What types of food should I eat for low iron deficiency?

AshlynnHH

For most of my life I suffered with low iron. I wanted to start buying some stuff at the grocery store so I could have iron enrich foods at hand. But, online lists are not that helpful as they have only a small selection of food. I had been put on pills before in the past. But, I try staying away from pills if I could help it. If you can find a huge list of iron foods, I would appreciate that too.

Alatariel75

Just take the pills.

kommodevaran

Don't look for enriched foods, look for foods naturally high in iron. It is good for a number of reasons to eat varied. Food will aslo not give you the unpleasant side effects (constipation), and you won't "forget" to eat like you might "forget" to take your pills.

Foods rich in iron is red meat, brightly green vegetables, whole grains, seafoods like mussels, liver and other organ meats. For optimal absorbsion of the iron, eat it with foods rich in vitamin C, like fruit.

Cooking in iron pots will increase iron in your diet. If doing so is inconvenient, you can buy "the lucky iron fish" and cook with that in your normal pots.

Juliafitness1

Combine iron rich foods with citrus / vitamin C to increase your iron absorption.

Packerjohn

Alatariel75 wrote: »

Just take the pills.

Get a doctor's direction before taking an iron supplement.

Sunna_W

Also, have you had your gut health checked? Often times people with IBS, chronic gastritis, undiagnosed spru or celiac will have malabsorbtion issues. Once the gut is healed they are no longer anemic.

Another cause could be lack of Vitamin B-12 needed to make iron and can be affiliated with autoimmune issues like Diabetes (Type 1); Graves’ Disease (Hyperthyroidism); Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (Hypothyroidism); Multiple Sclerosis; Psoriasis; and Vitiligo.

Ref: https://bodyecology.com/articles/are-you-anemic-going-beyond-iron-supplements

rmgnow

The iron super food is Liver.
So chop into some Liver, if you're so inclined

TeaBea

Juliafitness1 wrote: »

Combine iron rich foods with citrus / vitamin C to increase your iron absorption.

This^
.......and calcium can prevent your body from absorbing iron.

I struggle with this too. Prepared cereals often have a good amount of iron (added). Cheerios MultiGrain is the highest I've seen at 45% (I think it used to be higher).

earlnabby

Juliafitness1 wrote: »

Combine iron rich foods with citrus / vitamin C to increase your iron absorption.

And avoid calcium rich foods which can prevent iron absorption. Also, if you take an acid reducer or proton pump inhibitor (like Prilosec) don't take that close to the time you take any medication or iron rich foods. It prevents absorption also.

Fitnessgirl0913

Alatariel75 wrote: »

Just take the pills.

That is not an option for everyone, speaking as someone whose doctor directed to take an iron supplement which then caused some rather unpleasant side effects.

Yes Vitamin C is great for helping absorb iron, I had low ferritin a few years back which is having enough iron but not absorbing all the iron causing weakness and fatigue.

Steel cut oats are higher in iron as well as spinach (blended into a smoothies or soup), lean red meat (to keep calories lower) I personally like the 90% lean ground beef, certain kinds of canned beans are higher in iron.

johnwelk

Sunna_W wrote: »

Also, have you had your gut health checked? Often times people with IBS, chronic gastritis, undiagnosed spru or celiac will have malabsorbtion issues. Once the gut is healed they are no longer anemic.

Another cause could be lack of Vitamin B-12 needed to make iron and can be affiliated with autoimmune issues like Diabetes (Type 1); Graves’ Disease (Hyperthyroidism); Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (Hypothyroidism); Multiple Sclerosis; Psoriasis; and Vitiligo.

Ref: https://bodyecology.com/articles/are-you-anemic-going-beyond-iron-supplements

OP, Ignore this poster, she is a wealth of useless nonsense. The website linked is complete pseudoscienctific garbage.

crackpotbaby

Chicken liver pâté.

CSARdiver

If you have a medically diagnosed deficiency take the medically recommended supplement.

jgnatca

Consider that the list of iron rich foods is pretty short. Even eating a variety of these foods may not give you the therapeutic levels of iron that you need. This is because the pills contain several times above the daily RDA of iron, in the hopes that some of it will get through. Foods are not a complete replacement if your iron levels are too low.

I see you have lots of suggestions above. Raisins also are a surprising source.

earlnabby

One more thing to think about if you choose to try and get more iron in your food. Iron comes in two forms: heme (meat based) and non heme (plant based). It is a good idea to try and get some from both sources for the most effective and balanced iron intake.

ETA: re: supplements. If you choose to go the supplement route, it is really helpful to take it with a decent sized meal that does not contain a lot of calcium. That really helps prevent the nausea some get. As far as constipation, making sure you get enough fluids, fat, and especially fiber will go far towards preventing that. I needed to take a high potency iron for about 9 months (hemoglobin was 5.3 and ferritin was 3 which required transfusions plus IV iron) and didn't have an issue as long as I took it with my breakfast which usually was a bowl of oatmeal.

Ironandwine69

As a anemic I am bff with chicken liver.
Pills are awful

Ck103084

I'm low on Iron as well. I have to take the pills because I don't eat a lot of the stuff with Iron in it. So, my vote is for the pills Good luck!!

ChiChiDoesStuff

I would suggest taking a food sensitivity test. My mom dealt with the same thing, and she took the test for other reasons, and discovered a lot of sensitivities and allergies she wasn't aware of which messed up her gut and iron levels.

jo_nz

Other than the meat & leafy greens already mentioned, I was recommended beans and dried fruits (not too many - high in sugar and not great for teeth).

And combining high-iron with foods or drinks containing vitC (the tablets I had were actually combined iron + vitamin C).

counting_kilojoules

When I had very low iron I was recommended pate (because it's made from liver but people tend to like it better). I was also told to eat meat (or pate) for at least two meals a day.

ilijap

This article explains most you need to know about iron: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3999603/

Briefly, animal sourced iron (heme iron) is very bioavailable. 15%-35% of heme iron content is absorbed. Plant sourced iron (non heme iron) less so, at 2%-20%. Other substances can positively (like vitamin C) or negatively (calcium, polyphenols) impact your ability to absorb iron from food.

You're likely female. WHO recommends around 1mg of absorbed iron per day, or 2.4mg of absorbed iron when menstruating (publication is freely available at http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/micronutrients/anaemia_iron_deficiency/9241542497.pdf).

Once you read it and understand that about your needs and how iron is absorbed, you can find lists of iron rich foods from reputable sources, like dieticians (for example https://www.dietitians.ca/Your-Health/Nutrition-A-Z/Minerals/Food-Sources-of-Iron.aspx).

Spinach (suggested in some post above) has ~3 mg of iron/100g, similar to beef. However, it's absorbed at 2% because it also contains substances that block iron absorption, so you're looking at measly 0.06 mg/100g of absorbed iron.

Liver has ~18 (pork) / 10 (poultry, lamb) / 6.5 (beef) mg of iron/100g, but it should be absorbed at ~25%, which means that it's sufficient to eat 50g/90g/140g per day while menstruating, even if you are not getting any other iron at all. Duck meat would be around 6.5 mg/100g as well. Octopus is high as well, as are oysters and clams.

Of non-heme iron sources, various legumes (beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, lima beans) and seeds would give around 2 mg/100g of absorbed iron, which is ~0.2 mg of absorbed iron. Dried fruit (raisins, apricots) also gives some. If you are in America or Canada, cereal products (like flour) are usually iron fortified (meaning that additional iron is added to the product). It's not very bioavailable (not a lot of it is absorbed), but there's usually a high amount of it.

You have good amount of choices. For example:
- some iron fortified cereal for breakfast (some brands are 50mg/100g, absorbed at perhaps 5% to yield 0.75 mg of absorbed iron/30g)
- nuts with dried fruit as a snack (2mg/100g, absorbed at 10% to yield 0.1mg of absorbed iron/50g)
- a cut of iron-rich meat (3.5 mg/100g, 30% to yield 1.05mg absorbed iron/100g) with side of leafy green vegetables and potatoes for lunch (2.5 mg/100g, 10% to yield 0.5mg/200g)
- lettuce wraps with legumes for dinner (~2 mg/100g, 10% to yield 0.6mg/300g)

Total: 0.75 + 0.1 + 1.05 + 0.5 + 0.6 = 3 mg per day, over your requirements even when menstruating (but just 50% of what's required in last two trimesters of pregnancy).

Learning and creating a balanced diet for yourself that includes meats high in iron, and plant sourced foods for vitamins and minerals required to absorb iron will likely be healthier for you in the long run than pills.