Iron in the Vegetarian Kids' Diet

It is extremely important that children on meatless diet get an adequate supply of iron in their food to be healthy. They have to be given iron rich foods.

Meat from beef, poultry, and fish are known to have abundant levels of iron them. However, not every one are sold with the idea of providing their own children a diet plan made up of these types of food. And when individuals and their families make a decision to go meat-free, dads and moms need to be thorough in finding other sources of iron necessary for their vegetarian kids.

Significance of Iron to a Vegetarian Kid

Oxygen is carried by iron to the blood stream. It helps the metabolism, gives you energy and stamina, and provides warmth to the body. Such important element also synthesizes white blood cells, brain chemicals, and DNA. The effects on a typical kid with iron deficiency may include the inability to think well, anemia, as well as an accelerated chance of infections.

The type of iron obtained from fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes (non-heme iron) is not totally assimilated as easily by the body as the iron found in meats (heme iron). Because of this, the actual recommended daily allowance (RDA) of iron for many meatless children is usually more than that of kids which often take in meat. However if dads and moms are actually thorough about choosing the proper foods, their kids' vegetarian diets could be equally as nutritious and sound as that for one who eats meat.

Sources of Iron-Rich Nutrients for Meatless Children

It isn't really hard providing iron-rich foods to meatless children. There are many vegetarian-friendly foods that happen to be abundantly stuffed with this essential element. Therefore if the ideal foods are included into a child's diet, a complete vegetarian diet plan can certainly be just as nutritionally sound as one that holds red meat, fish, and poultry.

Sources of iron for vegetarian kids include:

• seeds and lentils
• soy beans
• broccoli
• black beans
• spinach
• bok choy
• tofu
• pinto bean
• chick peas
• prunes
• enriched pasta
• watermelon
• green beans
• lima beans
• turnip greens
• whole grains
• peanut butter
• beets
• cantaloupe
• garbanzo beans
• raisins
• apricots
• almonds
• black eyed peas
• kale
• potatoes that has the skin

Vitamin C enables the body to absorb non-heme iron a lot easier. Therefore mixing iron-rich foods with those food types that are abundant in vitamin C will allow the absorption of the essential quantities of iron by the children. Farm products including broccoli, potatoes, and bok choy hold both iron and vitamin C, hence, the inclusion of these food ingredients into the menu will be very beneficial for the kids.

Supplying vegetarian children with foods that are loaded with iron is important to the child's body. Yet, huge amounts of iron is undoubtedly harmful. Therefore, don't provide young kids iron supplements. If you believe a kid is actually iron deficient, boost the quantity of iron-rich meals in their daily diet, and consults a doctor.

More Vegetarian Recipes at EVegetarianRecipes.com.

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Top 5 Healthy Food Tips for Pregnant Women

Eating well during pregnancy is important for you and your baby. Pregnant women have special nutritional needs. Your daily meals should include a variety of foods rich in protein, as we well as starchy foods, fruits and vegetables, and dairy products. The food you eat is your baby's main source of nutrition. Small regular snacks may help reduce morning sickness and nausea. Contrary to popular belief, pregnant women need more iron, protein, iodine, and folate but only a small increase in kilojoules.

Here are top five healthy food tips for pregnant women:

Adopt a Balanced Diet

With a few exceptions, you can continue to eat normally during pregnancy. A balanced diet should include regular meals and snacks such as nuts and seeds, dried beans and lentils, lean meat, wholegrain bread and cereal, fresh fruit, vegetables, and small amounts of foods high fat. The digestive system in pregnant women becomes more efficient at absorbing certain nutrients. Therefore, it's not necessary to eat larger quantities of food to get the vitamins and minerals you need.

Avoid Certain Foods

Your body is more vulnerable to food-borne illnesses during pregnancy. Eating certain foods can cause severe health problems, from poor digestion to miscarriage. It is advisable for pregnant women to avoid raw eggs, sushi, unpasteurized juice, swordfish, and tilefish. Give up alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea high in caffeine. Stay away from soft cheeses unless they are made with unpasteurized milk. Skip the hot dogs and the deli meat. When you eat fruits and vegetables, wash them well.

Get More Iron

Pregnant women can become short of iron, so you should eat more foods containing this nutrient. Drinking coffee or tea can make it harder for the body to absorb iron. This natural compound can be found in red meat, dried fruit, wholegrain starchy foods, green leafy vegetables, bread, and pulses. Taking iron supplements might help you.

Eat Healthy Snacks

If you get hungry between meals, choose nutritious snacks like fresh fruit, unsweetened fruit juices, humus with bread, low fat yogurt, pita bread filled with grated cheese and mashed tuna or ham, raisins, salads, and baby carrots. Choose wholegrain varieties because they provide more fiber and nutrients.

Consume More Folic Acid

Folic acid is needed in larger amounts during pregnancy. Eating foods rich in folic acid helps reduce birth defects. It is recommended to start taking folic acid supplements before conception. Green leafy vegetables, beans, sunflower seeds, fruits, fortified breakfast cereals, lentils, and grains contain significant amounts of this nutrient.

Pregnant women should read healthy food tips in order to learn more about proper nutrition and choose the right foods. A balanced diet is essential for your health. To find out more about dieting and adequate nutrition, check out DSM Food.

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Unusual Sources of Iron to Include in Your Healthy Meal Plan

We in the west are being encouraged to eat more whole grains, legumes, nuts, and vegetables. And, if you are looking to lose weight, this is especially important. If this is so, you probably could benefit from trying to have some meals that are vegetarian or vegan (I try to do this at least once a week), as such meals are generally lower in calories. But, you might be concerned by the perceived drop in your iron intake by reducing your meat consumption. Now, the thing most people don't realise is that there are many vegetarian or vegan sources of iron.

So, what are the vegetarian or vegan sources of iron? And, what are the rules you should follow when cooking with them? Read on to find out what iron rich, vegetarian or vegan sources to include in your healthy meal plan.

Vegetarian or Vegan Sources of Iron

Well, there are many vegetarian or vegan sources of iron. Some of them might surprise you. You probably already know that spinach is rich source of iron, but did you know that kale and broccoli (and other dark leafy greens), and most dark coloured vegetables and fruits are high in iron? You might have surmised that kelp is high in sodium, but did you know that it is also rich in iron?

Some seeds are high in iron, and most notably, sesame and pumpkin seeds, so be sure to include them in your healthy meal plan. Add wheat germ and bran to your porridge or muesli, thereby increasing the iron content.

Not all sources of iron are necessarily savoury, so you can indulge your sweet tooth occasionally without guilt. For instance, molasses is a great source of iron, as are prunes, figs, dried peaches and raisins.

Here's another surprising source: did you know onions are a great source of iron? As are avocados and bananas. So, eat them up.

You might be concerned that many of these foods aren't great sources of protein. But, don't worry there are abundant, iron rich, vegetable sources of protein. For instance, did you know that egg yolks are a great source of iron? As is quinoa. You probably know that you should be trying to include more legumes in your diet, but here's another great reason to do so: a lot of them are high in iron (and of course, protein). For instance, soya beans (and hence, tofu), kidney beans, white beans, and red lentils.

Cooking to maximise iron content

Here are some tips to get the most iron from your food. Combine foods with high iron content with those that contain vitamin C, as this helps your body's absorption of iron. Reduce your consumption of coffee and tea around the time you eat iron containing foods, as they contain compounds known as polyphenols. These compounds can combine with the iron in food to make it more difficult for our bodies to absorb it. Calcium blocks our bodies from absorbing the iron in food. So, for about half an hour before and after eating foods high in iron, avoid eating foods that are rich in calcium.

Here's another tip: cook your food in iron pots. Foods that are acidic pull the iron from cast-iron pots. Simmering foods that are acidic, for example, tomatoes, in iron pots can raise the iron content of the mixture by more than ten times. Foods cooked with other acids, for instance red wine, vinegar, lime or lemon juice, in an iron pot can raise the iron content of the food cooked in such a way.

Adding these foods to your healthy meal plan will help you to maximise not just your weight loss (as many are lower in calories than the equivalent meat based iron source), but also will ensure you receive your body's iron requirement.

Would you like to find out what other foods to include in your healthy meal plan? If so, visit Good-Healthy-Diet.com today. So, check out this site now.

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Cast Iron Skillet Food Cooking - It Actually Is Healthier

When we talk of the good old days, many times it's just nostalgia creeping in. But with some of the cookware we use to prepare meals with, sometimes the good old days were much better. In particular I'm speaking of cast iron skillet, and how much more healthy they are to cook with than what many of us use as cheap alternatives. This dependable cookware is a must in the modern kitchen, and we will show the many of advantages of cooking with these skillet.

But first, if they are so much better why did we get away from cooking with cast iron cookware. Of course they have been around for centuries, but as with so many things technology took over. They fell out of favor when in the 1960s Teflon-coated and non-stick cookware quickly became the choice in most kitchens. They were much cheaper, easier to handle, and seemed to do everything that cast iron cookware could do.

But now as we take a second look at things, we are seeing the benefits that cast iron skillet have. Here are a few:

1. You can use less oil. Once your skillet is seasoned, you will need less oil to cook with. It will have a nice sheen which will make it basically non-stick. When using oils there are some that are much healthier than others, but all are high in calories. So to minimize even the best is a better alternative. To properly season your cast-iron skillet, cover the bottom of the pan with a thick layer of kosher salt and a half-inch of cooking oil. Then heat the mixture until the oil starts to smoke. Pour the salt and oil out into a container, and rub the inside of the pan with paper towels until it is smooth. Remember to never use soap to clean your cast iron, but just rub it with a stiff brush and hot water and dry it completely.

2. It is a chemical free alternative to non-stick pans. Non-stick pans will emit harmful chemicals, which is the repellent coating that keeps food from sticking. These PFCs or perflurocarbons are chemicals linked to cancer, liver damage and developmental problems. When these non-stick pans are heated on high heat, the PFCs get released into the air, where they are inhaled. Also, when these pans get scratched, they can be ingested with the food that is cooked in them. There are none of these issues with cast iron skillet.

3. It fortifies your food with iron. Cast iron, then, does not leach any chemicals into the food. It does, however, leach some iron into your food, and for people who are iron deficient that is a good thing. Iron deficiency is fairly common, as it is estimated that 10% of American women are iron-deficient. Certain foods, especially if they are acidic like tomatoes, can increase iron content by as much as twenty times.

Cast-iron skillet conduct heat beautifully, go from stove-top to oven with no problem and last for decades. If you are into cooking, strongly consider the use of cast-iron skillet.

If you are interested in cast iron cookware, you probably are into cooking, and our article on Mediterranean diet recipes lets you in on some information on this great food for cooking. These foods are good to detox the body naturally and should be part of everyone's diet. Rich Carroll is a writer and health advocate living in London.

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Iron Rich Foods - Quick and Easy Ways to Increase Your Iron Intake

For more tips of how to change your life, check out Tim's latest AudioBook "Turbo Charge Your Life!" runningraw.com In this episode of the Running Raw Project: While speaking in Chicago at the Raw Community Thanksgiving Dinner, Tim VanOrden talks about the different types of iron found in most diets and how to increase your iron absorption as a vegan.

It is easy to increase your iron intake by eating iron rich foods. However, a recent survey conducted among young women highlighted a big gap in their knowledge of iron rich foods:

• Twenty six percent (26%) of young women admitted to having a hard time identifying foods rich in iron.
• Twenty six percent (26%) of young women knew that liver is a good source of iron and forty percent (40%) are aware that green vegetables are a good source too.
• Seventeen percent (17%) knew eating fortified cereal for breakfast could increase iron intake.
• Twelve percent (12%) cited baked beans as one of the many iron rich foods.
• Ten percent (10%) knew boiled eggs contain a good amount of iron.
• Only nine percent (9%) mentioned red meat as among the top iron rich foods.
• Two percent (2%) considered eating dried figs to up their iron intake.

Iron Rich Foods Overview

Consumption of iron rich foods is important in ensuring that your body is performing the way it should. It is also important in preventing diseases caused by iron deficiency. And it might surprise you that hear that iron deficiency is the number one nutrient deficiency in then United States and a major issue world wide. Here is a list of some the top iron rich foods which you should maximize in your diet:

• Beef, pork, lamb and organ meat like liver. The redder the meat the better.
• Poultry, especially the darker meat from the legs
• Oily fish like sardines and mackarel and mollusks such as mussels, clams and oysters

Iron Rich Foods for Vegetarians:

It may be difficult for vegetarians to get the recommended level of iron from their diet, since the body does not absorb iron found in vegetables as readily as that found in animal products. If you are vegetarian, here are some facts to help you maximize your iron intake.

• Green leafy vegetables
• Incorporating food or drinks rich in vitamin C, such as fruits, vegetables and fruit juice will help maximize absorption.
• Eat iron fortified foods. You can find fortified breakfast cereal, fortified rice and much more.
• Nuts, apricots and other dried fruits are great iron rich snacks.

Menu Ideas

With all these iron rich foods, it should be easy for you to prepare a delicious daily meal plan. Here are some ideas to help you get started.

Breakfast:

• fortified breakfast cereals or biscuits made of whole wheat with semi-skimmed milk
• wholemeal toast with poached egg, two low-fat sausages, grilled tomato and baked beans
• a glass of juice rich in vitamin C such as orange or grapefruit

Lunch:

• wholemeal toast topped with sardines
• bean salad or chicken salad
• a glass of smoothie or juice

Ideas:

• stir fried beef or vegetable
• grilled beef burger, preferably low-fat and oven chips
• a glass of juice or fruits

Snacks:

• almonds
• dried apricots or raisins
• slice of gingerbread cake

Iron Absorption

Iron absorption has a huge impact in your body's iron level. Aside from increasing your intake of the right foods, you should also increase your intake of foods that enhance iron absorption, such as foods rich in vitamin C and decrease or completely avoid foods that inhibit iron absorption, such as coffee and tea.

When you eat food rich in iron along with absorption enhancers, you can really boost your daily iron intake.

Found out all you need to know about Iron Rich Foods and how to beat Low Iron Symptoms or recover from Iron Deficiency Anemia at http://www.ironrichfoods.info

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Top 50 Iron Rich Foods - Boost Your Energy and Beat Low Iron Symptoms

I have to confess - it have took me some time to finish this level. This is pretty tough level. It demands a lot of fire power so my Sorcerers/Elementals solution does not suit well here. I have used a lot of Arcane towers as they can disintegrate any enemy (especially those nasty Swamp Things) in one shot. PS: I think paladins with theirs AOE will be a great solution. Though I do not like them because they are boring (-: Link to the game: armorgames.com

Increasing your intake of iron rich foods should not be too difficult. All it takes is for you to know which of the foods you eat are rich in iron, and start planning your meals accordingly. Sadly, the extent of most people's knowledge, when it comes to iron and iron rich foods, is just too limited.

For a quick read on where to start you can read our article on Foods with an Iron Punch, but here we'll give a much more in depth overview of the best iron Rich Foods complete with their Iron content.

The data has been extracted from the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Release 22 from September 2009 which contains all the nutritional data for well over 7,000 food items. Unfortunately you can't just download the database and do a quick sort on Iron content to give you the best Iron Rich Foods. Actually you can, but the problem is that the list you get won't be very helpful in your daily life as the top items would be things like freeze dried parsley, dried thyme, beluga meat, cumin seed and all kinds of other foods you wouldn't eat in large enough quantities to help you load up on Iron.

We have done the hard work for you and have carefully reviewed the USDA database and compiled this list of Top 50 Iron Rich Foods and have listed them by category so you know that when you eat meat what meat to choose, when you buy vegetables what to put in your shopping cart and when you need a quick snack what can help you boost your iron intake in just a few minutes.

This list is not a complete list of the iron content of all possible food items - if you don't see it here it just means it isn't particularly high on Iron.

Eat these Iron Rich Foods, combine them with Iron Absorption Enhancers, avoid Iron Absorption Inhibitors and you'll be well on your way to boost your Iron levels and get rid of those Low Iron Symptoms!

Breakfast Cereals
Fortified breakfast cereal is one of your best bets to boost your Iron intake and below is a short list of some of them. As you can see eating just a single serving of these will give you around 18 mg Iron, but bear in mind that the typical absorption rate of a healthy adult is only approximately 10% to 15% of dietary iron. So drink a glass of Orange juice with your cereal to boost your absorption. Also, bear in mind that the last two items in this last are dry, i.e. before you have added milk or water to them!

• Ralston Enriched Bran Flakes: 27 mg/cup
• Kellog's Complete Oat Bran Flakes: 25 mg/cup
• General Mills Multi-Grain Cheerios: 24 mg/cup
• Kellog's All-Bran Complete Wheat Flakes: 24 mg/cup
• Malt-O-Meal, plain, dry: 92 mg/cup
• Cream of Wheat, instant, dry: 51 mg/cup

Meat
Red meat is high on iron and it comes in the heme form you body most easily absorbs; typically 15% to 35% of heme iron is absorbed by your body. Organ meats are the best sources of iron within the meat category and of these liver is probably the most popular so we've included it the list since we don't know too many people who'll eat spleen or lungs we've excluded these kinds of organs. If you like liver then go for goose liver expensive, but very nice! or at least opt for pork liver instead of beef liver. When you opt for red meat in your diet add some less standard options like Emu, Ostrich or Duck instead of beef.

• Goose liver, raw: 31 mg / 100g
• Pork liver, cooked: 18 mg / 100g
• Chicken liver, cooked: 13 mg / 100g
• Lamb liver, cooked: 10 mg / 100g
• Beef liver, cooked: 7 mg / 100g
• Emu, cooked: 7 mg / 100g
• Ostrich oyster, cooked: 5 mg / 100g
• Quail meat, raw: 5 mg / 100g
• Duck breast, raw: 5 mg / 100g
• Beef, steak, cooked: 4 mg / 100g
• Beef, ground, cooked: 3 mg / 100g

Fish and Shellfish
Fish is not often considered as a good source of iron and most finfish is indeed not, only the oily fish like mackerel and sardines provide you with a decent amount of iron. So when you want to eat fish, opt for oily fish which gives you the most iron and is high in omega-3 too. When you add shellfish into the equation suddenly we find some of the best Iron Rich Foods you can find, especially clams think clam chowder. A quick comparison with the meat category shows that octopus or cuttlefish beat all the regular meats in terms of iron content and are only outdone by liver. So, it's time to add some stir fried squid to your weekly menu.

• Clams, canned, drained solids: 28 mg / 100g
• Clams, cooked: 28 mg / 100g
• Fish caviar, black and red: 12 mg / 100g
• Cuttlefish, cooked: 11 mg / 100g
• Octopus, cooked: 10 mg / 100g
• Oyster, medium sized, cooked: 10 mg / 100g
• Anchovy, canned in oil: 5 mg / 100g
• Shrimp, cooked: 3 mg / 100g
• Sardine, canned in oil: 3 mg / 100g
• Mackerel, cooked: 2 mg / 100g

Vegetables
Vegetables are an essential part of your diet, full of essential nutrients and most people don't eat enough of them, but when it comes to Iron most vegetables are not too hot. If you choose your vegetables carefully then can use vegetables to help you boost your iron levels, especially if you include some iron absorption enhancers in your diet as the non-heme iron in vegetables is not easily absorbed by your body. Vegetables in the Top 50 Iron Rich Foods include various beans, potato skins, tomatoes and green leafy vegetables like spinach, chard and parsley. Chili con carne, which combines meat, kidney beans and tomato sauce, makes an excellent Iron Rich Recipe, but so does a white bean salad with plenty of fresh parsley and light vinaigrette.

• Mushrooms, morel, raw: 12 mg / cup
• Tomatoes, sun-dried: 5 mg / cup
• Potato skins, baked: 4 mg / skin
• Parsley, raw: 4 mg / cup
• Soybeans, boiled: 9 mg / cup
• Spinach, boiled, drained: 6 mg / cup
• Tomato sauce, canned: 9 mg / cup
• Lentils, boiled: 7 mg / cup
• Hearts of palm, canned: 5 mg / cup
• White Beans, canned: 8 mg / cup
• Kidney beans, boiled: 5 mg / cup
• Chickpeas, boiled: 5 mg / cup
• Pinto Beans, frozen, boiled: 3 mg / cup
• Lima beans, boiled: 4 mg / cup
• Hummus, commercial: 6 mg / cup
• Swiss Chard, boiled, chopped: 4 mg / cup
• Asparagus, canned: 4 mg / cup
• Chickpeas, canned: 3 mg / cup
• Tomatoes, canned: 3 mg / cup
• Sweet potato, canned, mashed: 3 mg / cup
• Endive, raw: 4 mg / head

Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds are great Iron Rich Foods in that they have a pretty high iron content and are so versatile that you can eat them in many ways. A quick snack on some cashew nuts is filling, healthy and gives plenty of iron - tasty too! Pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds can be easily toasted and added to a salad for a nice crunch and an iron boost. Sesame seeds are used in a variety of Asian dishes and all of these can be used in baking or as a quick addition to your breakfast cereal. Just make sure you always have some in the house and you'll soon find many ways to add them into your day-to-day food.

• Sesame seeds, whole, dried: 21 mg/cup
• Pumpkin seeds and squash seed kernels, dried: 11 mg/cup
• Sunflower seed kernels, toasted: 9 mg/cup
• Cashew nuts, dry roasted, halves and whole: 8 mg/cup
• Pistachio nuts, dry roasted: 5 mg/cup
• Almonds, whole kernels, blanched: 5 mg/cup

Fruit
Fresh fruit is not rich in Iron, but dried fruit like apricots, peaches or prunes are great Iron Rich Snacks to eat in between meals or to add to various recipes. The one thing you must remember about fresh fruit is that most of it contains a lot of Vitamin C and since Vitamin is an Iron Absorption Enhancer eating fresh fruit or vegetables high in Vitamin C with your meal can greatly boost the amount of iron your body actually absorbs.

• Apricots, dehydrated low-moisture: 8 mg/cup
• Peaches, dehydrated low-moisture: 6 mg/cup
• Prunes, dehydrated low-moisture: 5 mg/cup
• Olives, canned jumbo: 0.3 mg / olive
• Currants, dried: 5 mg/cup
• Apricots, dried, sulfured, uncooked: 4 mg/cup
• Blueberries, canned: 7 mg/cup

Iron Rich Snacks
Apart from the nuts and dried fruit there are quick and easy Iron Rich Snacks which you can simply buy in the supermarket and use as a instant Iron Booster. Below or some examples, but if you're planning to buy some bars or drinks then you need to remember to check the nutrition labels on the actual products you buy as the actual Iron content can vary greatly from brand to brand and even from product to product within the same brand.

• Nestle Supligen, canned supplement drink 9 mg / can
• Snickers Marathon Honey Nut Oat Bar: 8 mg / bar
• Snickers Marathon Double Chocolate Nut Bar 8 mg / bar
• Snickers Marathon Multigrain Crunch Bar: 8 mg / bar
• Pretzels, soft: 6 mg / large
• Trail mix, regular: 3 mg / cup

Eggs:
Dairy products are not high in Iron, but do contain a lot of calcium and calcium has been known to act as a Iron Absorption Inhibitor so you should try and eat calcium rich foods separate from your Iron Rich Foods as much as possible. Eggs are not too high in Iron, but egg yolks are not too bad and if you can find fresh goose eggs they could be used in a great Iron Rich Breakfast!

• Goose Egg, whole: 5 mg / egg
• Egg yolk, raw: 7 mg iron / cup
• Egg, scrambled: 3 mg iron / cup

Found out all you need to know about Iron Rich Foods and how to beat Low Iron Symptoms or recover from Iron Deficiency Anemia at http://www.ironrichfoods.info.

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Watch Out for Iron Deficiency!

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 24: A plate of salad with blood oranges, dates, arugula and parmesan chees prepared by Lucques chef Suzanne Goin is on display during food and wine event at Lucques in preperation of 17th annual SAG Awards on January 24, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

ron is an element, which is part of the blood pigment-hemoglobin. Of dietary iron is trivalent, changes in divalent iron stomach, small intestine, which when combined with protein to form ferritin, a compound that is a form of easily digestible and hemosyderynę as iron complex with proteins, carbohydrates, lipids. In addition, iron is stored in the liver, spleen, kidneys, and blood.

The functions of iron in the human body:
oxygen transport in the body,
part of the enzymes involved in the oxidation processes.

Sources in food:

In food products singling heme iron and nonheme iron, which is more difficult absorbable.


Heme iron sources, available in 20%:
liver,
kidney,
heart
meat
fish,
poultry.

Sources of non-haem iron, available in 5%:
egg yolks,
flour,
whole wheat bread,
coarse cereal,
wheat bran,
green vegetables such as spinach, parsley, chives, sorrel,
beets.

Iron deficiency

Iron deficiency can cause anemia hypochromic. The group most at risk of iron deficiency for children, adolescents and pregnant women.

Excess iron

Excess iron can cause congenital hemochromatosis. In this case, iron is deposited in the liver, pancreas, heart, joints and damage their structure.

Related articles

• Treating Iron-Deficiency Anemia
• Watch Out! Don't Get an Iron Deficit in Your Body!
• You Need IRON in Your Diet

Sources of iron in the diet

English: Distribution of body iron stores. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Deficiencies of this element more common for women than men. This is closely related to the physiology of the woman's body.

Iron is classified as micronutrients necessary for the human body. It performs many metabolic functions.One of the consequences of its deficiency anemia can be.

Minerals are supplied with food.However, the form in which they are present in food is often poorly absorbed by the body. Because of this, the products selected so that they are not only a source of the element, but also the source of the well-available forms.In the case of iron his best assimilable form is called. Heme iron, which is mainly a source of animal products. Sources of iron are plant products, but the form in which it exists (so-called nonheme iron) and the presence of other compounds (mainlyfiber and phytate in plants) make it difficult to use.

Nutritionists believe that a properly composed and varied diet is a sufficient source of micro-and macronutrients necessary for a healthy body. For this reason, there is no need to supplement them with additional use of concentrated sources in the form of vitamin and micronutrient mixtures. The need for this may be in special cases associated with disease states.

Iron is an element which is removed from the body predominantly of menstrual blood. This is the reason why mainly women are subject to deficiencies and they should complement the loss through diet appropriate to prevent a very small amount in the body. 

Iron is one of the elements with a low degree of absorption (which is less than 25% of the ingested amount). The source of this component include: spinach, sorrel, beet leaves, tea. In these products, the iron is in the form of sparingly soluble salts of oxalate, which are little used for the physiological needs of the organism in comparison with animal products. 

The following table shows the iron-containing products in 100 g of product. 

Products	mg iron per 100 g of product
offal (liver, kidney) dry legumes parsley	> 4
bread and other cereal products meat, poultry, eggs	1 - 4
milk and dairy products, potatoes, fish, fruits, rice, vegetables	<1

The degree of nonheme iron absorption from the diet can be increased through consumption along with the products which are the source of vitamin C and citric acid,which exhibit activity in this direction. These include the following products: 

• oranges, pears, apples, pineapples 
• plums, bananas, mangoes, melons 
• Sauerkraut 
• potatoes, beets, pumpkin, broccoli

Reduction in utilization of iron derived from food may be due to interaction of the iron:phytate, polyphenols, calcium, and phosphate. For products containing these substances are: 

• wheat bran, soy protein 
• tea, coffee 
• nuts, legumes 
• milk chocolate 
• milk and cheese

Body's need for minerals individual is different and depends on various factors such as age, sex, physical activity, etc. 

The following table shows the recommended level of intake of iron, depending on the age and gender developed by the Institute of Food and Nutrition in Poland. 

Iron in mg / person
Age in years	Women	Men
0-1	10-15
1-3	10
4-9	10
10-18	16-17	14-15
19-60	18-19 *	15
> 60	13	15

* The value above the range for women with high physical activity 

The need for iron increases during adolescence especially girls and women of childbearing age. One of the reasons it is the elimination of menstrual blood. Look at your jadłospisowi. Is there even a few products that are a source of iron?

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You Need IRON in Your Diet

In our bodies are the same elements that make up the universe. It is, therefore, and iron, which is in almost everything we eat. Moreover, we do not lose iron, a very small part of it is excreted in the urine or sweat. So why do so commonly suffer from iron deficiency?

Nutritionists calculate the following reasons for iron deficiency in the body: 
- Low physical activity, too little food 
- Rapid changes in lifestyle and diet (often mentioned here too little varied vegetarian diet) 
- Eating foods industrially purified - sugar, salt, white bread and white rice. 

The iron deficiency is responsible poor diet, slimming incompetent or eating sweets, ready meals and processed. Most often suffer from iron deficiency people "care about the line." With a daily intake of 1500 to 2000 calories a food provides too little of this element, because about 10 mg. 
The daily dosage of iron is 15 mg. Reducing diet is often based on yoghurt, white cheese and fruit, or products very poor in this element. 

With cereal products and vegetable absorbs about 5% iron. 
For better absorption of iron we need vitamin C. Therefore, we introduce a fixed daily meals parsley, dill and wild rose. Increased absorption of iron to need a minimum of 500 mg of vitamin C. 

Another component, so that this element increased the absorption of chlorophyll. And here are invaluable green parts of vegetables and fresh herbs. Particularly commendable is the stinging nettle, which in itself contains up to 19% of mineral salts - silicon, iron, potassium and calcium. Nettle Spring diet is a very effective remedy for anemia. 

A rich source of iron is also molasses - a by-product of sugar production. One tablespoon of molasses (about 15 g) contains 3.2 mg of iron. Some deposits Wieliczka salt mines contain approximately 450 mg of iron per 1 kg.Thus, the amount of salt, which is usually added to food (about 10 g) contained a half of the daily requirement of adult man. 

Next rich in this element products include dried plums and apricots, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and raisins. It should also be mentioned wheat germ, which provide approximately 3 mg iron per serving, which is approximately 30 g 
Is also very important wholemeal bread with whole grain and bran. 

Here are some examples of iron per 100 g of product (mg): 

Oatmeal - 4.5 
wheat - 3.3 
Rice - 0.8 
prunes - 3.9 
raisins - 3.3 
Dried dates - 2.1 
spinach - 3.0 
green peas - 1.9 
Brussels - 1.3 
Brewer's yeast - 18.2 
molasses - 6.0 
mushrooms - 1.0 

Vegetarians, especially those who eat little, iron supplementation is recommended through the adoption of appropriate dietary supplements. Most importantly, in order to make them of organic origin, ie, the same as those in the food.

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Foods rich in iron


Iron is one of the most important minerals to be found in the diet. It is a key element for our health, both mental and physical. The iron in our body is mainly used to transport oxygen in the blood, and energy production has a positive effect on our immune system.

Iron deficiency causes weakening of the body and can lead to anemia. Minimum requirement for iron is 10-20 mg for adults. Responsible for iron deficiency is, of course, poor diet, which should include not only the daily dose of iron, but also vitamin C, which helps in the absorption of iron by the body. 

Excellent sources of iron include seafood, seeds, nuts, unfortunately, can be a source of allergies and may contain harmful mercury. The most popular foods, replace red meat (beef steak), vegetables (spinach, asparagus, beets, tomatoes, carrots, peas, beans), fruits (peaches, apricots) and whole grains such as whole grain bread, oatmeal, etc. 

Here is a sample list of foods rich in iron: 

- 250ml cooked lentils = 3.3mg iron 
- 250ml cooked beans = 4.6mg iron. 
- 250ml peas = 4.5mg iron. 
- 250ml spinach = 5 mg of iron. 
- 250ml of cooked spinach = 4.2mg iron. 
- 250ml of dried peaches = 10.1mg iron. 
- 250ml plum juice = 11mg of iron. 
- 125ml almond = 4mg iron. 
- 2 pieces of lean ham = 2.7mg iron. 
- 1 piece of fried steak = 3.4mg iron. 
- 90g turkey = 1.6mg iron. 
- 3 pieces of beef liver, fried = 8mg of iron. 
- 3 pieces of fried chicken livers = 7.7mg iron. 
- 3 slices of fried pig liver iron = 7.2mg. 
- 250ml oatmeal = 6.2mg iron. 

A sample daily menu 

Breakfast 
- Salad bowl with lettuce, Chinese cabbage 

Lunch 
- Serving of spinach, green peas 
- Chicken liver 
- 2 slices wholemeal bread 
- An apple after lunch 

Snacks 
- Cashew nuts 
- Almonds 

Dinner 
- 2 slices wholemeal bread with ham and tomatoes 
- Melon or apple

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