HealthInfo Canterbury
Getting enough iron is essential for good health and wellbeing. Iron helps to carry oxygen in your blood from your lungs to your brain and muscles. This helps to keep you physically and mentally strong. Because your body uses iron every day, you need to keep up your daily intake to avoid getting low in iron.
If you don't get enough iron, you will feel tired, faint, and breathless, and you might find it hard to concentrate. Your skin might also be pale.
Some people have a higher risk of low iron levels. These include:
If you think you are low in iron, talk to your GP or practice nurse, as the only way to diagnose iron deficiency is through a blood test.
You can't treat iron deficiency by diet alone, so if you are low in iron your doctor may prescribe an iron supplement. But even if you are prescribed a supplement, it is still important to get enough iron in your diet. Your doctor will also treat whatever is causing your iron deficiency.
Many foods have small amounts of iron. We absorb the iron in animal foods such as meat and fish more easily than the iron in plant foods, such as grains, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruit.
The redder the meat the higher the iron content.
This is the best way to get enough iron. Every day have food from all the main food groups:
Meat, chicken and fish help the body to absorb the iron in vegetables.
Vitamin C helps us to absorb up to four times as much iron. You can get vitamin C from many fruits (berries, feijoas, kiwifruit, mandarin, orange, rock melon, tamarillo) and vegetables (broccoli, capsicum, cauliflower, tomato). Try to include fruit or vegetables with every meal, especially if you are vegetarian.
Have plenty of green leafy vegetables and wholegrains, and regularly include eggs, legumes, tofu, tempeh, nuts and seeds.
The tannin in tea and coffee stops your body from absorbing as much iron. Drink tea and coffee between meals rather than with meals.
On the next page: Iron-rich meal ideas
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed May 2020.
Images courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net. Teenage girls by imagerymajestic, bread by Grant Cochrane, citrus fruit by xura
Review key: HIIRO-122590