Vitamin B2 and iron are nutrients essential for optimum health. Vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, acts as a co-enzyme in energy metabolism, helping to convert the foods you eat into energy for your body's cells. Iron, a trace mineral, is needed to form hemoglobin, a protein responsible for oxygen transport. Iron also supports the immune system. According to MayoClinic.com, the Recommended Daily Value, or DV, for vitamin B2 is 1.7 mg, and the DV for iron is 18 mg. Animal foods, such as red meat and seafood, soybeans and fortified cereals are rich in both nutrients.
Red Meat
According to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements, animal foods, such as meat, are good food sources of vitamin B2 and an excellent food source of the most well-absorbed, or bioavailable, form of iron: heme iron. A 3 oz. portion of lean bottom round steak, cooked, provides 0.22 mg of vitamin B2 and 2.9 mg of iron, or 13 percent of the DV for B2 and 16 percent for iron. The same portion size of calf's liver, cooked, meets over 200 percent of the DV for vitamin B2 and nearly 30 percent for heme iron. Sirloin steak, broiled, is also rich in these nutrients. A 3 oz. portion provides 2.5 mg of vitamin B2, or 15 percent of the DV and 2.9 mg of iron.
Seafood
Certain types of seafood are rich in both nutrients according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Library Database. A 3 oz. portion of Atlantic sardines, canned in oil, solids only, provide 0.19 mg of vitamin B2 and 2.5 mg of iron, or 11 and 14 percent of the DV, respectively. Clams are a mineral powerhouse. A 3 oz. portion, meat only, provides 0.18 mg of vitamin B2, or 10.5 percent of the DV, and a whopping 11.9 mg of iron, or two-thirds of your daily requirement. A 3 oz. portion of cooked oysters provides 0.17 mg vitamin B2, or 10 percent of the DV, and 5.9 mg of iron, meeting one-third of your daily requirement.
Plant Foods
While your body absorbs 15 to 35 percent of the heme iron you consume, only 2 to 20 percent of non-heme iron, the form in plant foods, is absorbed. Thus, it takes far more non-heme iron to meet your daily requirement. Vitamin C enhances non-heme iron absorption, however. According to the World's Healthiest Foods website, 1 cup of cooked soybeans provides 0.49 mg of vitamin B2, or 29 percent of the DV. According to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements, 1 cup of cooked soybeans is extremely iron-rich, offering 8.8 mg, or 50 percent of the DV. Fortified breakfast cereals, per 1 cup standard serving, such as bran flakes, meet roughly 25 percent of the DV for vitamin B2 and 50 percent for iron.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Nutrition and Healthy Eating--What does percent daily value mean on food labels?
- National Institutes of Health: Office of Dietary Supplements--Iron Fact Sheet
- World's Healthiest Foods: Riboflavin-B2
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: National Agricultural Library: Nutritive Value of Foods
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