Food & Snack Sources of Iron

For nearly nine decades, Popeye the Sailor has been gleaning near-superhuman strength simply by popping the lid off a can of spinach and swallowing its contents; but it's not the fiber content of the leafy green that gives Popeye his strength – it's iron, an essential mineral that helps deliver oxygen to every cell of the body (Wax, 2015).

Of course, spinach does contain iron; but it contains far less iron than many other foods, including nuts, seeds and dried fruits. So why does Popeye eat so much spinach? Turns out an early report on the iron content of spinach had a calculation error that reported the iron content to be 10 times the actual amount – and the error wasn't detected for almost 40 years, nearly a decade after Popeye was introduced. By then, the reputation of spinach as one of the top sources of iron was pretty well-established; and it's an image that's persisted to some degree ever since. Does that mean you shouldn't include spinach in an iron-rich diet? Not at all – but there are other sources of iron that are both tastier and more convenient.

So - Why is Iron So Important?

Iron is essential to the production of healthy red blood cells, which carry life-giving oxygen to every cell in your body (Wax, 2015). When iron levels are low, your organs and other tissues may be deprived of the oxygen they need to function optimally, or even normally, leaving you at risk for diseases and medical issues like fatigue and weakness.

Low levels of iron cause a condition called anemia, which is characterized by symptoms like dizziness, fatigue, headaches, problems breathing and an increased sensitivity to cold temperatures. Although anyone can develop anemia, there are certain groups at greater risk, including:

• women of childbearing years, due to menstruation or childbirth
• people over the age of 65
• people who take blood thinners, including aspirin
• people with medical conditions that interfere with iron absorption
• people with kidney failure
• people with poor diets

Some types of cancer, as well as ulcers, can also cause anemia from chronic blood loss (Cleveland Clinic, 2014).

Foods Rich in Iron to Add to Your Diet

There are two “types” of dietary iron: heme iron that comes from animal sources like liver, oysters, clams, eggs and red meat and non-heme iron that comes from plant sources, like dried fruits, nuts, seeds, beans and whole grains. While eating a healthy, balanced diet is important to ensure you get as many beneficial nutrients as possible, sometimes your iron levels need a boost.

What is important to know is that nonheme iron isn’t as bioavailable as heme iron. In fact, the iron needs of vegetarians are 1.8 times higher than for those who eat meat to adjust for the bioavailability. When you combine sources of non-heme iron with heme sources, the absorption of the plant-based non-heme iron is increased (National Institutes of Health [NIH], 2016).

One of the simplest ways to increase your levels of iron is with high-iron snacks that can be incorporated into your daily routine. Dried fruits like raisins, apricots and prunes are among the best sources of non-heme iron, followed by nuts like almonds and Brazil nuts (Wax, 2015). Combine more than one source into a make-your-own trail mix or buy a trail mix already prepared and keep some on-hand at work to give you a midday boost of healthy energy.

The best natural sources of iron in food include (Wessling-Resnick, 2009):

Are You Getting Enough Iron?

The amount of iron you need in your daily diet changes based on your age, gender and other factors. Ideally, women from 19 to 50 years of age need about 18 mg of iron each day, while men of the same ages need about 8 mg daily. Once women enter menopause, their need also drops to about 8 mg per day. Boys from age 14 to age 18 need about 11 mg per day, while girls of the same age group need about 15 mg daily. Pregnancy increases the recommended Daily Value (DV) for iron to 27 mg per day, regardless of age. See the below chart for more specifics on how much iron is recommended! (NIH, 2016).

When it comes to iron, it's important to get enough – but you don't want to overdo it, either. Too much iron can result in problems like dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and headache (Wax, 2015). Overdosing on iron is associated primarily with taking too many iron supplements, which is one more reason why it's important to get your recommended amount of iron from your food and to not rely on iron supplements (NIH 2016).

To be extra safe, try getting extra iron through plant sources instead of meats. Why? Because non-animal sources of iron like the kind found in fruits and nuts is absorbed at a different rate, which reduces the risk of overloading your system with too much iron if you add plant-based iron-rich snacks to your diet.

Iron-Rich Recipes

Adding iron to your diet doesn\'t mean chugging down endless cans of spinach; there are plenty of iron-rich snacks like nuts and dried fruits that can help you improve your health and wellness without sacrificing flavor - no matter what Popeye says. So check out some of our top recipes for foods full of the mineral, as formulated by our Health Nut and Registered Dietitian.

Our Recommended Snack Sources of Iron

Discover easy ways to add iron to your diet with these snack selections from our Health Nut and Registered Dietitian.