Plant-based sources of non-haem iron Good sources include: iron-fortified bread and breakfast cereal. nuts and seeds. dried fruit.
Eggs, Red Meat, Liver, and Giblets Are Top Sources of Heme Iron.
Classic breakfast foods—enriched cereals, enriched breads, oatmeal, and eggs, for example—contain iron. 2 Pair them with other high-iron vegetarian ingredients like leafy greens, beans, and veggies to create decadent bowls, pizzas, and breakfast tacos.
That's about five eggs every week, and for good reason too! Eggs have 1.89 mg of iron, which increases energy and boosts your immune system.
Iron-Rich Foods
Heme iron is found in meat, fish and poultry. It is the form of iron that is most readily absorbed by your body. You absorb up to 30 percent of the heme iron that you consume. Eating meat generally boosts your iron levels far more than eating non-heme iron.
One serving of eggs (2x 60g eggs) provides 1.7mg of iron, which represents 14% of the Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) for adults and 17.5% for children aged 9-13 years.
Iron content in bananas is low, approximately 0.4 mg/100 g of fresh weight. There is a strategy of developing modified lines of bananas to increase their iron content; the target is a 3- to 6-fold increase.
There is 0.3 mg of iron in one-third of a medium avocado. That's 2% of the daily value (DV) of iron. Nutrient-rich avocados contain nearly 20 vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Learn more about the benefits of avocado here.
Oats can be a great source of iron and other highly desirable nutrients such as dietary fibre, protein, vitamins and minerals.
Weetabix is a nutritionally packed**, tasty breakfast made with 100% wholegrain and fortified with vitamins and iron to help set you up to take on the day.
We found the best bread for delivering iron was sourdough bread. That's because wheat contains a chemical called phytic acid that slows down iron absorption by the body. When sourdough bread is made, the fermentation process breaks down the phytic acid so the iron that remains is more available for absorption.
Dried fruits like prunes, raisins and apricots are good sources of iron. 100 grams of prunes contain 0.93 mg of iron while raisins contain 2.6 mg of iron. Apricots have 6.3 mg of iron per 100 grams. Prunes also help in digestion and lower cholesterol levels in our body.
Berries – Berries are not a strong carrier of iron but they act as an active iron absorber. Strawberries, blueberries, cranberries or blackberries are all good sources of vitamin C. Consumption of any type of berries increases the absorption rate of non-heme iron. 100 grams of berries contain 0.3mg Iron.
Peanut butter provides a moderate amount of iron. It can be a significant source of iron for people who follow a vegetarian diet or who eat modest amounts of meat. However, if plant foods are your only source of iron, you will need to consume almost twice as much food compared to people who eat meat.
Broccoli is a nutritious vegetable that is rich in fiber, vitamins C, vitamin K and iron. A one-cup serving of cooked broccoli has about one mg of iron, which is six percent of the required daily intake.
It is also of importance that iron-fortified drinking water can be used for cooking family meals, another way of supplying the daily iron intake and preventing all age iron deficiency anemia (29).
In general, patients with iron deficient anemia should manifest a response to iron with reticulocytosis in three to seven days, followed by an increase in hemoglobin in 2-4 weeks.
Iron is absorbed the best on an empty stomach. Yet, iron supplements can cause stomach cramps, nausea, and diarrhea in some people. You may need to take iron with a small amount of food to avoid this problem. Milk, calcium and antacids should not be taken at the same time as iron supplements.