Also assume that essentially no heme-forms of iron are being absorbed through food intake. How much iron normally comes from non-heme supplements added by food manufacturers to food used in a normal American vegetarian diet. Suppose the one cup of beans is eaten with whole wheat bread by one person, another cup eaten with tomato sauce by another, another eaten plain and followed by a cup of coffee, another mixed with egg yolks in a salad. The ongoing costs and troubles of taking enough self-measurements of iron to get a seasonal or monthly picture seems to be beyond what the average person would or should consider doing. Yet iron deficiency is supposed to be America's most common nutritional deficiency.
Iron deficiency seems to be popularly presented as a rather minor or harmless condition.
Iron nutrition calculation information seems to suggest that daily ingestion of iron from a source such a ferrous sulfate 325 milligram tablets is at the border of potential iron toxicity for males, but not, perhaps for females. Avoiding iron deficiency is difficult in vegetarian women, especially if they have heavy periods. About the only way to do it is to take iron supplements. Iron has no effect on pregnancy other than to help the blood counts. The major symptoms of iron deficiency are fatigue and there are few organs affected unless the anemia is severe which is unusual.