High-iron foods, such as spinach and liver, enjoy an almost mythic standing as health foods. That's because raising your iron level increases or restores physical vitality. If you are pregnant, iron deficient or anemic, getting your daily dose of dietary iron from healthy foods can improve your total nutritional profile.
You may know when your body's stores of iron are low because you may instinctively crave more nutritious foods when you feel tired or weak or have difficulty concentrating or maintaining normal body temperature. Iron imbalance or deficiency can be corrected by adjusting your diet. Start tapping more food sources of iron when energy lags, if you have heavy menstrual flow or kidney problems, or if you become pregnant.
High-Iron Foods
The Food and Drug Administration defines high mineral content as 20 percent of the recommended daily value (DV) or higher. Get 100 percent of your daily dose of iron (18 mg) by eating 1 serving of ready-to-eat cereal. Choose meat sources for heme iron, the most easily absorbed form of this essential mineral. These include chicken livers (4 oz, 13 mg), oysters (3 oz, 5 mg) and beef chuck (3 oz, 3 mg). Cooked dry legumes (1 cup, 4 to 9 mg), such as kidney beans, lima beans, black beans and pinto beans, lentils and soybeans, all provide 20 percent DV of dietary iron.
Medium-Iron Foods
Foods with moderate iron content (6 to 9 percent DV) include a wide range of heme and non-heme sources. Animal-based foods such as lean beef tenderloin or eye of round (3 oz) add 2 to 3 mg to your iron level. Turkey (4 oz.) offers about 2 mg, and chicken breast or halibut (3 oz) raises your daily dose of iron by about 1 mg.
Non-heme sources that are moderate in dietary iron include pumpkin seeds (1 oz., 2 mg), bulgar and tomatoes (1 cup, 2 to 3 mg each). A baked potato, a handful of cashew nuts and a piece of pumpkin pie all have about 2 mg of iron each.
Low-Iron Foods
While foods high in dietary iron may boost your iron level quickly, you may be inclined to eat more, lower-iron items more often. Low-mineral foods contain 5 percent DV or less. Get your daily dose of iron by eating a combination of foods with less than 1 mg, including: crab, pork loin, shrimp or tuna (3 oz.); strawberries, pineapple or watermelon (1 cup); and a granola bar, chocolate bar or piece of lemon meringue pie.
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