• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Gut Healthy Dietitian

Gut Health Matters

  • About
  • Nutrition Services
  • Blog
  • Recipes
  • Dietitian Business
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Need to Know: Iron

Kelsey Russell-Murray · August 23, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
Email
0 Shares

Let’s Talk About Iron! 

Iron Need to Know

Here are the Coles notes on everything you need to know about iron! What it does, how much we need, and how to get it!

What Does Iron Do?
  • Iron is an essential component of hemoglobin and myoglobin, proteins that transport oxygen throughout the body 
  • Supports muscle metabolism and healthy connective tissue 
  • Necessary for physical growth, neurologic development, cellular functioning and hormone synthesis 
How Much Iron Do We Need?

Adult males need 8mg of iron/day and adult females (premenopausal) need 18mg/day 

However – plant sources of iron (nonheme iron) are typically less bioavailable than animal sources of iron (heme iron). Therefore, the RDA for vegetarians is 1.8 times higher than for people who eat meat. Not only is heme iron from meat more bioavailable than nonheme iron from plant-based foods, but heme iron increases the absorption of nonheme iron. 

Note: vitamin C enhances the absorption of nonheme iron, so if you are vegetarian/vegan make sure you eat lots of vitamin C containing foods! Calcium may reduce the biovailability of both heme and nonheme iron, so try not to combine high calcium foods (dairy, leafy greens, beans, legumes, almonds, tofu) with iron! 

What Foods Are High In Iron?

Heme iron:
  • Meat, poultry, seafood, eggs 
Nonheme (plant-based) iron:
  • Nuts
  • Beans & legumes
  • Leafy greens, broccoli, tomatoes 
  • Fortified grain products (cereals, breads etc)  
  • Tofu
  • Potatoes 

For more information: 

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/#h2

Related

Filed Under: Blog, General Nutrition Tagged With: iron, nutrition, plant based, vegan

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

HI, I’M KELSEY!

I’m a gut health-obsessed Registered Dietitian. My goal is to bring you value through providing wellness tips, the most up-to-date nutrition information, and simple, plant-based meals. Welcome!

Picture of Kelsey, the Gut Healthy Dietitian

Get my FREE 10-Step Gut Fuel Diet Guide!
By subscribing, you agree to receive emails from Gut Healthy Dietitian

Recent Posts

  • 10 Best Foods for Baby Led Weaning
  • Gut Health Podcast Episode: Gut Health 101
  • Nutrition and Lifestyle Tips to Beat Bloating
  • Are Unrefined Sugars Better?
  • Gut Health Diet: The Negative Impact of Low Carb Diets

Archives

  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • August 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • January 2021
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020

Categories

  • Blog
  • Dietitian Business
  • Education Hub
  • Exercise Nutrition
  • General Nutrition
  • Gut Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Pediatric Nutrition
  • Recipes
  • About
  • Nutrition Services
  • Blog
  • Recipes
  • Dietitian Business
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 · Daily Dish Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...