Vegetarians iron nutritional status

In a study from this laboratory, iron intakes and iron nutritional status of Seventh Day Adventist students attending Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska were studied. As a beginning study, 28 Seventh-Day Adventist students were asked to keep 3-day dietary diaries. Of the 28 subjects, 15 claimed to be vegetarians and 13 claimed to be omnivores. Most meals and food eaten by the subjects were obtained from the Union College cafeteria which is operated as a lacto-ovo-vegetarian food service. 

Iron Nutritional Status of Omnivore and Vegetarian Students Eating a Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian Food Service Diet (Self-Selected)... 

From the results of these studies it would appear that diets of both vegetarian and omnivore women tend to contain less than recommended total amounts of iron. Furthermore, the iron in vegetarian diets tends to come from foods of suspected low iron bioavailability. However, on the basis of biochemical indices of iron status, most seemed to be in adequate nutritional status. Recently, Bergan and Brown (29), reported results of a study involving new vegetarians. Results indicated that 50% had non-acceptable hematocrit levels 23% had non-acceptable hemoglobin levels, 18% had non-acceptable serum iron levels,... 

Cadmium uptake is also dependent on gender, the nutritional status, in particular the status of other metal ions, and calcium and fiber in the diet. Under iron and zinc deficiency, cadmium uptake is higher (see Section 3.2.2 below). Vegetarian diets are of concern due to cadmium accumulation in crops and nutritionally induced mineral deficiencies. The damage to the kidney is dependent on these factors with contribution from co-morbidities, such as diabetic nephropathies. 

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