IRON RICH FOODS

IRON RICH FOODS

Iron is an extremely important mineral, its main function to carry oxygen throughout your body. When your diet lacks iron, it causes anaemia, dizziness, irritability, headaches, and fatigue. The recommended daily intake (RDI) is based on an average intake of 18 mg per day. However, the requirement varies depending on your age and gender.

The food you consume can provide two types of iron – heme and non-heme. Heme iron is only found in animal products like poultry, fish, and meat whereas non-heme iron is only found in plants such as nuts, vegetables and fruits.

There are plenty of good food choices to help you meet your daily iron needs in plant based diet.

Here is the Plant Based Iron Rich Foods to include in your diet:

1. Vegetables
2. Nuts and Seeds
3. Legumes
4. Dark Chocolate
5. Whole Grains

1. Vegetables

Leafy greens such as spinach, kale, swiss chard, beetroot ,broccoli, cabbage, sweet potato, carrot, mushrooms and Brussels sprouts, contain good amount of iron. For every serving, you can get anywhere between 2.5 to 6.4 mg of iron per cooked standard cup.

2. Nuts and Seeds

Pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, hemp seeds and flaxseeds are rich in iron, accounting for 24% of the required daily intake as per RDA. Similarly almonds, cashews, pine nuts also good source of iron. These nuts and seeds are easy to carry around and great food to snack at any time of the day. So, add a small portion to your menu each day. Keep in mind that blanching or roasting nuts may damage their nutrients, so favor raw or soaked variety.

3. Legumes

All legumes are a great way to maintain the iron levels in your body. Soy and soy products, lentils, chickpeas, red kidney beans, black eyed beans are some foods which fall into this category. These legumes and plant based products also contain good amounts of protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals that may reduce your risk of various diseases.

4. Dark Chocolate

A single serving of dark chocolate can account for about 19% of your daily iron requirement. Replace your milk chocolates and normal chocolate with dark chocolate as its rich in a range of minerals like magnesium, copper as well as delicious and nutritious at the same time.

5. Whole Grains

Different whole grains are rich sources of iron. They provide a wide range of health benefits, including reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Amaranth, Oats, Quinoa these grain are very rich source of iron. One cup of cooked quinoa will give you 2.8 mg of iron, whereas oats gives you 3.4 mg of iron and Amaranth contains highest around 5.2 mg of iron . All these grains boosts the health of your gut and also contain several other nutrients that's relly beneficial for your body.

How to Increase Iron Absorption From Plant based Foods:

The heme iron found in meat and animal products is generally more easily absorbed by the human body than the non-heme iron found in plants.

Here are the best way to absorb iron from plant based sources: 

1.Include vitamin C-rich foods in your routine diet because it may increase the absorption of iron by up 300% as per study. Vitamin C is found in:Broccoli, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Melons, Oranges, Strawberries and Tomatoes

2.Include soaked, sprouted and fermented stuff because Soaking, sprouting and fermenting grains,nuts and legumes improve iron absorption by lowering the amount of phytates layer that naturally present in these foods products.

Summary

Iron is a nutrient that’s most essential for the human body. The plant based food listed in this article also contain a variety of other nutrients and beneficial plant compounds. So, adding them into your diet will not only help you meet your iron requirements of your body, but will also likely benefit your overall health.