Iron in diet

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Diet - iron

The best sources of iron include:

• Dried beans
• Dried fruits
• Eggs (especially egg yolks)
• Iron-fortified cereals
• Liver
• Lean red meat (especially beef)
• Oysters
• Poultry, dark red meat
• Salmon
• Tuna
• Whole grains

Reasonable amounts of iron are also found in lamb, pork, and shellfish.

Iron from vegetables, fruits, grains, and supplements is harder for the body to absorb. These sources include:

• Dried fruits
  • prunes
  • raisins
  • apricots
• Legumes
  • lima beans
  • soybeans
  • dried beans and peas
  • kidney beans
• Seeds
  • almonds
  • Brazil nuts
• Vegetables
  • broccoli
  • spinach
  • kale
  • collards
  • asparagus
  • dandelion greens
• Whole grains
  • wheat
  • millet
  • oats
  • brown rice

If you mix some lean meat, fish, or poultry with beans or dark leafy greens at a meal, you can improve absorption of vegetable sources of iron up to three times. Foods rich in vitamin C also increase iron absorption.

Some foods reduce iron absorption. For example, commercial black or pekoe teas contain substances that bind to iron so it cannot be used by the body.

Review Date: 01/17/2007
Reviewed By: William McGee, M.D., M.H.A., Assistant Professor of Medicine and Surgery, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, and Chairman, Nutrition Committee, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.