Getting enough iron?

mathandcats

I recently started tracking my iron intake, and while I have no idea what the units are for MFP (seems like a percentage?), it says that I'm only getting about 50-60% of my recommended intake per day. On rare occasions I reach 75%ish.

I'm a 21 year old woman so a lot of iron is recommended. What do you guys do to increase your iron? My calorie goal is 1500cal per day and I don't like eating red meat very much.

TeaBea

Vitamin C helps with absorption.

Many packaged cold cereals have lots of iron. Raisin Bran & Grapenuts come to mind. Dark leafy greens, egg yolks, and beans

slk_5555

I had a similar issue when I started tracking - looked like I was only getting about 25% of recommended iron. First thing I did was check that the foods I was selecting to track had full nutritional values entered. If there was something I was eating regularly which should be a good source of iron, I entered my own data including iron as % of RDA - for example I was making smoothies with kale & spinach (both good sources) so I added these foods with full nutritional info. This meant that the information in my tracker was more accurate - by just checking my data i found I was up to 50-60%.

I didn't want to take an iron supplement, as I think they can mess with your tummy a bit - they can be harsh - if you can introduce more iron in your diet I think it is better. Last thing I did was switch the milk I use for my coffee & cereal, to one which had added iron. Now I'm usually 80-100%. Some multigrain breakfast cereals have 'added iron too'. Just try to find an item which you eat/drink daily which will top ur levels up.

skyeny

Centrum Chewables - Multivitamin/multimineral

mathandcats

So I came across this in the grocery store... kind of shocks me. fibre 1 Honey Clusters says that it has 50% of your daily recommended iron in one cup of cereal.

I picked it up to try it. It tastes very sweet, has 9g of sugar in a cup, and 10g of fibre. It has sucralose in it (which I'm not keen on) and has 190 cal in a cup. I wish it wasn't so sweet, but for the first time since I started tracking, I surpassed my recommended iron intake.

JesterMFP

So I came across this in the grocery store... kind of shocks me. fibre 1 Honey Clusters says that it has 50% of your daily recommended iron in one cup of cereal.

I picked it up to try it. It tastes very sweet, has 9g of sugar in a cup, and 10g of fibre. It has sucralose in it (which I'm not keen on) and has 190 cal in a cup. I wish it wasn't so sweet, but for the first time since I started tracking, I surpassed my recommended iron intake.

If you want to go that route, there are unsweetened cereals that are fortified with vitamins and minerals too. (Grape nuts, for one, off the top of my head.) It is non-haem iron though, so not as easily absorbed by the body.

fknlardarse

Cereals are fortified, you could get just as much iron from taking a multi vitamin (check it has iron obviously, lots of them don't) but I struggle with iron too, I posted about this same thing a while ago, I wanted to get all my iron from my diet without eating meat. I still struggle to be honest, there's good advice on here about iron rich foods but I find it a tricky balance to stay within my calories, enjoy my meals, roughly stay in my macros, and get my iron.

mathandcats

I will probably go the supplement route, since I should be getting enough fibre to counteract the less pleasant side effects. I'll bring it up with my doctor the next time I'm in, since I haven't really come across any food sources that are something I would eat enough of every day.

ExpectantHope

I take supplements, I've never tracked my iron intake but I don't always have the best diet & I haven't eaten meat for about 9 years, so that cuts a big source of iron out of my diet.

melaniecheeks

Don't rely on the MFP database to monitor your iron intake.

jldahlen21

I was just reading that kale has as much iron as red meat....