How do you get your iron in?

can111
can111 Posts: 63 Member
edited October 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Fairly new here. After my first couple weeks of logging everything, it is interesting to look at the nutrition stats for the entire week. What jumped out at me was my HUGE lack of iron in my diet. (Maybe that's why my hair is falling out). What do you eat to get your iron in?

Replies

  • mahidac
    mahidac Posts: 126 Member
    green leafy veggies - since i stick to chicken I have a hard time hitting my iron needs, so I just make one of my meals a big salad these days wtih lots of spinach
  • QingTing
    QingTing Posts: 29 Member
    I donate blood a lot (and I also bleed once a month) so I am always trying to get enough iron.

    I have an iron skillet that I cook with, and I also take iron supplements. I find that taking supplements is the only thing to consistently keep my iron levels high enough to donate blood every 8 weeks.

    If you are really worried, you can get a blood test to see what your hemoglobin levels are. If they are fine, you probably don't need that much more iron anyway.
  • karinefitness
    karinefitness Posts: 336 Member
    I'm borderline anemic since I'm 15 y/o, so I take a multivitamin with iron, not sure 100% of it is really processed by my body, but I guess it's better than nothing (it has 50% of the RDI).

    I've notice cocoa has quite a lot of iron, just one tablespoon has around 20% of the recommended daily intake.
  • lthomas42
    lthomas42 Posts: 73 Member
    Deep green veggies and red meat, and a multi-vitamin and suppliments if need be.
  • kittzle
    kittzle Posts: 190 Member
    Dark Chocolate of course :)

    Actually most of mine comes from oatmeal for breakfast, and dry cereals as one of my snacks. The rest I have to work in bit by bit. It's one of the nutrients I'm currently working on improving myself!

    You might also double check the nutritional information of what you're logging. I've discovered that a lot of things I KNOW to have iron in them do not have the calcium, vitamins A&C, and iron filled in correctly - especially stuff from restaurants, as they don't list it online.
  • JPDad
    JPDad Posts: 147
    Hemp hearts have iron. I add them to a smoothie or salad. You get the added benefit of protein and Omega 3/6.
  • c1811
    c1811 Posts: 1 Member
    Keep in mind as well - many of the foods you 'log in' won't actually have their iron stats listed. Check to see if you can add them in yourself.
  • it_be_asin
    it_be_asin Posts: 562 Member
    Strawberries and dried apricots are the yummiest sources of iron I know of. OK, there are foods higher in iron but you need an excuse to eat more of these, right? ;)
  • havalinaaa
    havalinaaa Posts: 333 Member
    I eat raw cacao nibs in my yogurt or oatmeal in the morning, I have liver at least twice a month, and l eat as many dark green leafy vegetables as I can. Braised greens - collards, kale, mustard greens, spinach, chard, bok choy. I also sprinkle sesame seeds on lots of things, they're high in both iron and calcium plus lots of other micronutrients. On days when I'm not eating so well I take a multivitamin but I try really hard to get everything via food.
  • ratellcm
    ratellcm Posts: 164 Member
    I take supplements and multivitamins. =/ I'm mildly anemic and they often won't let me donate blood, even if I've been eating red meat! I remember to pack my supplements in my snacks for the day so it's easy to remember. Apparently you're not supposed to take it with caffeine (affects absorption) so I wait until a couple hours after my coffee in the morning.
  • kmshred
    kmshred Posts: 393 Member
    iron supp. (nsi - ferrochel iron).
  • ShrinkingChelle
    ShrinkingChelle Posts: 187
    green leafy veggies - since i stick to chicken I have a hard time hitting my iron needs, so I just make one of my meals a big salad these days wtih lots of spinach

    Vitamin C helps absorb the iron, so Ive been told many times. Since I started putting lemon juice on my spinach salads my iron levels have gone up from 109 to 144. Now Im not saying that thats why, but that has been my experience. Im sure there were other factors that have changed, but not that stands out noticeably.
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