A well planned vegetarian diet provides adequate iron. The Recommended Dietary Allowance for iron is 10 mg daily for men and postmenopausal women and 15 mg for women of childbearing age. Dried beans, dark green leafy vegetables, blackstrap molasses, bulgur, and prune juice are good vegetarian sources of iron Only about two to twenty percent of the iron available in vegetarian sources is absorbed by the body. You can increase this by, eating a vitamin C-rich fruit or vegetable at each meal. Protein Protein requirements can easily be met in Vegetarian diets when the diet includes a variety of plant foods and the caloric intake is adequate.
Protein quality is determined by protein digestibility and amino acid content.
The daily recommended protein from plant sources is 1.0 g due to the lower digestibility of some plant foods. All the essential amino acids needed for a complete protein can be found from plant sources. Vitamin D Vitamin D deficiency is rare in the general population. Sufficient exposure to sunlight can synthesis vitamin D and meet biological requirements. Deficiencies have been noted in vegetarians but were attributed to inadequate sun exposure rather than a low level of vitamin D intake.