You only need them in small amounts, but vitamins and minerals are essential to life. Each one has a different part to play in keeping your body healthy. Iron is an inorganic mineral found in every cell of your body, and your only source of iron comes from the food you eat.
Functions
Your body uses the iron in the food you eat to make the oxygen-carrying proteins hemoglobin and myoglobin. Iron also helps promote cell growth and plays a role in determining a cell's specific function. It is also part of a number of different proteins in your body.
Requirements
Your daily iron needs vary depending on your age and gender. Because healthy-term infants are born with a supply of iron, their needs have not been determined. Infants 7 to 12 months need 11 mg of iron a day, children 1 to 3 need 7 mg a day, children 4 to 8 need 10 mg and children 9 to 13 need 8 mg a day. Male teens between the ages of 14 and 18 need 11 mg a day, and female teens the same age need 15 mg a day. Adult males between the ages of 19 and 50 need 8 mg a day, and adult females the same age need 18 mg a day. Adult men and women over the age 51 need 8 mg of iron a day. Women have higher iron needs because of their blood loss through menstruation.
Sources
Iron is found in a wide variety of foods, including meats, legumes and grains. Meats contain a type of iron called heme iron. Heme iron comes from oxygen-carrying protein hemoglobin. Legumes and grains contain nonheme iron. Your body is able to absorb heme iron better than nonheme iron. A 3 oz. portion of beef tenderloin contains 3 mg of iron, 3½ oz. of dark turkey meat has 2.3 mg and six breaded and fried oysters contain 4.5 mg of iron. A 1-cup serving of fortified oatmeal contains 10 mg of iron, 1 cup of cooked soy beans 8.8 mg and 1 cup of cooked kidney beans 5.2 mg.
Deficiencies
Childbearing women and children are most at risk for iron deficiencies. Your body is able to store some iron, but if low iron intakes persist over a long period of time, you can become deficient. Deficiencies can also occur if your body is unable to absorb the iron you consume or through excessive bleeding. Symptoms of iron deficiency include weakness, fatigue, poor work or school performance, delayed social development in younger children, difficulty maintaining body temperature and an increased susceptibility to infections.
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