Foods High In Iron

Iron rich foods or foods high in iron are listed to overcome iron deficiency and anemia. Chose the foods containing high iron if you are anemic (low haemoglobin). Iron deficiency causes iron deficiency anemia.

Foods With Iron

Following is a list of foods that are high in iron which contain 8 mg or more of iron per 100 g of the food.

1. Cereals & Grains: barley (Bajra), Rice flakes
2. Pulses & Beans: Cow pea, Lobia (black-eye beans), Lentils, Soybean
3. Iron in Vegetables: Beetroot greens, Mint, Parsley, Turnip greens.
   Vegetables like broccoli and bok choy are rich in iron. These vegetables are high iron and also high in vitamin C, which increases absorption of their iron content. The presence of vitamin C in these vegetables help absorb iron.
4. Sea vegetables are very high in iron. Refer the iron rich food list given below.
5. Spices: Turmeric (Haldi)
6. Fruits: Dried dates, Watermelon, Raisins
7. Fish and Red meats
8. Iron in Animal Sources Heme Iron: Animal food is one of the highest iron foods.

The daily requirement of iron is very easily met with vegetarian diet. For example, 1 cup of cooked spinach contains 3 mg (palak paneer recipe), 1 cup of tofu contains 13.2 mg and 1 cup cooked lentils give 6.4 mg of iron.

Iron Absorption By Body

Note that eating foods high in iron alone will not ensure adequate iron supply to body because the iron absorption by body depends on the form of the iron. The iron from animal sources, known as heme iron, is absorbed easily by the body. The iron found in vegetable sources, known as non-heme iron, is less available to the body. The amount of iron absorbed from vegetarian foods is around 1 - 10% , while it is 10 - 20% from animal foods.

Good Enhancer Foods for Iron Absorption:

Iron from the raw foods is absorbed better. Foods that are rich in vitamin C such as tomato and citrus help to increase iron absorption.

Combinations of foods such as beans and tomato or tofu and broccoli result in good iron absorption. In general, vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, capsicum, potato, tomato, etc. and fruits such as cantaloupe, grapefruit, strawberries, orange, etc. enhance the iron absorption.

Foods Not Good (Inhibitors) For Iron Absorption:

Avoid the following foods in combination with high iron foods as they inhibit the iron absorption: Tea, coffee, chard, etc.

List of Foods Containing Iron

Bran flakes, oatmeal and semolina are high in iron. Sea vegetables are very rich in iron, as high as 42mg per half cup.

Chickpeas, soybeans and tofu are also foods containing high iron.

Iron Rich Foods For Vegetarians

Best Iron Source For Vegetarians

Sources:
USDA Nutrient Data Base for Standard Reference, Release 12, 1998.
US Dept of Agriculture: 1988: Publication No. NIS/PT-103.
www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search
Pennington J. Bowe's and Church's Food Values of Portions Commonly Used. 16th ed. Lippincott-Raven; 1994.

A pregnant woman needs more iron because of her baby's rapid development. So she should include foods containing high iron in her daily diet. Her doctor may advise her to add a daily iron supplement of 30 to 50 mg when she enters 20th week of pregnancy, to avoid iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy. The iron supplement should be taken with a vitamin C source such as orange or tomato juice to increase its absorption by the body.

If you ae pregnant can chose the high iron foods from the above list. Your pregnancy diet may include cooked dried beans, oat bran, soybean, barley, pumpkin seeds, dry fruits such as apricots, peaches, prunes, raisin; vegetables such as artichokes and spinach, seaweed, blackstrap molasses and heme iron from animal foods such as beef, lean buffalo meat, duck, sardines, cooked clams, shrimp and oyster .

Recipes which contain ingredients that are high in iron content offer high iron. Some of the high iron repices given below :

1. Oat bran oatmeal recipe
2. Chole recipe
3. Lobia Palak recipeSooji ka Halwa recipe
4. Sooji Dhokla recipe
5. Sooji idli recipe
6. Mung dal recipe
7. Maa ki dal recipe
8. Palak paneer recipe