Table of Contents
Introduction of Food high in iron:
Just imagine you are eating an iron bar as breakfast. It’s pretty hard to imagine. But our body needs iron too, so how can you mitigate that demand? Here comes food high in iron. If you have enough food enriched with iron, you can fill that demand. There are varieties of food high in iron—for example, beans, chickpeas, red meats, etc. We will know about the food high in iron more in the detailed discussion later in this article.
What iron exactly is?
Iron is an element found in nature as different ores. You can also find it on the periodic table in the 4th period and 8th group. But that is of no use than reading purposes. The element iron, is the fourth most element abundantly found in the crust of the earth.
And we all know about the core of our planet earth is mostly composed of iron, sulfur & nickel. So, as mentioned, iron is found in nature as different ores, mostly haematite. But it is found not only as haematite but also magnetite & taconite. Then through other distillations and purifications, the iron rods you use for building your house are made.
How is food high in iron made?
Well, the previous point is all about bookish knowledge and is well taught by your class teachers I hope. But as I told you earlier, you can not even think of eating an iron rod to mitigate your body’s iron demand. Then you might think, who puts iron in my food? The answer is no one. But that is why the trees are working day and night. What do they do? Nothing much, makes food high in iron so that you can have that food high in iron and mitigate the demand for iron in your body.
How do they do that? You must have heard of the term photosynthesis. So, by the process of photosynthesis, they make oxygen for us for which we live. And in the process, they also make food for them. But, trees are very kind. So they give away the excess amount of food they make to us, the humans. How? As fruits, vegetables, leaves, etc.
Food high in iron:
So, till now, you have understood that we do not take raw iron rods as food. Because trees help us by synthesizing that iron into different foods, and we take that. Now, we can get iron through different types of food. Exceptionally food high in iron are listed below:
Spinach:
We all know how cheerful Popeye- The Sailor Man was in our childhood. Well, spinach might not give you enough strength like him to fight off some random supervillain like Bluto. But it will surely help you to fight an altogether another type of foe, iron-deficiency anemia. It is because when your body feels short of iron, it can not produce enough hemoglobin, which upshots in a shortage of red blood cells.
For your kind information, 100 grams of fresh spinach contains 2.7 milligrams of iron, which is 15% of the DV.
Red meats:
Until or unless you are in that category of people who get carried away even hearing that anyone can be cruel enough to kill a living and then cook and eat that. ( I don’t mean to hurt you anyway. If you feel offended, please ignore the above part.) Red meats are an excellent origin of iron. Especially chicken liver, beef liver, oysters, tuna, etc. These foods high in iron are not just providing you iron for free. They taste fantastic too.
Also, meats have protein, selenium, zinc, and different vitamin- B’s in them. One hundred grams of beef also contains 2.7 milligrams of iron, which is also 15 percent of DV. The researcher has found out that people who eat meat, fish, and chicken regularly have less chance of falling for iron deficiency diseases. Red meats are, in fact, the most easily found source of heme iron. Thus, it is kind of a critical food high in iron for people suffering from anemia, an iron deficiency disease.
Grains of pumpkin:
If you are from the Indian landmass, then you are very much familiar with pumpkin grains. But if you are not, let me introduce you. Every ripe pumpkin contains the grains inside of it. And people eat this in various ways. Like frying, cooking, boiling, roasting, etc. Among all these, roasted pumpkin seeds are the tastiest.
Now, let’s come to the point of how it is a food high in iron. About 28 grams of pumpkin grains provide 2.5 milligrams of iron in our body. That is, 14% of the DV. For the best of your information, 28 grams of pumpkin grains provides magnesium for 40% of the DV, which helps in reducing depression, diabetes, etc.
Dark Chocolates:
I know you are knitting your brows after reading the title. I know you are thinking about how dark chocolates can be a portion of food high in iron? Let me tell you something that you will surprise even more. Researchers have found out that cocoa powder and dark chocolates have more antioxidant activity than that of the powders and juices made out of acai berries and blueberries. It also helps to reduce the cholesterols in our bodies.
Well, every 1 ounce of dark chocolates provides 3.4 milligrams of iron. That is, 19% of the DV.
Yet, not every chocolate you take is prepared equally. Researchers found that flavanols are responsible for the benefits of chocolates. And flavonol is put more in dark chocolates than milk powders.
So, if you think of having a bar of chocolate, better take a dark one. It will provide you nutrients along with tastes.
Turkey:
Hearing the word Turkey, what comes first in your mind? Thanksgiving, right? That deliciously cooked Turkey kept in a bowl waters anyone’s mouth. Why not? Turkey is a great food indeed. But it does more than watering your mouth. It is an excellent source of iron too.
One hundred grams of Turkey provides you 1.4 milligrams of iron, which is ultimately 8% of the DV. This doesn’t only offer you iron. It helps you to aid weight loss along with increasing your metabolic rate.
Broccoli:
Broccoli is a hot favorite to all the veggies. But everyone else loves this food too. Many confuse broccolis with cauliflower, another species. But that’s not right at all. It is an entirely different vegetable. It is tasty with nutritions. I know the phrase beauty with the brain is coming across your mind. Yeah, it’s kind of like that. You get both.
One hundred fifty-six grams of well-cooked broccoli can provide you 1 milligram of iron. That is 6% of the DV. You must be thinking that broccoli offers you the least iron on the list. But let me tell you an interesting fact. The same amount of broccoli provides you 112% of the DV of vitamin C. So, what’s up with that here? Nothing much, just to let you know that vitamin C helps our body to absorb iron. Now tell me, what’s the use of iron if our body can’t drink that? So that is how you can say that broccoli is a food high in iron.
How to Get More Iron in Your Diet:
After having a load of food, if you take some coke, you will be able to eat furthermore. If you cannot see things in far, taking a spectacle can help you overcome that shortcoming. And if you feel dizzy, then having a cup of tea can help you stay awake a bit more. So, what do we acknowledged from the above examples? If we can get some support, we can go further and accomplish what we need.
Similarly, sometimes our body cannot absorb enough iron from only the food high in iron. For that, we need to include or exclude some other food items from our diet. What will that do? That will help our body to absorb more iron from our food. Like:-
Inclusion of vitamin C:
Vitamin C succours to absorb iron in the human body. In that case, green fruits can be a great way to earn vitamin C. You can have different green fruits like orange, mango, olive, etc. Fruit juices are also a great source of vitamin C. Addition of green or red pepper in curries can help too. Sweet potatoes, along with white ones, are another great source too. And in case you don’t manage to have these foods, you can take vitamin C tablets. Those are also able enough to mitigate the iron demand of your body.
Exclusion of tea or coffee:
Before you come and find me to beat, let me clarify the fact. Tea contains tannic acid, whereas coffee contains chlorogenic acid. Why should you exclude tea or coffee for absorbing iron? The answer is the compounds that I mentioned early in this para create a bond with iron at the time of digestion. Now tell me, which is easy to absorb, the free iron or the iron that is bonded with some other compounds? Of course, the free iron. So, that is why I told you to exclude tea or coffee from your diet.
But if you are desperate to take tea or coffee, I’ll suggest you the best time. If you take tea or coffee before having your meal, it will not hinder iron absorption.
Just for you to know that calcium is also responsible for creating hindrance to iron absorption, so it is better not to keep much calcium-containing food in your diet if you plan to fill up your iron deficiency.
Requirements of iron in our body:
There is a measurement called RDI (Recommended Daily Intake). It determines how much of what nutrients are needed for an individual’s body per day. It depends on age and sex. According to this,
- Children between the age of –
- 1-3 require 9 milligrams of iron daily
- 4-8 need 10 milligrams of iron daily
- Boys between the age of –
- 9-13 need 8 milligrams of iron daily
- 14-18 need 11 milligrams of iron daily
- Girls between the age of –
- 9-13 need 8 milligrams of iron daily
- 14-18 need 15 milligrams of iron daily
- An adult man need 8 milligrams of iron daily
- Woman between the age of 19-50 need 18 grams of iron daily
- Women of age 51+ need 8 milligrams of iron daily.
Frequently asked questions about food high in iron:
Question: Can I eat metal iron bars as food like KitKat?
Answer: Certainly not. Because that iron bar neither tastes good nor your body can absorb raw iron directly.
Question: I am a veggie. So, is there any food high in iron for me?
Answer: Of course. You can have leafy greeneries. You can have tomato. Again Potatoes are also another good source of iron.
Question: Why does a woman between the age of 19-50 require more iron than others?
Answer: Well, you must know about the menstruation cycle that a woman passes every month. In the process, they lose too much blood. So, they lose iron again. That is why they need more iron than others.
Conclusion of Food high in iron:
If you made it to the conclusion, that means you have read the article thoroughly. And if you have read the article thoroughly, by now, you must know that we’ve only talked about the right sides of the iron. About the food high in iron. But it is the nature of the universe. Everything must have some side effect if that goes beyond the limit. If you take much food high in iron, you can face constipation as a side effect. You can have a stomach ache. You can feel sick and fall sick as well. So, it’s better not to have much food high in iron.
But in case of spinach, grains of pumpkin, dark chocolates, red meats, broccoli, turkey, legumes, etc., are your favorites, you can add some calcium-contained food to your diet. That will inhibit your body from absorbing more irons. Thus you can have those as much as you want. Always keep in mind that overabundance of anything brings out nothing. By staying within your limit you can do whatever you want. You can eat whatever you want. So, bye for now, TADA.
