how can i get more iron in my diet?

joelleh26

As above really... i added iron to my things to monitor and was shocked to see i hardly get any at all!!! and was wondering what the best foods are for iron?

lmarshel

red meat, dark leafy greens, raisins, liver, beans/lentils, egg yolks

But a lot of women need an iron supplement. Iron deficiency is not un-common.

Jessamine

First and foremost: I would have your doctor check your iron levels. It can be dangerous to start taking iron supplements when your body doesn't need it.

The iron found in meat (heme) is far more easily absorbed by the body than the iron you find in vegetables (non heme) or iron-fortified foods. But it's good to be getting iron wherever you can, if you need it.

Iron supplements were too harsh on my stomach, but they do work if you're low on iron and under doctor's orders to get those levels up.

Apart from meats, animal organs, and the vegetables previously mentioned, these are a few good sources:

I *love* cream of wheat, so I eat that with blackstrap molasses. It has to be blackstrap, not "regular" molasses. I was able to find blackstrap at Whole Foods. It can be hard to find.

Grape Nuts cereal is fortified with a lot of iron per serving. That's a good one, too. I just hate Grape Nuts... any good recipes?

sabinecbauer

Before you head for the iron supplements (which generally cause constipation and can interfere with other medication you might be taking), try adding cream of wheat to your breakfast. 1 serving of cream of wheat contains a whopping 50% of your RDA of iron.

lmarshel

I tend towards anemia, and I take a multi-vitamin with an iron supplement. The pure iron supplements also caused digestive issues for me, but the multi + iron works just fine. It's only a 20% RDA supplement.

Keep in mind too that the nutrition info for foods listed on MFP is not ALWAYS complete or completely accurate. I eat a lot of broccoli, and my nutrition totals showed I was not getting enough fiber each day. I realized that the broccoli listing I was using showed the fiber content as 0. Obviously, that's not the case. So it could be that you are getting iron in your foods that just doesn't show up in your diary.

kalynn06

My stomach hates iron supplements, so I eat fortified cereal. Eating fairly low calorie I have a real problem getting enough iron, especially because I don't like red meat. A few months ago, my hair started falling out, and I discovered I had an iron deficiency. I'm off supplements now (thank God), and to keep from back sliding I eat fortified cereal several days per week and track my iron.