The importance of iron in your diet

We all know the importance of iron in your diet – it helps transport oxygen in the blood and muscles, it aids a healthy immune system (through the production of red blood cells) and it transports electrons, which help release energy from our cells.

But do you know how much you should be getting?  And what the best sources are?  And how bioavailability influences the amount of iron your body can actually absorb?  Don’t worry if your answers were “no”, “not a clue”, and “what on Earth is bioavailability?” – just keep reading!

How much iron do I need?

You should be able to get all the iron you need from your daily diet. The Food Standards Agency currently recommends the following daily allowances for men and women:

Men 8.7 mg a day
Women 14.8 mg a day

(Note that women who have particularly heavy periods should consult their GP or a registered dietician for advice.)

That’s pretty straight forward… so what are the best sources of iron?

Iron is found in many of the foods we eat.  Some good sources are:

Food	Portion size	Iron content
Liver*	100g	12.2 mg
Bran flakes	50g	10.0 mg
Dried apricots	5	7.0 mg
Red lentils (boiled)	160g	4.0 mg
Baked beans	Small tin	2.9 mg
Lean beef fillet (grilled)	105g	2.4 mg
Wholemeal roll	1	1.8 mg
Eggs	1 large	1.2 mg
Dark chicken meet	100g	0.8 mg

* Pregnant women should avoid liver, as it also contains very high levels of vitamin A that can affect their baby’s growth and development.

What’s this thing, “bioavailability”?

Unfortunately, not all these sources of iron were made equal.  The best sources are those that have high iron contents and a high rate of iron absorption (“bioavailability”).

Haem iron, which is iron from animal tissues, has the best rate of iron absorption – around 15-18%.
Non-haem iron, which is found mainly in cereals, vegetables and nuts, has a much lower rate – less than 5% of the available iron is absorbed by your body.

But don’t discount non-haem iron just yet, there are ways of maximising how much iron you absorb from any source:

- Combine non-haem iron with haem-iron (vegetarians, this wont work for you)
- Vitamin C aids iron absorption, so include vitamin C-rich foods with your meals
- Avoid caffeine and tannic acid, found in tea, as they significantly reduce iron absorption rates

That’s all good and well, but I’m vegetarian!

You are?  Me too!  There are plenty of good iron sources available for vegetarians and vegans to choose from.  In addition to the non-haem iron sources in the list above, have you considered some of these?

Food	Portion size	Iron content
Spinach (boiled)	100g	4.0 mg
Prunes	10	3.0 mg
Chickpeas (boiled)	200g	4.0 mg
Wholemeal bread	1 large slice	1.0 mg
Cashew nuts	30g	1.8 mg
Walnuts	40g	1.2 mg
Broccoli	90g	1.0 mg

You may need to take some extra time to plan your meals to ensure you get a variety of sources, and that there’s always a complimentary vitamin C-rich food on your plate too.

Good luck, and let me know how you go!