Red blood cells are the delivery trucks that bring oxygen to the cells around your body. Without enough circulating red blood cells, you might feel tired and lethargic or you might spend most of your day asleep. Your body needs specific nutrients to produce red blood cells, namely iron, folate and vitamin B-12. Chronic low dietary levels of any one of these nutrients can lower your red blood cell count or diminish the availability of hemoglobin within your red blood cells.
Iron-Rich Foods
Red blood cells contain hemoglobin which is uniquely responsible for transporting blood gases like oxygen. Hemoglobin includes iron-rich heme groups that can bind to these gases. Meat is a good source of heme iron, which is absorbed best in your body. Lentils and legumes are a good source of nonheme iron, which your body can also use for red blood cells. One cup of cooked lentils provides as much as 6.5 mg iron, which is 80 percent of the recommended daily allowance for iron for adult men, and 30 percent of the RDA iron for adult women.
Foods With Vitamin B-12
Vitamin B-12 helps red blood cell production by supporting DNA synthesis, which allows your red blood cells to reproduce and divide. Vitamin B-12 comes from animal sources and fortified cereals, including meat and eggs. Most people following a Western have enough vitamin B-12 stored in their body to last for up to three years on a limited vitamin B-12 diet. The current recommended daily allowance for vitamin B-12 for adult men and women is 2.4 mcg. A deficiency in vitamin B-12 causes a condition known as megaloblastic anemia in which the red blood cells grow bigger but cannot divide due to an insufficient amount of DNA.
Folate-Rich Foods
Folate is a general term that encompasses multiple specific folic acids. Folate is essential for DNA synthesis and red blood cell production in bone marrow and heme production. The recommended daily allowance for folate is 400 mcg per day for adult men and women. Dietary sources of folate include dark green leafy vegetables, blackeyed peas, lentils and fortified cereals.
Copper-Containing Foods
Copper, a mineral, is also essential to hemoglobin production. The recommended daily allowance for copper is 900 mcg per day. Good sources of copper include liver, shellfish, whole grains, cherries, beans, oysters, poultry, chocolate and nuts. Copper helps mobilize iron from storage sites to the circulating plasma where it can incorporate into red blood cells.
References
- Office of Dietary Supplements: Iron
- USDA: Nutrient Data Laboratory
- "Journal of Cell Biology"; The Organization of Proteins in the Human Red Blood Cell Membrane; Theodore L. Steck; March 1974
- "Krause's Food, Nutrition, and Diet Therapy"; L. Kathleen Mahan; 2003
