Last Updated on November 7, 2022 by
Beans and lentils. Beans and lentils are the best sources of iron, but they can cause gas and bloating if you don’t cook them properly. To reduce these side effects, soak beans overnight before cooking them, drain them and rinse them before cooking, and add a pinch of baking soda to the water when cooking them.
Nuts, seeds and nut butters. Nuts are high in fat, which might make it difficult for your body to absorb the small amount of iron they contain.
Dark chocolate. A small piece of dark chocolate may help prevent anemia because it contains iron. However, you should limit your intake because too much chocolate could lead to weight gain and diarrhea.
Low-Iron Diet
Low-iron diets can help your body get rid of excess iron. Foods high in vitamin C and beta-carotene (a type of vitamin A) may also help reduce your need for iron.
Here are some tips on eating a low-iron diet:
Avoid red meat and organ meats such as liver. These foods have the most iron per serving.
Choose lean cuts of meat and poultry. They contain less fat, which contains heme iron.
Choose lower-heme grains such as cornmeal and rice instead of higher-heme wheat products such as breads, muffins, pastas and cereal. Breads made from refined grains or enriched flour contain virtually no heme iron because it has been removed during processing or enrichment. Whole grains do contain heme iron because they are whole foods that haven’t been processed or enriched (see Nutrition Facts labels).
Try to eat beans and legumes daily — they’re good sources of protein without much heme iron.
Low Iron Diet Menu
Breakfast:
- Spinach, eggs and tomato sandwich
- Oatmeal with raisins and nuts
- Cereal with milk and bananas
High-iron foods include organ meats like liver, beef, pork and chicken. Fish that are high in iron include sardines, mackerel, tuna and salmon. Other foods high in iron include beans, lentils and chickpeas. Vegetables that contain iron include spinach, kale and Swiss chard. Some fruits are also good sources of iron. These include raisins and apricots.
Foods low in iron include most cereals, breads and pastas. Milk is also low in iron unless it is fortified with the mineral. People who avoid animal products may not get enough iron from plants alone because they do not absorb as much plant-based iron as they do animal-based iron.
To lower your iron levels quickly, you should avoid red meat and poultry for three days before donating blood or having a phlebotomy test done at a lab. You also should eat fewer eggs while lowering your blood’s ferritin levels because eggs contain more than half of their calories from fat — especially saturated fat — which interferes with absorption of some nutrients including vitamin E and beta-carotene.
If you have iron overload, or hemochromatosis, you should follow a low-iron diet. The goal is to reduce the amount of iron in your body. In some cases, that means avoiding foods high in iron. In others, it means eating foods that contain less of the mineral.
If you’re at risk for iron overload, you may need to make changes to your diet. To reduce the amount of iron in your diet:
Eat fewer red meats and organ meats (liver). These foods have a lot of iron.
Don’t use cast-iron cookware for cooking acidic foods like tomatoes or citrus juices. This can cause release of more iron from the pan into your food.
Don’t drink tea with meals because tea contains tannins that can interfere with absorption of nonheme iron (the type found in supplements, fortified cereals and multivitamins).
Iron is an essential mineral that plays an important role in the formation of hemoglobin, which is a substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body.
While iron deficiency is extremely common, too much iron can also be dangerous. Iron overload disease — also known as hemochromatosis — is a condition in which excess iron builds up in your body. A diet that includes too much iron-rich foods can increase your risk for this condition.
Iron deficiency is more common than hemochromatosis. If you have low levels of iron in your blood, it may cause symptoms like fatigue and weakness. To prevent iron deficiency, eat a variety of foods that contain iron, such as red meat, poultry and fish.
The following foods are good sources of dietary iron:
Lean beef (4 ounces) — 10 milligrams
Lean pork (4 ounces) — 5 milligrams
Dark turkey meat (4 ounces) — 6 milligrams
White chicken meat (4 ounces) — 3 milligrams
Tuna packed in water (3 ounces) — 5 milligrams
Iron is an essential mineral that helps your body create red blood cells. Red blood cells deliver oxygen to all parts of your body, including your muscles and organs. If you don’t get enough iron in your diet, you can become anemic. Anemia occurs when you don’t have enough red blood cells or hemoglobin — the protein that carries oxygen — in your body.
There are many reasons why someone may have low iron levels. For example, people who have ulcers or stomach surgery may not be able to absorb iron from their food as well as people without these conditions. In addition, some medications like aspirin can interfere with the body’s ability to absorb iron from food.
Low iron levels can be treated with iron supplements or iron-rich foods like meat and seafood that contain heme iron — which is absorbed more easily than non-heme iron found in plants.
