You'll encounter two types of dietary iron in foods, and you should ingest both kinds. Your body best absorbs heme iron, found in animal-based food sources. These items may be high in fat and cholesterol, however, which can harm your health. Nonheme iron, derived from plant-based foods, is less easily absorbed but more readily incorporated into a healthy diet. The FDA recommends getting a total of 18 mg in iron content per day, which provides sufficient usable minerals for protein synthesis and keeps you feeling energetic and strong.
Meats and Seafood
The National Institutes of Health, NIH, steer you toward rich heme iron food sources such as poultry and beef liver, oysters and clams. These menu items all contain high dietary iron content of 4 mg per suggested serving, or 20 percent or more of your daily needs, as listed by the USDA Nutrient Database. Additional heme iron sources include eggs, regular chicken, turkey, beef, lamb and pork cuts, and fish such as salmon and tuna.
Whole Grains
While whole wheat, corn, rye, rice, barley and oats contain low to moderate nonheme iron content, food processors often enrich them to make commercial cereals and bread products. The USDA reports a long list of ready-to-eat cereals that offer between 20 and 100 percent of daily iron values in 1 cup servings with low calorie counts. These foods also deliver a variety of other essential minerals, vitamins and dietary fiber.
Legumes
The richest legume food sources include cooked dry soybeans and soy products such as soymilk and tofu, all with significant dietary iron. According to the NIH, lima and kidney beans, as well as additional dry beans and peas, provide strong contributions toward your daily iron totals.
Veggies
While many vegetables have low iron content, green veggies, as a rule, usually have more. The USDA includes cooked spinach, Jerusalem artichokes and turnip greens among those with 20 percent or more of daily iron provisions. Tomatoes, beets and potatoes also have strong mineral levels.
Fruit
Among fruits, only dried varieties concentrate enough iron to aid your nutritional profile. The NIH relates that raisins, prunes and apricots represent fruit food sources of moderate amounts of iron, although their sugar content is high as well.
Nuts and Seeds
While nuts and seeds alone probably won't sustain your dietary iron levels, they can provide continual boosts. The USDA lists walnuts, almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds among the highest contributors of iron in this category.
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