According to WHO estimates, 600-700 million people on the planet suffer from a lack of iron in their bodies - a fact that brings this nutritional deficiency to the first place in the world, especially in developed countries.
Iron deficiency anemia occurs when the human body:
- Can not absorb the incoming iron due to problems in the gastrointestinal tract.
- Rapidly loses iron during periods of increasing body needs (child age, pregnancy, menstruation).
- Does not receive the necessary amount of iron with food.
In Western Europe, the latter reason is the most frequent, although foods with a rich iron content do not belong to the category of high-priced or scarce.
Let's list the main symptoms of low iron content in the body:
- Dizziness.
- Headache.
- Pallor.
- Weakness.
- Constant feeling of fatigue.
- Tachycardia.
It should be noted that sometimes with iron deficiency anemia, a person does not experience any of the above. For this reason, with a purely prophylactic goal, it is desirable to periodically take tests to determine the level of iron in the blood. Meanwhile, there are a lot of food products in which the iron content is high enough. Therefore, if the diet of a healthy person is absolutely balanced - a thing extremely rare in itself! - he needs the amount of iron he finds in food included in his menu. However, at present, the iron content in human nutrition, as a rule, does not exceed 5-7 mg per 1000 calories.
Daily to have on their table food products containing iron - the easiest and easiest way to enrich their body. The greatest content of iron we find in meat products, in the first place - in red meat. And among all varieties of meat (and its pieces), the best sources are by-products. To foods containing a lot of iron, are also:
- chicken, goose, turkey (thigh);
- lamb, goat meat (sirloin, chest, thigh, steak);
- veal (thigh, steak);
- beef (loin, tongue, thigh, steak);
- pork (tenderloin, smoked pork);
- rabbit.
In addition to meat, a sufficient amount of iron is found in such foods as:
- cereals: muesli, wholemeal bread;
- beans: beans, peas, lentils (iron assimilation is increased if you add lemon);
- vegetables: radish, spinach (iron assimilation rises if you add lemon), artichokes, green peas, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, red cabbage, zucchini, all green leafy vegetables;
- fish, seafood;
- eggs;
- nuts;
- dried fruits (raisins, dried apricots, prunes).
The greatest amount (50-60%) of iron contained in meat products is absorbed by the human body quite easily. Note that if red meat is consumed with vegetables, iron absorption is increased by 400%.
However, iron, which we meet in plant foods, is contained there in an organism that is not digested. For this reason, it is either not absorbed by our body at all, or absorbed in very small quantities, and the quality of this iron is not particularly high.
Better digestion of iron in foods is helped by vitamin C, citric acid, folic acid, fructose, sorbitol and vitamin B12. They can be found in the following products:
- oranges and orange juice;
- Grapefruit, kiwi, melon, mango, strawberry .;
- tomatoes and tomato juice;
- Bell pepper;
- potatoes;
- White cabbage;
- broccoli;
- green leafy vegetables;
- White wine.
If you are recommended diet from foods containing iron, discard the following:
- soft drinks like Coca-Cola, coffee, tea;
- chocolate;
- dairy products (cheese, milk, yogurt);
- soybean;
- egg yolk;
- Red wine.
All these products interfere with the assimilation of iron.
Let us indicate the iron content in some food products:
- 1 large cup of cooked broccoli - 0.7 mg;
- 1 piece of white bread - 0,9 mg;
- 1 large spaghetti cup - 2.0 mg;
- 1 portion of pork or lamb - 2-3 mg;
- 1 slice of melon - 4.0 mg;
- 1 large cup of cereals - 18.0 mg;
- liver (beef or chicken) - 8-25 mg.
What are the body's needs for iron?
The amount of iron that a person needs is related to his weight, age, sex, possible pregnancy, or body height. In general, the recommended daily dose of iron is determined at 10 mg for an adult male and 15 mg for an adult woman. In details:
- Newborns up to 6 months: 10 mg daily.
- Children 6 months - 4 years: 15 mg daily.
- Women 11-50 years of age: 18 mg daily.
- Women over 50 years: 10 mg daily.
- Pregnant women: 30-60 mg daily.
- Men 10-18 years of age: 18 mg daily.
- Men older than 19 years: 10 mg daily.