Low calorie, high iron foods?

Liver, oysters, spinach, cocoa powder
Liver especially - before multivitamins, it was quite common for children to eat liver once a week because it is one of the most nutrient packed foods, even more so than egg yolks

Unfortunately, most people today are not accustomed to eating organ meats

Blackstrap molasses has about 20% of your daily intake in a tablespoon. I can't remember how many calories. Also, I think it's pretty gross but you could add it to coffee, tea, your cream of wheat, or in a smoothie to help hide the taste.

Spinach, shrimp, instant grits

Spinach. I eat raw spinach as a salad, or cook it with some scrambled eggs all the time, and it really gets me to the right iron levels. I probably eat spinach every day!

I am anemic. So getting enough iron is a daily battle for me.
Anything green. Lots of spinach is my favorite way, chicken liver (if you eat it), clams and oysters if you like seafood. Soy beans are also good and you can make them all sorts of ways.

Really? Soy beans? I read somewhere that soy inhibits your body's ability to absorb iron though..

Wow, I had not heard that until now. A dietitian told me soy beans, but I tend to stay away from them as they are usually served smothered in salt and I also have high blood pressure.
Quick research (i.e. Google search:blushing: ) indicates that while that was once the case, recent studies produced conflicting results and now medical professionals are changing their tune. Now, I did not validate any of this -- it was literally a 15min quick read. So feel free to omit soy beans!

I will say, especially now based on the feedback you received, it is clear spinach is the number one winner. it meets both low calorie and iron rich.

Blackstrap molasses has about 20% of your daily intake in a tablespoon. I can't remember how many calories. Also, I think it's pretty gross but you could add it to coffee, tea, your cream of wheat, or in a smoothie to help hide the taste.

I slurp down a tablespoon every morning. Then I down a glass of water. It's 42 calories. That that and my daily multivitamin, I always hit or exceed my iron goal. Helps for when I donate blood.

Best to get a juicer/blender and make yourself a green shake and add fruit to sweeten it up. You can hit your iron everytime because you can load it with spinach, kale, swiss chard, greens, etc and you can put a lot and get your iron through that! It is amazing what you can do with a juicer/blender and adding all your veggies at once. I love a drink with about 15 carrots, apple, beets and parsley..you can throw in many of the greens listed below and then put some berries in to sweeten the drink..it looks gross but tastes good and puts your vitamin and nutrients for the day over the top!

Dried legumes, such as soybeans, lima beans, lentils and kidney beans, are high in non-heme iron. Because non-heme iron is not absorbed as well as heme iron, if you are vegetarian or vegan, you need to increase your iron intake to compensate. Green leafy vegetables are another good source of iron. These include spinach, Swiss chard, turnip greens, beet greens, and brussels sprouts. Vitamin C markedly increases absorption of non-heme, so you should be sure to include vitamin C in your meal if you do not eat meat. Broccoli and bok choy are high in both iron and vitamin C, so they are good choices.

You can do it without supplements..Stay away from most every pill of any kind if you want to change your life forever..My wife bought a book called Body By God on Amazon for 33 cents and it changed her life and it is changing mine..I have never had more energy than I have now and I am 46 years old. My wife has been a personal trainer/fitness person for over 25 years and she now feels better than she ever has..She is 46, too! She attributes great eating through that book and High intensity training like Tabata and Plyometrics that have helped her to be be stronger and leaner than ever..She was running a mile hard on treadmill for a month or two and took off and ran over 5 miles pushing our 19 month baby in a stroller and felt great after all because of her spin class, and the high intensity training she has been doing..sorry I digress..I wish you the best of success in your weight loss and life transformation!

Here's also another fact that you must be aware of when actually eating iron rich foods...

Avoid Coffee, Tea, Cola, and Calcium Supplements
Some chemicals (phytic acid, tannic acid) found in coffee, tea, and cola as well as calcium bind to iron and prevent its absorption; so you should avoid drinking these liquids with your meal and avoid taking calcium supplements within an hour of meals. Tannic acid is also found in chocolate, and phytic acid is found in rye bread and some other grains.

I do blackstrap molasses too, spinach, beans, lentils, quinoa, tahini, potato, cashews, etc. Soybeans have a lot but make sure it's organic unless you don't mind eating genetically modified soybeans (99% of soy is genetically modified unless it's 100% organic.)

If all else fails, would you try Floradix? When I was pregnant I was lower iron so my midwife had me take it. It's not gross (it's mixed with herbs) and it's non-constipating and it doesn't make you have iron breath all day (and the only one I could take and not puke.) It's liquid. http://www.amazon.com/Salus-Haus-Floradix-17-Ounce-Bottle/dp/B0010EI0CA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337709674&sr=8-1

I'm vegan but I don't eat soy and I use this list to see the iron content in food items: http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm

Nutritional yeast also has a good amount of b12. 113% in 1/4 cup (and only 45 cal.) You can sprinkle that in stuff and not even notice it's there. Whole wheat pasta, whole wheat crust homemade pizza, I make "nut cheese" (ha! With cashews!!) and I add nutritional yeast in that too.

Nutritional yeast also has a good amount of b12. 113% in 1/4 cup (and only 45 cal.) You can sprinkle that in stuff and not even notice it's there. Whole wheat pasta, whole wheat crust homemade pizza, I make "nut cheese" (ha! With cashews!!) and I add nutritional yeast in that too.

I love it on popcorn. almost a butter taste.

Thanks for all the good suggestions!

Be careful taking iron supplements with vitamin C - It can cause ulcers... http://www.rejuvenation-science.com/n_vitaminC_iron.html

Also Calcium should be taken two hours after Iron... http://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/conditions/osteoporosis/qanda.htm

Very confusing... so I like the ideas about increasing it in my diet - more spinach and liver!

Flavour your meals with dried thyme. It's probably one of the lowest calorie options to get extra iron.

A trainer at a gym once told me that calcium inhibits iron absorption..I don't know if that is true or not but fyi.

Yes! This is true. So your iron rich cereals you eat with milk? Yeah, you're not getting that iron.

Combine your iron-rich foods with foods high in vitamin C, which helps your body absorb iron. So squeeze a lemon on your spinach and kale salads! You can cook your green veggies and still retain the iron, just be sure to wait until your about to eat it to add the lemon juice - heat denatures (destroys) vitamin C.

Not all iron was created equal, either. There's heme and non-heme. Heme iron is found in animal products. Non-heme is found in plant products. Heme iron is more easily absorbed than non-heme.

Black strap molasses has 21% DRI of iron. I put it on baked sweet potatoes (no butter! use coconut butter instead). Sun dried tomatoes have about 27% per cup which is roughly 25 pieces. Red meat is high in iron, too. Kale has more iron than spinach, and squeezing lemon on kale helps soften it.