The Best Vegan Phosphorus Food Sources [Chart and List]

Phosphorus is an important mineral used as a material when building cell membrane and nucleic acids, among other roles.

In short, it primarily keeps your muscles and bones strong.

A phosphorus deficiency is not common, and you typically don’t need to pay any extra attention to getting enough. Even on a vegan diet, it’s not difficult to get.

I’ve put together a table of the top phosphorus sources so you can see where you actually get it from your diet. Note that many cereals and grain products are fortified with nutrients including phosphorus.

How Much Phosphorus Do You Need?

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of phosphorus is 700 mg for both male and female adults.

There’s no issue with getting more for most people, as long as it’s not an extreme amount from supplements.

A phosphorus deficiency is called hypophosphatemia, and a significant one can lead to symptoms including (source):

• Anemia
• Appetite loss
• Muscle weakness and bone pain
• Rickets (in children) or osteomalacia (in adults)
• Extremity tingling
• Respiratory failure

So even if phosphorus deficiency is not particularly common, it is very serious and requires medical attention.

Bioavailability of Plant-Based Phosphorus

Phosphorus in most plant-based foods (e.g. legumes, grains, nuts) is found as a part of phytic acid (or phytates).

If you’ve ever read about antinutrients, this is one of the main terms you’d come across. It can bind to certain vitamins and minerals, and humans to not have the enzymes needed to effectively extract phosphorus from phytates.

Because of that, only about 50% of the phosphorus from plant-based sources can be absorbed (source).

That’s still plenty in the vast majority of cases, but be aware that vegans need a bit more from their diet.

Finally, note that this is a reason why “antinutrients” should not be completely avoided. They do, in fact, contain nutrition, it’s just that they can also have a negative impact in some contexts.

The Top Vegan Phosphorus Food Sources

Below is a table of vegan foods in terms of phosphorus per 100 grams and per 100 calories. Click the headers to sort the data.

Food	Phosphorus (mg) per 100 grams	Phosphorus (mg) per 100 calories
Hemp seeds	1650	298
Chia seeds	860	177
Brazil nut	725	110
Flaxseed	641	120
Sesame seeds	629	110
Pine nuts	575	85
Oats	523	134
Cashew	491	85
Pistachio nuts	489	88
Almonds	481	83
Peanuts	375	66
Walnut	345	53
Rye grain	332	98
Wheat flour (whole-grain)	323	97
Buckwheat groats	319	92
Hazelnut	290	46
Pecans	277	40
Vital wheat gluten	260	70
Macadamia nut	188	26
Lentils	180	155
Chickpeas	168	103
Adzuki beans	168	131
Garlic	167	125
Soybeans	158	112
Quinoa	152	127
Amaranth	148	145
Navy beans	144	103
Kidney beans	142	112
Black beans	140	106
Lima beans	130	106
Fava bean	125	113
Seaweed (dried)	114	40
Coconut meat	113	32
Peas	108	134
Chestnut	108	44
Lotus root	100	135
Mung bean	99	94
Pumpkin seeds	92	21
Artichoke	90	192
Corn	89	103
Rapini	73	329
Parsnip	71	94
Broccoli	66	194
White potato	62	90
Date	62	22
Chicory root	62	86
Okra	61	187
Watercress	60	500
Mustard greens	57	213
Brussels sprouts	56	155
Kale	55	153
Barley	54	44
Avocado	54	32
Asparagus	53	246
Cowpeas	51	53
Arugula	50	200
Ginger	50	50
Spinach	49	214
Sweet potato	47	54
Swiss chard	46	243
Cauliflower	44	174
Rice	43	33
Turnip greens	42	128
Guava	40	59
Water spinach	39	200
Durian	39	26
Green bean	38	124
Squash	38	237
Zucchini	38	224
Beets	38	86
Bok choy	37	289
Leek	35	57
Carrot	35	83
Gourd	32	158
Plantain	32	26
Raspberry	32	60
Lychee	31	47
Onion	29	73
Lettuce (red leaf)	28	215
Cassava	27	17
Nectarine	26	59
Red bell pepper	26	100
Cabbage	26	105
Tomato	24	133
Eggplant	24	96
Strawberry	24	76
Cucumber	24	157
Celery	23	167
Apricot	23	48
Blackberry	22	52
Radish	22	133
Banana	22	25
Jackfruit	21	22
Cherry	21	33
Grapes	20	29
Bamboo shoot	20	171
Green bell pepper	20	100
Peach	20	52
Tangerine	20	38
Napa cabbage	19	162
Lime	18	60
Pummelo	17	45
Plum	17	37
Lemon	16	53
Cantaloupe	15	43
Fig	14	19
Mango	14	23
Orange	12	26
Grapefruit	12	32
Pear	12	21
Apple	11	22
Melon	11	31
Cranberry	11	24
Pineapple	8	17

As you can see, you can reach your RDA with just a serving or two of many foods.

The Best of Both Worlds: Phosphorus Dense Foods

For everyday diets, the perfect source of phosphorus has a lot per serving, and also per 100 calories.

It’s easy to identify these with a simple bubble chart. The foods that are most dense in phosphorus will drift to the top-right corner. (click to enlarge)

We see that oats and rapini stand out on the two extremes, but in terms of getting phosphorus as efficiently as possible, hemp seeds are by far the best source. They have a good amount of phosphorus per serving, while also having a lot per 100 calories.

After hemp seeds, nothing stands out other than the cluster of beans around the center of the chart. They have almost the same amount of phosphorus per serving, but not as much per 100 calories.

Types of Vegan Foods High in Phosphorus

When you look at the amount per 100 grams, certain foods gather near the top:

• Legumes (beans and lentils mainly) are amazing for phosphorus.
• Nuts in general rank highly.
• Certain grains and vegetables. As I said, there’s a diverse set of foods that have significant amounts of phosphorus in them that make it hard to not get enough.

 And if you look at the amount of phosphorus per 100 calories, leafy greens shoot up to the top of the list:

• Watercress
• Rapini
• Bok Choy
• Swiss chard

In addition, hemp seeds, squash, asparagus, and zucchini also rank well.

These are all foods that have a good amount of phosphorus in them, and very few calories. The downside is that you’ll have to eat multiple servings.  

They’ll fill you up really well, which is perfect if you’re trying to lose weight, but could be inconvenient otherwise.