Veggie smoothies make me regular, but am I getting to much Iron?

[James]

(03-21-2014 10:48 AM)zowie Wrote:  Hi James,
When I turned 50 I bought a Blendtec and started making vegetable herb smoothies. They changed my system from slow to beautifully regular. But should I be concerned about getting too much iron?

I grind up whatever's around, usually kale, spinach, parsley, cilantro, turmeric, ginger, olive oil, a spoon of yogurt and maybe a hand full of blueberries.

I usually make enough to have a glass in the morning and one at dinner.

Should I substitute other veggies instead and which do you think would be most beneficial?

I tried all sorts of other fiber and bulk to fix the slow issue over the years, but non had worked as well over the long term.

I'm a slim, active and healthy 52 yr old.

Thank you for considering. Cheers, Zowie

Hi Zowie,

It is harder to overdo plant irons than heme iron. The reason is a lot of plants contain compounds that can block iron absorption. For example tannins in your blueberries and the oxalic acid in the kale, spinach and parsley.

James