Food sources contribute two types of dietary iron to the human body, heme and nonheme iron. The first comes from animals and the second from plants or foods that blend the two sources or have vitamin C, which enhances iron absorption. Some foods must be cooked in order to concentrate their iron content. Others must have supplemental iron added to them. The wide variety of iron food sources, however, makes it easy to get enough of both heme and nonheme iron for body processes such as red blood cell formation.
Liver
Get a large boost of the heme iron from turkey, chicken, pork and beef livers. High in dietary iron, these food sources also have high cholesterol that can be detrimental when consumed in excess, so eat them only occasionally.
Three oz. of chicken and turkey giblets have up to 11mg of the 18mg total daily value, or DV, recommended by the FDA. Anything over 20 percent DV represents high iron content, which these and other organ meats contain. The same serving of beef liver has 5mg while 2 slices of pork liver sausage contains 6mg.
Spinach
Spinach contains nonheme iron but also vitamin C, which means the body will absorb its iron well. The iron content of this green vegetable rises as it cooks. Therefore 1 cup of raw spinach has less than 1mg of iron, while 1 cooked cup, which may initially begin as 4 raw cups, contains more than 6mg of iron.
Other greens that produce greater dietary iron when cooked include turnip greens, collards, kale and beet greens, with as much as 15 percent DV in 1 cooked cup.
Enriched Cereal
Manufacturers increase the iron content of whole grains by adding nonheme iron to oat, wheat, barley, corn and rice enriched cereals. The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans consider these food sources of dietary iron preferable to mineral supplements because of its other beneficial minerals, fiber and vitamins that they contain. Some cereals offer 18mg, which is 100 percent DV of iron.
Baked Beans
Cooked dry beans are another healthy source of iron for the body. Some commercial canned baked beans contain both pork and tomato sauce, two additional iron resources. The blend of heme and nonheme iron make the 8mg in 1 cup of baked beans highly accessible for body processes. In addition, 1 cup of cooked lentils or kidney, lima, navy, refried pinto and black beans all deliver 20 percent DV or more of iron.
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