need more iron - any ideas without increasing too many calories ?

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Saab_2015
Saab_2015 Posts: 277 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Need to get iron levels up ... Already have multi vits for a, c and d. Is more drugs the answer or do you have food ideas that are not fatty ?

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  • didsomeonesaypizza
    didsomeonesaypizza Posts: 13 Member
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    Spinach for sure. I sautee 3 cups of it as a side to my breakfast almost every day. Very low cal and almost all of my DV of iron.
  • Saab_2015
    Saab_2015 Posts: 277 Member
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    but how does it taste ? hope its not like having cod liver oil
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Foods rich in iron include:
    • Red meat
    • Pork
    • Poultry
    • Seafood
    • Beans
    • Dark green leafy vegetables, such as spinach
    • Dried fruit, such as raisins and apricots
    • Iron-fortified cereals, breads and pastas
    • Peas

    Google search...
  • CountessKitteh
    CountessKitteh Posts: 1,505 Member
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    You've never had spinach?! It's great raw as a salad base, but tastes like what you cook it in when you heat it. You can saute it with some garlic and olive oil, and add a little parmesan cheese to make an awesome side dish for just about anything. I pulled myself out of moderate anemia by upping my daily spinach intake and adding in two servings of red meat each week. :)
  • Saab_2015
    Saab_2015 Posts: 277 Member
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    will give it a go thanks
  • sullus
    sullus Posts: 2,839 Member
    edited January 2015
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    legrandhiver wrote: »
    Spinach for sure. I sautee 3 cups of it as a side to my breakfast almost every day. Very low cal and almost all of my DV of iron.

    3 cups of spinach only has 12% of the recommended daily iron. (1 oz of dark chocolate has the same amount of iron) People toss up leafy greens out as good sources of iron, but they are not. Also, the Iron in spinach is non-heme iron, which is absorbed at a lower rate than animal (heme) iron.

    If you like clams, oysters, and mussels, they are very high in iron.
    Fortified cereals are high in iron (shredded wheat has 100% of your iron in 1 bowl)


    I like to throw out Dark Chocolate: It has more iron per ounce than beef. But people only tend to eat it an ounce at a time.

    Google is your friend.

  • adwilliams03
    adwilliams03 Posts: 147 Member
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    Here's an off the cuff suggestion you probably won't hear many people suggest. Cocoa wheats has a ton of iron in it. You have to of course consider it's cereal, and that might not be your cup of tea, and it's also not as good as iron that comes from meat sources. However, for me, I don't eat red meat and I'm always way under what I should have in iron, it works better than nothing!
  • Ladiebug710
    Ladiebug710 Posts: 133 Member
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    I thought I was low on iron but I've found some of the foods I logged only had calories carbs fat and sodium information so it just wasn't counted. make sure that when you log the options you choose include all of the micronutrient info as well
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    LolBroScience wrote: »
    Foods rich in iron include:
    • Red meat
    • Pork
    • Poultry
    • Seafood
    • Beans
    • Dark green leafy vegetables, such as spinach
    • Dried fruit, such as raisins and apricots
    • Iron-fortified cereals, breads and pastas
    • Peas

    Google search...

  • didsomeonesaypizza
    didsomeonesaypizza Posts: 13 Member
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    sullus wrote: »
    legrandhiver wrote: »
    Spinach for sure. I sautee 3 cups of it as a side to my breakfast almost every day. Very low cal and almost all of my DV of iron.

    3 cups of spinach only has 12% of the recommended daily iron. (1 oz of dark chocolate has the same amount of iron) People toss up leafy greens out as good sources of iron, but they are not. Also, the Iron in spinach is non-heme iron, which is absorbed at a lower rate than animal (heme) iron.

    Actually, this is the nutritional value on the container:

    Nutrition Facts
    Serving Size 1 cup (85 g)
    Per Serving % Daily Value*
    Calories 15

    Calories from Fat 0

    Total Fat 0g 0%

    Saturated Fat 0g 0%

    Polyunsaturated Fat 0g

    Monounsaturated Fat 0g

    Cholesterol 0mg 0%

    Sodium 40mg 3%

    Potassium 0mg 0%

    Carbohydrates 2g 1%

    Dietary Fiber 2g 8%

    Sugars 1g

    Protein 2g

    Vitamin A 170% · Vitamin C 80%
    Calcium 10% · Iron 35%


    So you can see how I, with 3 cups, on an 1850cal/day diet, get most of my iron from it. I don't use it purely for iron, though. Meat is always best, but he was asking for low cal/fat.
  • nickatine
    nickatine Posts: 451 Member
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    Cashews,pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seed butter(if u can handle a green butter)
  • JengaJess
    JengaJess Posts: 109 Member
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    One tablespoon of Hershey's special dark cocoa powder has 10 calories and has 10% of the DV of iron. I mix two tablespoons in my greek yogurt and I'm already at 20%. If you mix it into a cup of quick oats, you're at 30%. I add a little honey or some kind of liquid sweetener most of the time, but I really love the taste of cocoa, so I don't really find it necessary. And it's a delicious and nutritious to work some chocolate in your diet ;)
    You've been given plenty of other great options, but I just wanted to share that!
  • NJGamerChick
    NJGamerChick Posts: 467 Member
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    Trade some chicken in for some extra lean beef. They, for the most part, have the same amount of calories and protein per oz. I usually get the butcher to grind a really lean cut and make yummy stuff from that, usually involving veggies and beans.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,578 Member
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    OMG I love the cocoa idea!

    Do be careful that you are truly deficient in iron. Has a doctor told you that you are low on iron?

    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/a-host-of-ills-when-irons-out-of-balance/

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