Foods with lots of Iron?

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kcdrake
kcdrake Posts: 512
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been trying to eat more chicken, seafood, and occasionally turkey in an attempt to decrease so much red meat in my diet. I LOVE red meat, but it is easier to fit the other types of food into my diet. However, by the end of the week I am absolutely craving steak and red meat in general.

I take a multivitamin, but recently found out it doesn't supply any iron. I will try to get a new kind that does supply iron, but it just isn't in me to stop using these pills, bottle still 3/4 full, just because it's missing one thing.

So, are there any foods you can recommend that would help keep my iron levels up every day? it's not that I don't want to eat steak, but I end up going out to eat and totally blowing my day (and wallet!!)

Replies

  • Michellerw1
    Michellerw1 Posts: 367
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    Green veggies. Weird huh? Spinach, dark green leafy stuff. I ran into the same prob cause I barely eat red meat (only really eat meat two or three days a week and it is usually fish) and I am anemic. I take iron supplements a every two days, but this is on the advice of my doctor. For a while I was taking flinstones chewables plus iron because they have a small amount of iron, which is really all I need. I would see where you stand iron wise with a doc and if you need to you can get the iron tabs and take in addition to the multi vitamin. No need to replace the others.
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 21,734 Member
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    Cream of Wheat
  • DizzieLittleLifter
    DizzieLittleLifter Posts: 1,020 Member
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    I have had major problems in the past with anemia. :( It's no fun for sure. Eating things like the PP suggested spinach etc will help, but you need to eat it with some sort of acid and not dairy. SO putting ranch on your salad will not help :P Using just lemon and oil will help your body absorb the iron. Rasins also have Iron so throw a few of those on top your salad. :)
  • cbirdso
    cbirdso Posts: 465 Member
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    I would have your blood iron level (ferritan) checked BEFORE taking any iron supplements. You would never know from all the Geritol type ads, but iron deficiency is actually quite rare. In fact, nearly all foods are rich in iron, especially leafy greens, nuts, whole grains, chocolate, herbs, and many other healthy foods. You may be craving red meat for other reasons. (like the fat content or the B vitamins, or creatine it provides). I suffer from iron overload, and believe me, you don't want to go there. Once iron enters the system, it cannot be excreted normally. Excess iron is stored in all the vital organs and tissues creating debilitating diseases like cancer and arthritis. I have been undergoing treatments for 6 months to remove iron from my body and I have probably a year more to go before I am back to normal.
  • Michellerw1
    Michellerw1 Posts: 367
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    DEFINITELY want to only take supplements on advice of a doctor. I had my iron level tested several times over the course of several months before my doctor recomended me taking supplements.
  • somigliana
    somigliana Posts: 314 Member
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    I agree that you should probably get a ferritin test test before taking iron supplements :) I have low ferritin and I take specific supplements for iron (and I wouldn't actually volunteer to take these--they have some interesting side effects).
  • sandara
    sandara Posts: 830 Member
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    Dark green leafy vegetables, beans, and dark meat chicken and turkey are high in iron.:smile:
  • needamulligan
    needamulligan Posts: 558 Member
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    We just found out that spinach actually inhibits iron absorption! It's the oxalic acid. Smoked clams and oysters are high in iron and are better than I expected!
  • melodyg
    melodyg Posts: 1,423 Member
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    Green veggies, especially spinach, and beans are good sources of iron.
  • July24Lioness
    July24Lioness Posts: 2,399 Member
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    No one has mentioned collard greens, liver (chicken or beef and is quite cheap too)
  • chefswife1975
    chefswife1975 Posts: 75 Member
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    We just found out that spinach actually inhibits iron absorption! It's the oxalic acid.

    The oxalic acid can be gotten around by eating spinach with something high in vitamin C like tomatoes, which go great with spinach anyway. This cancels out the acid and assists in iron absorption.
  • cehrenhaus
    cehrenhaus Posts: 42
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    To what has been said: raisins and nuts.

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