What's your favorite source of iron?

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shirochan
shirochan Posts: 24 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I suffer from some pretty awful fatigue. I've been checked for anemia more than once and my doctors said I was fine, but when I started tracking my iron intake on here, I was consistently super low every day. I'd like to avoid supplements if I can but they're not out of the question.

How do you get your iron? Any recipes you wouldn't mind sharing?

Replies

  • tm82001
    tm82001 Posts: 133 Member
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    Cereal is great! Eat it alone as a snack, for breakfast or add it to yogurt.

    Also, cook using an iron skillet which naturally adds iron to your cooked foods.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    Dark chocolate :) But really I just take supps for iron. I'm in a lot of risk catagories for iron defficiency (female, don't eat red meat, very active) and have been diagnosed in the past. Will probably be taking supps for life but it's better than feeling anemic
  • shirochan
    shirochan Posts: 24 Member
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    Huh, guess I should use my iron skillet more!

    And heck yes to chocolate, lol
  • marie_2454
    marie_2454 Posts: 881 Member
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    Cheerios! One of the off brands (I think it's the Target brand) has 80% of the recommended amount in 1 cup serving.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    Top Sirloin Steak with a side of Tri-Tip
  • shano25
    shano25 Posts: 233 Member
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    Quinoa, brown rice, lentils, oatmeal, beans.

    Make sure if you're eating a vegetarian source of iron you have it with vitamin c, it will help you absorb it better. Also, no coffee or tea or calcium when you're having it as well as it blocks absorption. I use to be borderline anemic but when I went vegetarian I started to pay attention to iron and how to optimize it from vegetarian sources and I have no problems now.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Steak.

    Dark, leafy greens are good too but steak's my favourite :)
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Cereal is great! Eat it alone as a snack, for breakfast or add it to yogurt.

    Also, cook using an iron skillet which naturally adds iron to your cooked foods.

    So glad you posted this - I have been wanting to know for ages if an iron teapot works :)
  • Sedna_51
    Sedna_51 Posts: 277 Member
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    Iron tablets! I've got confounding health problems though and I really can't sneak by without them (I've tried and regretted it). I like to cook in an iron skillet too; not just for the iron, but for the great way it performs when cooking. Om nom nom.

    Making sure I get plenty of protein is very helpful too- especially around that time of the month (usually a few days before). I don't eat a lot of meat, but I try to be sure to make sure I eat chicken or eggs or fish around that period, and it really reduces my fatigue.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Beans, greens and meat.

    But, you might not be as low as you think. Not everyone enters iron content when they enter a food.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    A juicy steak...

    Keep in mind that there are two forms of iron, heme and nonheme. Heme iron is found in animal products and your bodily most readily absorbs this kind of iron. Iron found in plant foods and added to cereals and what not is nonheme and our bodies are much less efficient at absorbing nonheme iron.
  • shirochan
    shirochan Posts: 24 Member
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    Beans, greens and meat.

    But, you might not be as low as you think. Not everyone enters iron content when they enter a food.

    I didn't think about that... That explains a lot! I bumped up my sources of heme iron (hooray steak!!) but the numbers didn't look right. Non-heme sources seem to be logged correctly though.
  • olletho
    olletho Posts: 20 Member
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    Favourites are steak, dark chocolate and guinness. Do remember that most leafy green type iron sources need to be coupled with vit C or your body won't uptake it. Also can't be paired with calcium as iron and calcium like to bond with each other and then your body will have trouble absobing it, well, presumably either. (So milk chocolate is a lost cause on a few fronts.)

    Hummus is surprisingly good too.
  • Rocbola
    Rocbola Posts: 1,998 Member
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    Just drink my tap water, i'm on a well.

    Anyway, how do you know your fatigue is related to iron? Fatigue can be related to any number of things. Your doc tested you and you were OK, so that might lead one into thinking your fatigue is caused by something else.
  • paygep
    paygep Posts: 401 Member
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    Check the label on different brands of dark chocolate. Equal Exchange Panama Dark is 30% RDA per serving, and Chocolove dark isn't far behind. The cast iron skillet is another good idea suggested above. I don't know how much iron it gives, but I've made the switch to cast iron from non-stick and I believe I do feel better.
  • Catwoman1037
    Catwoman1037 Posts: 102 Member
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    I am anemic. I usually eat red meat once on the weekend. I feel amazing after I eat steak! Besides, it is yummy!! I eat a lot of spinach - almost everyday. I put it in smoothies, cook it with eggs and add it to my salads.

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