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The Greatest Wealth is Health أعظم ثروة هي الصحة

Where does iron come from in diet?

Sources of Iron 

There are two forms of dietary iron: heme and nonheme. Heme iron is derived from hemoglobin. It is found in animal foods that originally contained hemoglobin, such as red meats, fish, and poultry (meat, poultry, and seafood contain both heme and non-heme iron). Your body absorbs the most iron from heme sources. Most nonheme iron is from plant sources.

Iron-Rich Foods

Very good sources of heme iron, with 3.5 milligrams or more per serving, include:

  • 3 ounces of beef or chicken liver
  • 3 ounces of mussels
  • 3 ounces of oysters

Good sources of heme iron, with 2.1 milligrams or more per serving, include:

  • 3 ounces of cooked beef
  • 3 ounces of canned sardines, canned in oil

Other sources of heme iron, with 0.6 milligrams or more per serving, include:

  • 3 ounces of chicken
  • 3 ounces of cooked turkey
  • 3 ounces of ham
  • 3 ounces of veal

Other sources of heme iron, with 0.3 milligrams or more per serving, include:

  • 3 ounces of haddock, perch, salmon, or tuna

Iron in plant foods such as lentils, beans, and spinach is nonheme iron. This is the form of iron added to iron-enriched and iron-fortified foods. Our bodies are less efficient at absorbing nonheme iron, but most dietary iron is nonheme iron.

Very good sources of nonheme iron, with 3.5 milligrams or more per serving, include:

  • Breakfast cereals enriched with iron
  • One cup of cooked beans
  • One-half cup of tofu
Good sources of nonheme iron, with 2.1 milligrams or more per serving, include:
  • One-half cup of canned lima beans, red kidney beans, or chickpeas
  • One cup of dried apricots
  • One cup of cooked enriched egg noodles
  • One-fourth cup of wheat germ
  • goog_7576651701 ounce of pumpkin, sesame, or squash seeds

Other sources of nonheme iron, with 0.7 milligrams or more, include:

  • One-half cup of cooked split peas
  • 1 ounce of peanuts, pecans, walnuts, pistachios, roasted almonds, roasted cashews, or sunflower seeds
  • One-half cup of dried seedless raisins, peaches, or prunes
  • One medium stalk of broccoli
  • One cup of raw spinach
  • One cup of pasta (cooked, it becomes 3-4 cups)
  • One slice of bread, half of a small pumpernickel bagel, or bran muffin
  • One cup of brown or enriched rice