How do you get your daily dose of Iron?

silverstormborn
silverstormborn Posts: 18 Member
edited November 26 in Food and Nutrition
Being an anoretic with an eating disorder, I'm lacking in iron & take iron supplements... But I'd much rather be getting my iron from foods, I'm just not too sure where to begin. So I'm wondering how everyone else here gets their daily dose of iron?

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    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
    Your body absorbs more iron from meat than it does from other sources. If you choose to not eat meat, you may need to increase your intake of iron-rich, plant-based foods to absorb the same amount of iron as someone who eats meat.

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I eat lentils, tofu, quinoa, tempeh, oats, cashews, greens (pair these with vitamin C for the best absorption), molasses, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, and black beans.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    edited November 2015
    silverstormborn wrote: »
    Being an anoretic with an eating disorder, I'm lacking in iron & take iron supplements... But I'd much rather be getting my iron from foods, I'm just not too sure where to begin. So I'm wondering how everyone else here gets their daily dose of iron?

    Anoretic, as in has no appetite?

    Pate is a good source, I also like to eat dried apricots.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Are you in recovery? Do you have a doctor and a dietitian? You will get much better advice from them than you will here.

    I don't know how far along you are in your recovery, what your goals are, etc. What are you working on at this point?

    Red meat, especially liver, is a great source of iron. Lots of things have iron in them and all of it adds up. Cooking in cast iron is helpful. Taking iron with foods that contain Vitamin C is helpful.
  • FASTFUELXXX
    FASTFUELXXX Posts: 89 Member
    SHREDDED WHEAT ND GRAPE NUT CEREALS
  • silverstormborn
    silverstormborn Posts: 18 Member
    Thank you so much for all the feedback!

    I'm 5ft2 & fluctuate between 84lbs & 91lbs. My goal is 98lbs, but as much as I'm determined to gain weight, I do struggle to eat anything more than 1000 calories per day. I do eat meat, so that shouldn't be a problem. I'm currently receiving treatment & have a dietitian, but the appointments are once a month, so I have to try & cram in as much as I can remember in that time.. once I'm out the door, I'm left to my own accord for 4 weeks :(
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    One piece of advice, look at the images of people who lift and look tiny yet weigh much heavier. Start eating and lifting.

    Being skin and bone won't make you like your look, being strong with a reduced body fat % might. Good luck x

  • silverstormborn
    silverstormborn Posts: 18 Member
    :( I'd love nothing more than to be able to hit a gym & gain some muscle mass. It's so frustrating to actually be told I cannot do any form of real exercise. It makes me feel even more sluggish. Thank you <3
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    One piece of advice, look at the images of people who lift and look tiny yet weigh much heavier. Start eating and lifting.

    Being skin and bone won't make you like your look, being strong with a reduced body fat % might. Good luck x

    Exercise may be medically countermanded for severely underweight individuals, like the OP, and/or for those in recovery from EDs. You may want to be more cautious in offering advice like this.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    You can always call or email the dietitian with questions. If you don't feel it's important enough to email, write all your questions down and take them with you to your appointments.

    I know it's hard to eat and force yourself to gain, but when you choose to eat, you are choosing to be healthy and happy. I know it's partly (or mostly) a leap of faith, but you will get healthier and happier! If there is anything worse than what it does to your body, it's what it does to your mind. Keep eating! If you must struggle to go over 1000 then struggle, but do it. Whatever goal they've set for you, hit it!

    There will be time to work on making your muscles bigger, if you want to do that, later. When the goal is to gain weight, do that.

    One step at a time. You will get better. Many girls have recovered and they all had a terribly difficult time. But they did it! You can, too!
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    edited November 2015
    This content has been removed.
  • ALH1981
    ALH1981 Posts: 538 Member
    If you are severally low in iron you can get it via IV which will top you up immediately and then you need to learn to maintain it with food
  • pearso21123
    pearso21123 Posts: 351 Member
    I tend to get my iron most easily when I have a bowl of cereal for breakfast. A lot of cereals have 25 - 35% of what you need for the day, some have way more. Special K Vanilla Almond has 90% of your daily requirement. Total and Kellogg Product 19 both have 100%. Frosted Mini Wheats is high in iron and high in fiber.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Beans, dark leafy greens and meat are my biggest sources.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited November 2015
    Kalikel wrote: »
    You can always call or email the dietitian with questions. If you don't feel it's important enough to email, write all your questions down and take them with you to your appointments.

    I know it's hard to eat and force yourself to gain, but when you choose to eat, you are choosing to be healthy and happy. I know it's partly (or mostly) a leap of faith, but you will get healthier and happier! If there is anything worse than what it does to your body, it's what it does to your mind. Keep eating! If you must struggle to go over 1000 then struggle, but do it. Whatever goal they've set for you, hit it!

    There will be time to work on making your muscles bigger, if you want to do that, later. When the goal is to gain weight, do that.

    One step at a time. You will get better. Many girls have recovered and they all had a terribly difficult time. But they did it! You can, too!

    Yes, I write down my questions for my doctor and can also email in between visits.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I am on a supplement for low iron as well. It is nearly impossible to take therapeutic doses of iron through diet alone unless you want to eat ten times as much as you are now.

    For instance, the RDA for women is 15mg. But therapeutic doses to get our iron out of the doldrums can be 150-200 mg of elemental iron daily.

    So as an example, if you had a regular serving of Grape-Nuts cereal (which is an excellent source by the way) it would provide you with 90% of your RDA for iron. A single serving is 1/2 cup. To get ten times that amount you'd have to eat five cups of cereal at a sitting, or 2,000 calories (not including milk).

    To improve absorption of your iron pill someone has already mentioned vitamin C. Also, don't take iron along with any calcium supplement, milk, or tea.

    I take my iron supplement with plain water first thing in the morning and that seems to do the trick.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    By way of another example, a cup of spinach has about 4% RDA of your iron requirements. To get your daily RDA from spinach alone you'd need to eat 25 cups of loose leaves, which would be 175 calories. To get a therapeutic dosage, you'd need to eat 250 cups, or 15 gallons of loose leaves, for 1,750 calories.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    edited November 2015
    I hope you aren't getting bored of me yet. By way of another example I tried putting together a menu plan of about 1,000 calories a day, picking from iron rich foods listed on webmd. I was able to get to just under double the RDA.


    HiIronMealPlan.JPG

    I don't think the fiber entries are complete for all these foods.
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