high calcium to weight ratio, to boot.

Grinding them, I feel, is critical because, otherwise, I notice they come out whole on the other side. In order for the body to adsorb the minerals, it needs to be exposed to them. Grinding them up exposes more calcium, iron and zinc to the parts of your body that absorbs them.

I put 4 cups of raw sesame seeds in my food processor and process them on high for 3-4 minutes. This will last me 1-2 weeks (depending how diligently I consume them).

I find the paste tastes the best when I add a mix of raw honey and raw agave. I then, typically, I spread the past onto apple slices and enjoy.

I have also done a savory dish with them. I recently did sesame seed paste with oregano, garlic, onion, olive oil, salt and pepper spread on to slices of eggplant and topped with red bell pepper strips.

Conclusion

The daily recommended amount for calcium is 1200mg. For raw vegans, I think this is BS. I estimate the number of probably closer to 700-800mg. It may even be lower than that, but we do not get much vitamin D so it's probably better to err on the side of too much.

Between these two foods, I knock out 6-8 of my daily mineral requirements (calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium and zinc). I also take care of my omega3 and omega6 requirements.

On top of all that, I find that these fatty foods keep me full.

Anyway, thought I'd share my discovery.

[SunshineMN]

That sounds really good Rob. I think I'll try that. I have 5 lbs of sesame seeds in the freezer right now and that's a great way to incorporate it daily. :) I also usually eat a couple tbsps of chia in lemon water every day. Next month I'm adding some ground flax as well.