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Ironed Out – What You Don’t Know About This Nutrient

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What do you know about Iron, an essential mineral for our physical wellbeing?

  • Iron is an important mineral found in our blood important for transporting oxygen around our bodies, to keep us feeling energetic and ensuring a healthy immune system
  • Men, women, children and adults all require different amounts of iron every day
  • Iron can be difficult to obtain in food and therefore it is very common to be deficient in iron
  • If you aren’t obtaining enough iron from your food you might be feeling tired, anxious, irritated, have a hard time concentrating, suffer from low energy and poor resistance to infections.

Our body needs iron from external sources, it cannot manufacture any on its own. Iron deficiency is the world’s most common cause of anemia. Make sure you are getting enough!

So where do we obtain iron in our diet?

There are two types of iron, and they come from different food sources.

  1. Heme iron – this iron is absorbed well by your body. You can find it in foods like red meat, poultry, seafood, offal (e.g. kidneys, liver) – generally foods that are derived from animals.
  2. Non-heme iron – this iron can be found in legumes, whole grain breads and cereals, green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds and eggs.

Iron Absorption:

Even though the amount of  iron found in plant based foods might be similar to that found in animal products, it is not absorbed as well in the body. For comparison: 15-35% of heme iron is absorbed by our digestive system, while only 2-20% of non-heme iron is absorbed.

There are additional factors that can inhibit or enhance the absorption of non-heme iron:

  • Tea and coffee contain natural compounds such as caffeine and tannins that can inhibit non-heme iron absorption.
  • Vitamin C, on the other hand, can enhance the absorption of non-heme iron.

Here are some tips to increase the absorption of non-heme iron:

-         add bell pepper, cabbage and bean sprouts to soups, stir fries and salad

-         consume fruit based desserts after meals

-         add fresh berries on top of wholemeal pancakes

-         squeeze a lemon on your fish dish

-         occasionally drink a small glass ( 4 fl oz) of 100% fruit juice with meals

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  • http://www.thefrugaldietitian.com Nancy – The Frugal Dietitian

    Keep in mind that Vitamin C is NOT heat tolerant so most of it will be destroyed when cooking.  They actually did a study where Vitamin C in orange juice was destroyed as the juice container was opened frequently.  Another source of iron is using an iron skillet. 

    Keep  in mind that up to 10% of the population has hemochromatosis – absorbs excess iron which can lead to poor outcomes.  So NOT everyone should be taking an iron supplement.

    I have never heard of caffeine being a problem with iron absorption – tannins, yes.

  • celloluv

    I took a geology workshop to learn how to teach kids basic information about rocks and minerals.  One day each group had a large coffee cup full of Total (or similar full of vitamins and minerals) cereal.  Boiling water was poured over the cereal and we were given a wooden stick with a white magnet glued to it. We used the stick to stir the cereal for about 5-7 minutes.  While we stirred we wondered how this related to geology.  When we pulled out stir sticks out we found our white magnets covered in tiny black things.  Iron filings!!  One way to get your iron.

  • Amber @ Au Coeur

    You forgot to add that cow’s milk hinders absorption of iron.  This is especially important for parents of little kids to know…it’s one of the reasons that milk should not be consumed before 12 months and limited to 16oz per day afterwards.

  • Erika organic

    We arnt even suppose to drink milk because
    Of the milk sugar latose , surgar our body natullay
    Makes as well as caffeine we dont need to but
    And more it makes cancer mutate & we are the
    Only form of living being that drinks milk
    Were not suppose to . Only breast milk @
    Birth till when ever . With that being said it makes
    Sense that fruit and veggies is all we need
    And should eat , they hold all the vitamins we are make esentually
    Mechanically perfect it all make sense, your body
    Acts differently when altured ,feed
    Your body good and get good out of it you will feel diffrent & energized & heathy no kidding try it you’ll see exercise too it won’t be hard
    Proceed food

    Minerals we need ad we all be healthy no
    Need for doctors or drugs!

  • Kszawarski

    The product description is without basic knowledge.
    This is product of China. It means it is not healthy food.
    It is poison. This product need to be removed from US market.

    • Lola

      Not all avocados are from China and even so that doesn’t make it automatically poisonous for you. Its a very healthy fruit which benefits go beyond nourishment. I use avocado all the time in my hair and beauty products.