How can you increase dietary iron absorption?
Today’s topic is about what increases and what inhibits iron absorption regarding our eating habits. Dietary supplement information will not be included!
According to the World Health Organization, iron deficiency is the most common nutrition deficiency in the world. It affects people in both developing and developed countries . Iron deficiency anemia is the most common cause of anemia. Usually, symptoms could include fatigue, impaired cognitive performance, cold intolerance and dyspnea during exercise .
Dietary factors that affect iron absorption
- The type of iron: There two types of iron in our foods; Heamic iron, which is found in meat products and non-heamic iron, which is found in plant iron sources. Heamic iron’s absorption rate is 20-30% and 10-15% of non-heamic iron is absorbed .
2. Cooking methods: When we cook meat, high temperature for long could decrease the absorption of hemic iron by breaking the porphyrin ring of the molecule .
3. Meal igredients:
- Vitamin C faciliates iron absorption the most. It enhances iron absorption , , by maintaining iron into a more absorbable and soluble form which protects it from binding to substances that prevent its absorption .
- Calcium has been reported to reduce iron absorption in many studies, but the mechanism is still unclear. It is possible that the activity of a heme transport transpoter is reduced by calcium .
- Citric acid enhances iron absorption by protecting it from precipitation in the bowel .
- Phytates (present in plant foods) have been found to reduce iron absorption , , but not in all studies . Maybe they reduce iron absorption by creating non-absorbable complexes with iron molecules .
- Fish & Poultry may increase non-hemic iron absorption possibly because of the type of aminoacids they contain or because the prevent the action of phytates .
A few good iron sources :
| Food | Iron (mg)/ 100 gr of food |
| Chicken liver, braised | 11.54 |
| Mussels, raw | 3.95 |
| Oysters, raw | 4.61 |
| Ground beef, raw | 1.97 |
| Lamb, cooked | 1.87 |
| Egg, whole, boiled | 1.74 |
| Wheat bread | 3.12 |
| Lentils, dry, cooked | 3.11 |
| White beans, dry, cooked | 3.68 |
| Chickpeas, dry, cooked | 3.87 |
| Spinach, raw | 2.71 |
| Black beans, dry, cooked | 2.09 |
| Mushrooms, cooked from fresh | 1.73 |
In the UK, iron intake recommendations include :
- 14.8 mg/day for 11-50 year-old females
- 11.3 mg/day for 11-18 year-old males
- 8.7 mg/day for adult men, women older than 50 years old and 7-10 year-old children
Dietary Tips to enhance iron absorption
Add vitamin C sources to your iron-rich meals. For example:
- Add fresh lemon juice to beef/mussels/legumes.
- If you like having fruit for dessert, prefer those with a high vitamin C content like oranges, clementines, strawberries, pineapple and kiwis. Citrus fruit (lemons, oranges, clementines, grapefruit, limes) are high in both vitamin C and citric acid, which could increase iron absorption!
- Add fresh thyme and vegetables like bell peppers (especially red and yellow), cauliflower, broccoli, spinach and kale to your salad.
- Add broccoli florets to your spaghetti sauce.
Try avoiding calcium food sources close to your iron-rich meals. For example:
- Try not to combine legumes with cheese. I know lentils/beans with feta cheese is the best meal in the world, but we could try adding feta cheese less often!
- Try not to add a big amount of grated cheese/cream cheese with beef bolognese sauce.
- Try avoiding dairy snacks with 2-3 hours after your iron-rich meal.
I hope this information has helped with answering questions you might have about iron absorption. If you believe you have symptoms of iron deficiency anemia or have any other relevant concerns, please contact your doctor!
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