Vegetarians may need up to 50% more zinc than the standard RDA, so aim for about 16.5 mg a day for men and 12 mg for women instead of 11 mg and 8 mg. The reason is phytate, a compound in grains, beans, nuts and seeds that binds zinc and lowers how much you absorb.
The best vegetarian sources are hemp and pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, lentils, oats, tofu and, if you eat them, yogurt and cheese. Soaking, sprouting, fermenting and yeast-leavened bread all help you get more out of them.
Key takeaways
- Target: RDA is 11 mg (men) and 8 mg (women). Vegetarians may need up to 1.5 times that.
- Top plant sources: 3 tbsp hemp seeds (3.0 mg), 1 cup chickpeas or lentils (2.5 mg), 1 cup oatmeal (2.3 mg), 1 oz pumpkin seeds (2.2 mg).
- Absorption: phytate is the main problem. Soaked, sprouted, fermented and leavened foods have less of it.
- Upper limit: 40 mg a day from food and supplements. More than that over time can cause copper deficiency.
How much zinc do vegetarians need?
The Food and Nutrition Board sets the RDA and notes that the requirement "may be as much as 50% greater for vegetarians," mostly those whose diets lean on grains and legumes. There is no separate official vegetarian RDA, so treat the right-hand column as the top of your range.
| Group (19+ years) | RDA (mg/day) | Up to 1.5x for vegetarians (mg/day) |
|---|---|---|
| Men | 11 | 16.5 |
| Women | 8 | 12 |
| Pregnancy | 11 | 16.5 |
| Breastfeeding | 12 | 18 |
Teens who are pregnant or breastfeeding have higher RDAs (12 mg and 13 mg). Lacto-ovo vegetarians who eat dairy and eggs most days usually sit closer to the RDA end than vegans do.
Best vegetarian zinc sources
Values are from USDA FoodData Central, sorted by zinc per serving. Calories are included so you can see the cost of each.
| Food | Serving | Zinc (mg) | Calories (kcal) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hemp seeds, hulled | 3 tbsp (30 g) | 3.0 | 166 |
| Chickpeas, boiled | 1 cup (164 g) | 2.5 | 269 |
| Lentils, boiled | 1 cup (198 g) | 2.5 | 230 |
| Oatmeal, cooked with water | 1 cup (234 g) | 2.3 | 166 |
| Pumpkin seeds, dried | 1 oz (28 g) | 2.2 | 158 |
| Edamame, prepared | 1 cup (155 g) | 2.1 | 188 |
| Tofu, firm (calcium sulfate) | 1/2 cup (126 g) | 2.0 | 181 |
| Quinoa, cooked | 1 cup (185 g) | 2.0 | 222 |
| Yogurt, plain, low fat | 8 oz (227 g) | 2.0 | 143 |
| Black beans, boiled | 1 cup (172 g) | 1.9 | 227 |
| Kidney beans, boiled | 1 cup (177 g) | 1.9 | 225 |
| Wheat germ, raw | 2 tbsp (14 g) | 1.8 | 52 |
| Pine nuts | 1 oz (28 g) | 1.8 | 191 |
| Cashews, raw | 1 oz (28 g) | 1.6 | 157 |
| Sunflower seeds | 1 oz (28 g) | 1.4 | 166 |
| Swiss cheese | 1 oz (28 g) | 1.2 | 111 |
| Green peas, frozen, boiled | 1 cup (160 g) | 1.1 | 125 |
| Tempeh | 3 oz (85 g) | 1.0 | 163 |
| Cheddar cheese | 1 oz (28 g) | 1.0 | 115 |
| Milk, 1% | 1 cup (244 ml) | 1.0 | 102 |
| Almonds | 1 oz (28 g) | 0.9 | 164 |
| Dark chocolate, 70-85% | 1 oz (28 g) | 0.9 | 170 |
| Peanuts, dry-roasted | 1 oz (28 g) | 0.8 | 166 |
| Tahini | 1 tbsp (15 g) | 0.7 | 89 |
| Whole-wheat bread | 1 slice (32 g) | 0.6 | 81 |
| Egg | 1 large (50 g) | 0.6 | 72 |
Two things stand out. Seeds give the most zinc per bite, while beans and lentils give the most per meal. And dark chocolate is not the zinc source it's often said to be: 3.3 mg is per 100 g, so a 1 oz square has 0.9 mg.
Fortified breakfast cereals can add a lot more, but the amount varies by brand. Check the Nutrition Facts label for the % Daily Value.
For the protein side of these foods, see our vegan protein sources guide and the nuts ranked by calories and protein.
Why plant zinc is harder to absorb
Phytate (phytic acid and its salts) sits in the outer layers of grains, beans, nuts and seeds. In the gut it binds zinc and iron so less of them is absorbed. A 2018 review in Nutrition Reviews calls phytate a potent inhibitor of both minerals and notes that nutrition scientists estimate zinc availability from a diet's phytate-to-zinc ratio. The European Food Safety Authority goes as far as setting different adult zinc requirements for four levels of phytate intake.
This is the catch with vegetarian zinc: the foods with the most zinc, whole grains and legumes, also carry the most phytate. You don't need to avoid them. You just need more of them, prepared well.
How to absorb more zinc from plant foods
Traditional food preparation lowers phytate in two ways: some of it dissolves into water you throw away, and phytase enzymes break the rest down.
- Soak and drain. Soak dried beans, chickpeas and lentils, then cook them in fresh water.
- Sprout. Germination switches on the seed's own phytase. Sprouted lentils and mung beans work in salads and stir-fries.
- Ferment. Tempeh, miso and sourdough go through microbial fermentation, which also breaks down phytate.
- Pick leavened bread. The Linus Pauling Institute notes that yeast reduces phytate, so leavened whole-grain bread offers more usable zinc than unleavened flatbread or crackers.
- Add eggs or dairy if you eat them. Yogurt and cheese bring zinc without phytate.
Exact reductions vary with the food, time and temperature, so treat these as habits rather than precise multipliers.
The same steps help iron absorption too, which our guide to iron for vegetarians covers in detail.
A vegetarian day that reaches 16 mg
This lacto-vegetarian day uses only foods from the table above and lands at about 16.4 mg, the top of the range for men.
| Meal | Foods | Zinc (mg) |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 1 cup oatmeal with 3 tbsp hemp seeds | 5.3 |
| Snack | 8 oz plain low-fat yogurt with 1 oz pumpkin seeds | 4.2 |
| Lunch | 1/2 cup chickpeas in a salad, 2 slices whole-wheat bread | 2.4 |
| Dinner | 1 cup lentils, 1/2 cup firm tofu | 4.5 |
| Total | 16.4 |
For a vegan day, swap the yogurt for a cup of edamame (2.1 mg) and you still land around 16 mg. If you're choosing between legumes, black beans vs chickpeas compares them side by side.
Is zinc deficiency common in vegetarians?
Lower zinc status is common. Severe deficiency is not. A 2013 meta-analysis of 26 studies found vegetarians ate about 0.9 mg less zinc a day than non-vegetarians and had lower serum zinc. The gap was larger in vegans, in women and in studies from developing countries.
Severe deficiency shows up as slowed growth in children, skin rashes, diarrhea, frequent infections, slow wound healing, a dulled sense of taste and poor night vision. Mild shortfalls are harder to spot, and a blood test is not a reliable read on body zinc stores. If you're worried, ask your doctor rather than guessing from symptoms.
Should vegetarians take a zinc supplement?
Most vegetarians can get there with food. A supplement may make sense if your intake is regularly low, you're vegan and pregnant or breastfeeding, or your doctor finds a problem.
Keep total zinc under the 40 mg a day upper limit for adults, counting food and supplements together. High doses over weeks can push copper too low: in one report, 60 mg a day (50 mg of it from supplements) for up to 10 weeks led to signs of copper deficiency. The Linus Pauling Institute also notes that claims of better absorption for zinc picolinate are poorly supported in humans. Talk to your doctor before starting one.
To check your intake, log a few typical days in Nutrify by photo, barcode or voice, then check them against the table above. Nutrify has a 7-day free trial, then a paid subscription.
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy), FDC IDs: hemp seeds 170148, pumpkin seeds 170556, wheat germ 168892, firm tofu 172475, chickpeas 173757, lentils 172421, oatmeal 173905, edamame 168411, quinoa 168917, black beans 173735, kidney beans 175194, pine nuts 170591, cashews 170162, sunflower seeds 170562, green peas 170017, tempeh 174272, almonds 170567, dark chocolate 170273, peanuts 173806, tahini 170189, whole-wheat bread 172688, Swiss cheese 171251, cheddar 170899, low-fat yogurt 170886, 1% milk 170872, egg 171287. Search any ID at fdc.nal.usda.gov.
- Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University. Zinc (RDA table, vegetarian requirement, upper limit, leavening, copper interaction).
- Foster M, Chu A, Petocz P, Samman S. Effect of vegetarian diets on zinc status: a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies in humans. J Sci Food Agric, 2013.
- Gibson RS, Raboy V, King JC. Implications of phytate in plant-based foods for iron and zinc bioavailability. Nutr Rev, 2018.
