Top 10 Food Sources of Iron
Iron is a very important mineral for our body. Everyone regardless the age and gender needs Iron. Let’s look at the top ten food sources of Iron.
Why we need iron?
To make our blood healthy we need to eat foods rich in iron. As you know our cells need oxygen to live. Iron helps our blood to carry oxygen to every cell in our body. Lack of iron can make us sick. Both fatigue and anemia which means our blood cannot carry enough oxygen to all the cells in our body) can happen due to the shortage of iron.
How much iron do we need?
It depends on the age and gender that how much iron a person needs. The need for iron is much more at the time of growth that means we need more iron in the childhood and also in the age of adolescence. Also, extra iron is needed at the time of pregnancy; because of the baby and for the increasing amount of blood in mother’s body.
Daily Iron Needs
Infants, 7-12 months 11 mg
Children, 1-8 years 7-10 mg
Children, 9-13 years 8 mg
Males, 14-18 11 mg
Females, 14-18 15 mg
Men, ages 19-50 8 mg
Women, ages 19-50 18 mg
Men & women, ages 51+ 8 mg
Pregnant women 27 mg
Breastfeeding women 9 mg
Top 10 Food Sources of Iron
- Clams: Clams are full of iron. Three ounce of clams can provide 23.8 mg of iron.
- Oysters: Three ounce of oysters contain 10.2 mg of iron.
- Soybeans: Half cup of the cooked soybeans contains 4.4 mg of iron.
- Pumpkin Seed: An ounce of roasted pumpkin seeds provides 4.2 mg of iron.
- White Beans: A half cup of white beans provide 3.9 mg of iron.
- Blackstrap Molasses: One tablespoon of blackstrap molasses provides 3.5 mg of iron.
- Lentils: Half cup of cooked lentils can provide 3.3 mg of iron.
- Prune Juice: ¾ cup of prune juice contains 2.3 mg of iron.
- Organ Meats: Meats or animal bits contain high percentage of iron.
- Spinach: Spinach is also a very good source of iron. One cup of cooked spinach provides 3.5 mg of iron.
Iron is good for our health but remember too much iron is harmful to our body. So it is important to have it in a right amount. If you are unsure, consult your doctor.
Liked it
Christine Ramsay | Feb 16, 2010 | Reply
Thank you for this helpful information.
Christine
LoveDoctor | Feb 16, 2010 | Reply
Excellent information. Iron is very important in our diet. Glad to hear that spinach supplies a good amount because it’s one of my favorite vegetables.
Atanacio | Feb 16, 2010 | Reply
another good useful entry
Jimmy Shilaho | Feb 16, 2010 | Reply
Very good information
Priyanka Bhowmick | Feb 16, 2010 | Reply
thnx for mentioning the amounts and quantities for different ages.. superb article…
Guy Hogan | Feb 16, 2010 | Reply
You left out my favorites: red and green peppers.
Authoress Terry E. Lyle | Feb 16, 2010 | Reply
Thanks for the valuable facts on the portions per age groups.
Priyanka D | Feb 16, 2010 | Reply
Wow! Very usefule tips. I would increase my intake of these foods. Thanks!
Goodselfme | Feb 16, 2010 | Reply
Tx for the iron sources.
CA Johnson | Feb 16, 2010 | Reply
This is a great article. Thanks for letting us know how much iron to get and where we can get the iron.
albert1jemi | Feb 16, 2010 | Reply
Great share
Uma Shankari | Feb 16, 2010 | Reply
Good list to share. Liked it.
Brenda Nelson | Feb 17, 2010 | Reply
its good to know you can get Iron from other things not just meat.
8Shei8 | Feb 17, 2010 | Reply
Great health tips!
Joie Schmidt | Feb 17, 2010 | Reply
Great share!
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
diamondpoet | Feb 17, 2010 | Reply
Most of those thing I don’t like nor do I eat, I do take a iron supplement every day hopefully it does the trick. Very informative article.
sambhafusia | Feb 17, 2010 | Reply
great share friend…well written and thank u so much for sharing this useful one..
fragile18 | Feb 17, 2010 | Reply
thanks for sharing
Lord Banks | Feb 17, 2010 | Reply
Good article me and my partner are vegetarian so we have to be careful with suppliments for our diet. Keep it up. LB
Emma Green | Feb 17, 2010 | Reply
Great info’ here thanks for the share
giftarist | Feb 17, 2010 | Reply
Great. very informative.
Hansika | Feb 17, 2010 | Reply
great post….keep writing….
PR Mace | Feb 17, 2010 | Reply
Good healthy information.
XXElleXX | Feb 17, 2010 | Reply
Excellent post Sourav
Women, from the onset of monthly periods until menopause, need almost twice as much dietary iron as men.
Jan Joubert | Oct 31, 2010 | Reply
Hi there,
I’m thankful for the good article, however I’ve just looked at over ten different articles on the iron content of certain food types and they all say something different. The amount required on a daily basis also differs significantly between information sources.
What is your source of info and how can one be sure at all?
I’m an iron deficient Vegan trying to get a new plants only way of stabilizing my iron levels…