Foods To Add Iron In The Blood

When you need to produce a healthy blood count, eating foods that add iron to your diet will do the job. Whether you are donating blood, having a baby or experiencing anemia, getting more iron can preserve or improve your health. The dietary iron in foods helps to form hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to all the cells of your body via the blood. Both natural and fortified foods deliver big boosts of iron toward the average daily value of 18 mg recommended by the FDA.

Whole-Grain Cereals

Cereal provides big iron values in few calories in the varieties to which manufacturers add enriched mineral content. These include many whole wheat, corn, rice, barley, oat and rye cereals. The nutrition facts on package labels will state the iron content per suggested serving as a percentage of the 18 mg daily value, or DV. Some ready-to-eat cereals contain 100 percent DV of iron needed for healthy blood.

Clams and Oysters

While most fish don't provide large amounts of iron for red blood cell synthesis, mollusks do. Canned clams exceed 100 percent of your daily needs, with 24 mg per 3 oz. Raw clams deliver about half as much iron, at 12 mg, and oysters half of that, at 6 mg per 3-oz. serving.

Liver

While most meats have iron in their nutritional profiles, organ meats store iron for later use in blood cell formation. The USDA lists turkey and chicken giblets among some of the most iron-rich foods, with about 11 mg per 1-cup serving. Beef liver and braunschweiger, or pork liver sausage, have about half as much iron, with 5 to 6 mg.

Dry Beans and Peas

Tiny legumes contain large ratios of dietary iron, with little of the saturated fat that meats and seafood carry. One cup of cooked soybeans, for example, have 9 mg, or 50 percent DV, of iron. Additional iron-rich legumes for healthy blood include lentils, kidney beans and chickpeas.

Greens

Cooking vegetables, including spinach, enhances their raw iron content. Cooked spinach offers 6 mg of iron per cup, for instance, compared to less than 1 mg of iron in raw spinach leaves. Additional iron-rich sources for improving blood health include broccoli, kale and asparagus.