Benefits Of Iron: Foods That Contain Iron

Iron is an essential part of the hemoglobin molecule which carries oxygen in the blood. The two most common types of people prone to iron deficiency are young women and children. For adolescents and teens, iron deficiency can make the skin look dull and for some can enhance the appearance of under eye dark circles, a major beauty and appearance issue with many women. Often the lack of iron also expresses itself in the form of fatigue, poor attention, and sometimes shortness of breath, which is another condition itself, called anemia. In addition, lack of iron can lead to brittle nails, inability to stay warm, and frequent colds. We can see why it is important to have a diet that includes iron and eat iron rich foods! Eating foods that contain iron can provide the following benefits...

Having an adequate supply of iron in the body can help to raise energy levels and your attention span. Furthermore eating iron rich foods benefits the immune system and stimulates the production of healthy red blood cells. For those of you caring more about external appearance, iron stimulates muscle growth and reduces the appearance of under eye dark circles, this of course being if your under eye circles are not entirely genetically inherited.

As for foods that contain iron, Heme iron is found mainly in meats: poultry and fish. This form of iron is easily absorbed by the body and for individuals who have anemia, a daily supplement of Heme iron is an easy way to get your recommended daily dose. (But please note that taking more than the recommended dose, can lead to Alzheimer disease, and cardiac diseases. These can be avoided by absorbing the iron naturally, without supplements)

The iron that is found in vegetables (non-heme iron) is not easily absorbed by the body which is why vegetarians are told to take iron supplements. (Iron supplements have been associated with Alzheimer’s disease, liver cancer, and coronary diseases. So it’s best to get your iron from natural sources!) If you want to avoid this fate, my best recommendation is to eat fruits and other vegetables that are high in Vitamin C: oranges, grapefruit, lemon, nectarines, pineapple, and other citrus fruits. Vitamin C makes it much easier for your body to absorb iron because it converts ferric iron to ferrous iron and ferrous iron is easier to absorb (let’s not get into the Chemistry of that now…) Drinking coffee, tea, wine and excess grains can inhibit the absorption of iron, but these can be countered by Vitamin C, so keep up with that.

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Per 1 Cup

• Goji berries (up to 90 mg!)
• Nuts
• Dried beans
• Soybeans (8.8 mg)
• Spinach (6.4 mg)
• Lima beans (4.4 mg)
• Black beans (3.6 mg)
• Chickpeas (3.2 mg)
• Prune juice (3.0 mg)
• Peas (2.5 mg)
• Cashews (2.1 mg)
• Raisins (1.6 mg)
• Almonds (1.5 mg)
• Watermelon (1.4 mg)

Per 1 Cup

• Beef (liver) (6.17 mg)
• Organic chicken (1.13 mg)
• Fish
• Lean red meat
• Turkey (2.0 mg)
• Lamb (2.5 mg)
• Duck
• Chicken
• Oysters (16.0 mg)
• Clams (3.0 mg)

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