Iron Rich Smoothie – Dairy Free

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This Iron Rich Smoothie is filled with ingredients that are great plant-sources of iron, which is an incredibly important nutrient. If you’re anything like me then you might tend to be deficient more often then not, which isn’t uncommon in women. This smoothie is a delicious way of adding some more plant-based iron into the diet.

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It can be tricky to get enough iron from our diet, particularly if you’re not a big fan of red meat or if you’re vegetarian. But there are so many plant-based foods that provide a good amount of iron that we can incorporate more of in our diets to help meet our daily requirements. In this post, I’m going to run through why iron is so important, some of the symptoms of iron deficiency, good plant sources of iron and then of course, my delicious and refreshing Iron Rich Smoothie recipe. 

If you love a good smoothie recipe then you might also like to try my Cucumber Spinach Smoothie, Banana and Raspberry Smoothie or my Berry Spinach Smoothie. 

What to Love About This Iron Rich Smoothie?

• healthy – this smoothie is made using healthy, wholesome ingredients that provide your body with iron, antioxidants, fibre, healthy fats, protein and complex carbohydrates. 
• easy to make – just throw everything into the blender and have a delicious smoothie in minutes. 
• allergy friendly – this smoothie is dairy-free, egg free and gluten free.

Symptoms of Iron Deficiency 

Iron is essential for making haemoglobin, which is part of red blood cells and is responsible for delivering oxygen around the body. If you have low iron levels, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will have low haemoglobin. Iron is also an essential cofactor to many biochemical reactions throughout the body. As a result, here are some symptoms of iron deficiency and iron deficiency aneamia:

• fatigue 
• poor concentration
• muscle weakness 
• shortness of breath 
• pale skin
• poor immunity 
• depression – iron is an important nutrient in the production of serotonin, our happy neurotransmitter.
• hormone disruption

Causes of Iron Deficiency 

There are a few different causes of iron deficiency including:

• poor gut health leading to poor iron absorption in the gut
• consuming a diet that doesn’t meet your daily iron intake needs
• heavy periods for women
• bleeding and internal bleeding
• some medications 

Iron-rich Foods

There are two types of iron – heme iron and non-heme iron. Heme iron is from animal based sources (red meat, chicken, seafood etc), where as non-heme iron is found in plant sources of iron. To improve the absorption of iron, eat with foods rich in Vitamin C like citrus fruits (like oranges, orange juice, grapefruit and lemon), kiwi fruit, strawberries and broccoli. 

Non-heme Iron Sources

Below are a few plant-based iron sources:

• spinach 
• kale 
• beet greens
• figs
• prunes
• dried apricots
• medjool dates
• molasses
• nuts and seeds and nut and seed butters
• grains like oats and rye bread

Heme Iron Sources

Below are some sources of heme iron:

• lamb
• beef
• chicken 
• liver
• eggs
• oysters
• tuna

Ingredients Notes & Substitutions 

Because I’ve created this recipe to reach a certain amount of iron, I won’t be providing many possible substitutions. Any notes for ingredients are listed below while the ingredient quantities can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. 

• frozen banana – you can swap banana for frozen mango pieces or frozen pineapple pieces (or both) if desired. 
• frozen strawberries – I’ve included strawberries in this recipe as they are a good source of vitamin C, which helps to improve absorption of iron.
• almond butter – 1 tablespoon of almond butter provides 0.6mg iron. You can make this nut free and swap almond butter for tahini, which provides 1.3g iron per tablespoon. 
• medjool date – you can swap the medjool date for a few dried apricots, however I prefer the taste of the medjool date. 
• chia seeds – chia seeds are an absolute nutrient powerhouse and contain approximately 7.72mg of iron per 100 grams of chia seeds. That’s around 1.2mg per tablespoon!
• baby spinach – spinach is doing all of the heavy lifting in this smoothie providing 1.6mg iron.
• orange – orange isn’t just in this recipe because it tastes great but because it’s a great source of vitamin C, helping with the absorption of iron. 
• avocado – we all know avocado is great for providing healthy fats, but it’s actually quite a good plant based source of iron as well, providing 0.28 mg of iron – no huge but it certainly helps and makes the smoothie beautifully creamy. 
• coconut water – I was actually quite surprised with how much iron is in coconut water! Per cup there is 0.7mg, which helps boost the total for this smoothly nicely! I wouldn’t recommend swapping for a plant-based milk like unsweetened almond milk or oat milk, as they don’t provide as much iron, unless they have been fortified. 

How to Make This Iron Rich Smoothie 

This smoothie is as easy as any smoothie to make. Simply add the ingredients to a blender and blend on a high speed until smooth and creamy. You can add some ice cubes if you want an extra cold smoothie.

Supplementation 

This smoothie is not designed to reverse iron deficiency as many people who are iron deficient will require iron supplementation. The purpose of this iron rich smoothie is to help you achieve your daily iron requirement from your diet and to teach you about different foods that can are good sources of iron and can be incorporated into your diet, hopefully helping to avoid iron deficiency.

The iron requirement for a woman of 19-50 years – 18mg per day.