I am interested in going the raw food/vegan lifestyle for me and my children.  My sister mentioned that boys can get "red meat  anemia" from iron deficiency from lack of meat.  How would I make sure they were getting enough iron with the vegan diet?  Any advice?

Combinations of foods such as beans and tomatoes or tofu and broccoli result in good iron absorption. In general, vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, capsicums, potato, tomato, etc. and fruits such as cantaloupe, grapefruit, strawberries, orange, etc. enhance the iron absorption.

BTW, I'd like to see your sister's "evidence" on her proposal...because "red meat anemia" sounds a little silly to me...no offense to your sister.

http://veganrockergirl.blogspot.com

Also sea vegetables (which I cannot have, but I know are high in iron), and beans are very high in iron.

If it makes you feel any better, my son, who is 4, has never had red meat, and has never been anemic.  I think as long as they get as healthy and varied a diet as possible (focusing on whole foods), and stay away from processed and vegan junk food, they should be just fine.

There's no such thing as "red meat anemia." Anemia is an iron deficiency. Meat is a source of iron, but there are other sources of iron too.

My Son is 7 and has never had red meat nor been anemic... I agree with Nicole 100%..

My friend on the other hand, fed it to her babies... they've had meat every day since...and both have iron deficiency under the age of 5.

Thank you all for your responses.  I know she means well but I don't think she fully respects my decisions to eat organic, raw foods, vegetarian, vegan, etc.  Her house is full of MSG, HFCS, Hazardous cleaners, everything.  I have never heard of "red meat anemia" either.  Going to talk to the Dr. tomorrow.  I don't think I putting my children in any danger by choosing to eat foods that do not have pesticides, GMO's, herbicides and choosing to eat more raw foods rather than processed boxed foods, how can she think that is ridiculous.  I just wish she would let herself gain more knowledge on what's really going on out there and what they are putting in our food, water, air, everything.  It's like they are trying to control the population with all of these dangerous chemicals.  Some people truly believe that.  She thinks that if you trust in God He will protect you.  I wholeheartedly believe that but the Lord does not want us to be ignorant either.  If there is info out there that has substantial evidence that we are being slowly poisoned by decades of neglect towards His creation Mother Earth.  God wants us to treat our bodies as temples and be wise to what we put in them.  Take care of ourselves as best we can not ignore the warning signs that are abundantly out there right smack in front of our faces.  Well, I leave her alone to what she chooses to eat, I think she should leave me be as well.  I think it makes her uncomfortable because when we go to her house I do not let my kids eat her food anymore.  Thank you again for all of your info and great advice.  I promise to use it wisely.  God be with you and many blessings to you and yours.

There is a nutritional difference between iron that comes from a plant source and iron that comes from flesh. Heme-iron is associated with animal foods and has a distinct shape. For some genetically susceptible people, they have difficulty absorbing non-heme iron. This condition is rare and any type of anemia is easily found on a simple blood test.

Plant foods have plenty of iron so unless there is a genetic defect (there isn't)  you needn't worry.

Hi there, we are currently vegetarian turning vegan, My son is 4 and my daughter is 2. We had my son checked 7 months ago for iron deficiency and he was fine. We have noticed a decline in his diet lately, endurance and behavior. We had him checked again and he is iron deficient. He used to eat fantastic, tofu, beans broccoli. Since summer began I can barely get the kids to eat. I am a firm believer that a vegan lifestyle is the healthiest choice for my children, however until they are eating a wide variety of greens and legumes, we have them on an iron supplement and we give is to him with fresh OJ for absorption. 

Sorry there Nickers... I'm new to this site and my intention was to "flag" your discussion as one I would like to follow so I clicked on the flag... dummy me Your discussion nor any of the discussions on here do I consider inappropriate. Can't seem to undo it unfortunately. I will take it up with the tekkies... love to all  :)

Not to worry LadyBe, I ignored the flag.

Thank you.