Vegetarianism and Bruising, Tell Me What I Need to Know?
Whether you are already living a vegan lifestyle or you are thinking about becoming a vegetarian, you may have some concerns dealing with the effects that vegetarianism might have on your body, with some special concern about bruising. The truth of the situation is that even though there is an urban legend that says that folks who are vegetarians have a tendency to bruise easily, there is no reason that by paying careful attention to your diet you can eliminate it.
To begin with we need to figure out where the thought process of vegetarians being susceptible to bruising came from. Generally speaking, if a vegetarian, specifically a young one, suffers from easy bruising, it would normally be an indication of a vitamin deficiency. This can, and in some cases does, occur, but if you apply careful scrutiny to your diet to make sure that you are receiving all of the foods and nutrients that your body needs, this shouldn’t prove to be a problem. There are any number of problems that will be the result of you’re shorting yourself some essential vitamin or mineral, but there is nothing about a vegan diet that causes bruising any more often than any other diet.
If you are eating as a vegetarian and have noticed that you are prone to increased bruising, you’ll find that one thing that you might need to look at is the amount of iron in your diet. Iron is an important mineral when you are looking at supplementing your immune system and encouraging better circulatory health. Iron is found much more abundantly in animal products than it is in vegetables, though it is certainly there, just in smaller quantities.
If you are a vegetarian, what are the best ways to put iron into your diet? First, look for dark green vegetables that are available at your local supermarket. Things like spinach and broccoli are going to be rich in iron, as will prunes, soy products, molasses and any cereals and breads that have been fortified with iron. Another fun way to make sure that you are going to get iron into your diet is to look into cooking with cast iron pans and pots.
Increasing your intake of vitamin C is another important way to increase the rate of iron absorption into your body. Vitamin C is really important in host of different aspects, so there are a multitude of reasons to raise your daily intake. Fruits are the most common source of vitamin C, of course, but more dinner and meal oriented vegetables, like sweet potatoes also provide added vitamin C.
If you are a practicing vegetarian, it is very important that you make sure that you are going to be able to eat a balanced diet, and easy bruising is one sign that you may need to focus on your diet a little more closely. Be mindful of what your body is trying to tell you, and make sure that you are eating what you need to eat to keep you healthy.
