Low in Iron????

shellsie_j
shellsie_j Posts: 132 Member
edited November 12 in Food and Nutrition
I set my food diary to reflect how much iron I am getting and it appears to be wrong. The MFP default setting says I should be getting 100mg a day!!!! I know in 100g of beef there is about 1.7g so I don't think that this setting for 100 can be right. I googled a bit and the general consensus is that a woman should be getting about 10mg of iron a day.. Does anyone else track their iron? If you do, what foods do you eat to get the level up. I usually have to have an iron infusion every year or so, so this is an important subject for me, and especially more so now that I am dieting and not eating so much red meat.

Replies

  • s1lence
    s1lence Posts: 493
    I track my iron and calcium but when I put it in it goes by the percentage of daily recommended intake not by mg or g.

    Green leafy veggies and beef and pork have high iron in them.
  • abyt42
    abyt42 Posts: 1,358 Member
    Dried apricots are a good iron source. Also, cooking in cast iron increases your iron intake. But, again, I think mine's measured in %daily allowance.....
  • JeSuisPrest
    JeSuisPrest Posts: 2,005 Member
    One chewable Flintstones vitamin will take care of that for you!
  • jenncazares
    jenncazares Posts: 27
    I notice that cereals or bars that are iron "fortified" boost my iron levels as predicted by MFP- im definitely deficient so i try to keep an eye on it.
  • KareninCanada
    KareninCanada Posts: 962 Member
    That "100" is "100% of RDA"
  • donna_glasgow
    donna_glasgow Posts: 869 Member
    I dont track my iron on here, but i was anemic for years, There's a few hints on here to iron rich foods, http://www.ironrichfood.org/ or you could take a supplement :)
  • Schnuddelbuddel
    Schnuddelbuddel Posts: 402 Member
    Yes, it's 100% not g or mg.

    Only thing I found is that a lot of iron-rich foods here don't necessarily reflect that in the database.

    Outside meat, here are high iron foods:

    dark chocolate (as if we needed reasons to eat it haha)
    dark leafy greens
    raisins/dried apricots
    herbs (thyme especially!!)
    potatoes (which is great because they're also high in vit c which helps iron absorption!)
    porridge (oats!)
    quinoa
    seeds (sesame, pumpkin, sunflower)
    flax seed for an extra boost


    happy iron eating :)
  • knowwhentoshutup
    knowwhentoshutup Posts: 318 Member
    I'm constantly watching my iron, since I donate plasma. I aim for the 100 number on mfp, and have seen my iron count steadily rise. I'm eating beans, spinach, lean meats, seafood (clams are very high), but mostly I lean on Total, (a 3/4 cup servinv has 100% of your daily value) either as cereal, in my yogurt or even stirred in melted chocolate and placed in heaping spoonfuls on wax paper to cool. (those taste like kit kat bars and appeal to my sweet tooth and help me get enough iron.
  • tiffnkailey
    tiffnkailey Posts: 150 Member
    Im always low in iron. Do you take your iron tablets on an empty stomach or with food? I always have to take mine with food, or else I get a stomach ache. But I think then the food absorcs the iron???
  • shellsie_j
    shellsie_j Posts: 132 Member
    Thanks for all of your replies. I was putting in my food diary this-Steak, Lean - Beef, 100 g- and it had 0 iron and then I tried another listing from the database and it came up with the number 8 for iron!! So I KNEW that steak had iron and I guess that I will have to check that the foods that are put into the diary by others are correct. BTW I know that anyone can put a food into the database but who checks that the nutrient values are correct (or are all of the nutrient values not inputted)
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    bump
  • rachelhopson
    rachelhopson Posts: 1
    I don't track my iron. I was diabetic for 32 years before I had a kidney-pancreas transplant and find that I still count the carbs. I have never been able to have sugar before, so that is what I keep track on the most, I want to go over board but that adds the weight on me.
  • 967_1111
    967_1111 Posts: 221 Member
    I don't eat much red meat because I just can't digest it very well, so iron is a challenge. Doctor put me on Slow Fe which just made me sick.

    I try to eat green leafy veggies, and I end my day with a bowl of fortified cereal, for both the iron and the fibre. I also had to give up donating blood.
  • ysamatar
    ysamatar Posts: 484 Member
    Bump.
  • EroseT23
    EroseT23 Posts: 74 Member
    Thanks for all of your replies. I was putting in my food diary this-Steak, Lean - Beef, 100 g- and it had 0 iron and then I tried another listing from the database and it came up with the number 8 for iron!! So I KNEW that steak had iron and I guess that I will have to check that the foods that are put into the diary by others are correct. BTW I know that anyone can put a food into the database but who checks that the nutrient values are correct (or are all of the nutrient values not inputted)

    In regards to finding accurate counts in the database, you can "confirm" whether an entry is accurate, so the things with more confirmations are usually more reliable. Also, good to know, entries with NO asterisks (*) are NOT submitted by members, and those are always accurate (and are pretty much guaranteed to have an option to enter food by weight, which makes me happy).
  • TheUnwritten
    TheUnwritten Posts: 158 Member
    I'm low on iron. I saw the doc yesterday and she told me I might be anemic. So I'm being put on iron pills.
  • Becky_Boodle
    Becky_Boodle Posts: 253 Member
    The recommended daily amout is:
    Woman 19-50: 18mg
    Men 19-50: 8mg
  • donna_glasgow
    donna_glasgow Posts: 869 Member
    I input my own foods to the database, I dont find the one here reliable at all :(
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