Low calorie iron & B vitamin rich foods

ctlee420

I've been having a really hard time getting my daily requirement of iron and B vitamins in and man am I feeling it! I try to eat a lot of spinach but it just isn't doing it. My boyfriend is having beef burgers for dinner which I thought might help me get the iron I'm lacking but they're almost 400 calories per patty! What are some easy, inexpensive foods that are high in iron & B vitamins?

jaygreen55

You can get a good amount of B vitamins from high dose supplements. Your body will excrete whatever excess it can't use (making your urine a lovely chartreuse color) They are also quite inexpensive.

Here is a lost of Iron rich foods from web MD

There are two forms of dietary iron: heme and nonheme. Heme iron is derived from hemoglobin. It is found in animal foods that originally contained hemoglobin, such as red meats, fish, and poultry. Your body absorbs the most iron from heme sources.



Iron-Rich Foods

Very good sources of heme iron, with 3.5 milligrams or more per serving, include:

3 ounces of beef or chicken liver
3 ounces of clams, mollusks, or mussels
3 ounces of oysters

Good sources of heme iron, with 2.1 milligrams or more per serving, include:

3 ounces of cooked beef
3 ounces of canned sardines, canned in oil
3 ounces of cooked turkey

Other sources of heme iron, with 0.7 milligrams or more per serving, include:

3 ounces of chicken
3 ounces of halibut, haddock, perch, salmon, or tuna
3 ounces of ham
3 ounces of veal

Iron in plant foods such as lentils, beans, and spinach is nonheme iron. This is the form of iron added to iron-enriched and iron-fortified foods. Our bodies are less efficient at absorbing nonheme iron, but most dietary iron is nonheme iron.

Very good sources of nonheme iron, with 3.5 milligrams or more per serving, include:

Breakfast cereals enriched with iron
One cup of cooked beans
One-half cup of tofu
1 ounce of pumpkin, sesame, or squash seeds

Good sources of nonheme iron, with 2.1 milligrams or more per serving, include:

One-half cup of canned lima beans, red kidney beans, chickpeas, or split peas
One cup of dried apricots
One medium baked potato
One medium stalk of broccoli
One cup of cooked enriched egg noodles
One-fourth cup of wheat germ

Other sources of nonheme iron, with 0.7 milligrams or more, include:

1 ounce of peanuts, pecans, walnuts, pistachios, roasted almonds, roasted cashews, or sunflower seeds
One-half cup of dried seedless raisins, peaches, or prunes
One cup of spinach
One medium green pepper
One cup of pasta
One slice of bread, pumpernickel bagel, or bran muffin
One cup of rice


How to Get More Iron From Your Food

Some foods can help your body absorb iron from iron-rich foods; others can hinder it. To absorb the most iron from the foods you eat, avoid drinking coffee or tea or consuming calcium-rich foods or drinks with meals containing iron-rich foods. To improve your absorption of nonheme iron, eat it along with a good source of vitamin C -- such as orange juice, broccoli, or strawberries -- or a food from the meat, fish, and poultry group.

If you have trouble getting enough iron from food sources, you may need an iron supplement. But speak to your health care provider about the proper dosage first and follow his or her instructions carefully. Because very little iron is excreted from the body, iron can accumulate in body tissues and organs when the normal storage sites -- the liver, spleen, and bone marrow -- are full. Although iron toxicity from food sources is rare, deadly overdoses are possible with supplements.
One slice of bread, pumpernickel bagel, or bran muffin
One cup of rice

shano25

I take a B 100 complex every other day. The other thing you can do is use nutritional yeast on food (it's got a nutty, cheesy flavour, vegans use it a lot as cheese substitute, I always put it on my pasta or beans.)

I'm vegetarian and I watch my iron levels closely. I get mine from whole wheat pasta and breads, beans, dark leafy greens, quinoa.

And as mentioned above make sure you get some vitamin c with your veggie sources of iron (I usually take a supplement with my meals) and stay away from calcium while eating.