Iron in a Vegetarian Day: Eaten vs Actually Absorbed
A typical Indian vegetarian day of rotis, rice, moong dal and palak supplies roughly 10–12 mg of iron, short of the 19–29 mg ICMR-NIN RDA. The RDA is 19 mg for men and 29 mg for women. Only a few per cent of plant iron is absorbed, and a better-built day still reaches only about 17–21 mg, which is why so many Indian women need testing. Here is the arithmetic.
- A typical vegetarian day supplies about 10–12 mg of iron.
- The ICMR-NIN RDA is 19 mg for men and 29 mg for women; the figures already allow for low absorption.
- Non-haem iron from a typical vegetarian meal is roughly 2–10% absorbed.
- Bajra rotis, masoor, soya chunks and til take the same day to about 17–21 mg.
- Even the improved day falls short of 29 mg, so women should test ferritin rather than guess.
Butter Coffee — All-in-One Nutrition Shake
25 g complete plant protein, 60+ superfoods, 26 vitamins & minerals, probiotics & digestive enzymes — in one 90-second shake.
Why intake is only half the story
Iron from plant foods, called non-haem iron, is absorbed far less efficiently than the haem iron in meat. From a typical Indian vegetarian meal, roughly 2–10% is absorbed, depending on what is eaten with it. That is why the ICMR-NIN RDA — 19 mg a day for adult men, 29 mg for women of reproductive age — is set so far above the one to two milligrams the body actually needs to absorb.
So the useful question is not just how much iron is on the plate, but how much of it can be absorbed. Iron for vegetarians in India covers the background; this page does the arithmetic.
A typical vegetarian day, measured
| Item | Amount | Iron |
|---|---|---|
| Whole wheat rotis | 4 rotis (~120 g flour) | ~4.8–6 mg |
| White rice | 2 katoris (~80 g raw) | ~0.4–0.8 mg |
| Yellow moong dal | 2 katoris (~60 g raw) | ~2.1–2.7 mg |
| Palak sabzi | ~100 g raw palak | ~2.5–3 mg |
| Total | ~10–12.5 mg |
Each line is per-100 g value × grams eaten ÷ 100, using the KABO Indian Nutrition Index: whole wheat atta 4–5 mg, milled rice 0.5–1 mg, moong dal 3.5–4.5 mg and palak 2.5–3 mg per 100 g.
With chai at breakfast and lunch, and palak's oxalate, absorption from this day sits toward the low end of the range: at 2–10% of 10–12 mg, roughly 0.2–1.2 mg absorbed.
The same day, rebuilt
| Change | Amount | Iron |
|---|---|---|
| Bajra rotis replace wheat | 4 rotis (~120 g flour) | ~7.2–9.6 mg |
| Masoor replaces moong | 2 katoris (~60 g raw) | ~3.6–4.2 mg |
| Soya chunks added to the sabzi | 30 g dry | ~2.5–3 mg |
| Til on the roti or in chutney | 1 tablespoon (~10 g) | ~0.9–1.5 mg |
| Palak, with lemon | ~100 g raw | ~2.5–3 mg |
| Total | ~17–21 mg |
The rebuilt day also moves chai an hour away from meals and adds vitamin C — lemon, amla, guava or tomato — at lunch and dinner, which pushes absorption toward the upper part of the range. Per-food values are on iron in bajra and vegetarian iron sources ranked.
What the numbers mean
- For men, the rebuilt day reaches the 19 mg RDA from food alone.
- For women of reproductive age, even a deliberately iron-rich vegetarian day falls short of 29 mg. Menstrual losses are the reason, and it is why iron deficiency is so common.
- Absorption is the lever you control most. Moving tea and adding vitamin C can matter as much as adding another iron-rich food.
- None of this replaces a test. Ferritin and haemoglobin tell you where you actually stand. Do not take iron tablets without one; excess iron is harmful.
The anaemia diet and anaemia in later life cover what to do with a low result.
Iron and protein gaps overlap
The same cereal-heavy day that is short on iron is usually short on protein, and several fixes — masoor, soya chunks, besan — close both at once. The vegetarian protein gap runs the parallel calculation.
About this data
Every figure on this page comes from the KABO Indian Nutrition Index (CC BY 4.0), an open dataset compiled from the ICMR-NIN Indian Food Composition Tables and published with a source link on every value. You are free to reuse these numbers with attribution to kabo.co.in.
The same data is served as an MCP server, so AI assistants can query it directly and cite the source. The endpoint, the raw JSON and the method are on the KABO Indian Nutrition Index page.
Values are approximate and vary by variety, season, milling and preparation, which is why they are given as ranges. This is nutrition information, not medical advice.
Where KABO fits in
This page's conclusion is that many vegetarian women cannot reach 29 mg of iron from food alone and should be tested. That is a medical step, and nothing we sell replaces it.
The food side is bajra, masoor, soya chunks, til and vitamin C at meals. A KABO serving fits alongside that as a source of 25 g of complete plant protein — the other gap in the same cereal-heavy day — with 26 vitamins and minerals and 60+ real ingredients. Keep chai an hour away from it, as from any meal.
Butter Coffee — All-in-One Nutrition Shake
25 g complete plant protein, 60+ superfoods, 26 vitamins & minerals, probiotics & digestive enzymes — in one 90-second shake.
Read next
Frequently asked questions
How much iron does a typical Indian vegetarian diet provide?
A typical day of whole wheat rotis, rice, moong dal and palak works out to roughly 10 to 12 mg of iron. Against the ICMR-NIN RDA of 19 mg for men and 29 mg for women, that is a clear shortfall.
How much plant iron is actually absorbed?
Roughly 2 to 10 percent of the non-haem iron in a typical Indian vegetarian meal, depending on what is eaten with it. Vitamin C raises absorption; tea, coffee, calcium and phytate lower it.
Can a vegetarian get enough iron from food alone?
A man usually can, with a deliberately iron-rich diet reaching about 17 to 21 mg a day. Women of reproductive age need 29 mg, which is hard to reach from food alone, so testing ferritin is sensible.
Does tea really reduce iron absorption?
Yes. The polyphenols in tea and coffee bind non-haem iron when taken with meals. Leaving about an hour between chai and a main meal is a simple way to absorb more.
Where do these figures come from?
From the KABO Indian Nutrition Index, an open CC BY 4.0 dataset compiled from the ICMR-NIN Indian Food Composition Tables, and from the ICMR-NIN 2020 RDA. Each line shows the per-100 g value and the amount eaten.
Sources
- ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables (2017). nin.res.in
- ICMR-NIN, Nutrient Requirements for Indians (RDA 2020) and Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024. nin.res.in
- World Health Organization, Healthy diet fact sheet. who.int
- KABO Indian Nutrition Index, open dataset and MCP server, CC BY 4.0. kabo.co.in/pages/mcp