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Red Lentil Curry on Rice
Photo by: Edward Pond
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If you often feel tired, look pale and experience shortness of breath, you may be lacking in iron.
This nutrient is necessary for the production of hemoglobin, the part of the red blood cells that carry oxygen through the body. Although our bodies are efficient in recycling iron, iron stores will gradually deplete, especially in women who lose some each month during child-bearing years, people on calorie-restricted diets, and teenagers and children who are growing. If iron stores are depleted enough the result could be iron-deficiency anemia.
Iron-rich foods are essential in the prevention of iron-deficiency anemia. There are two types of iron, heme and nonheme. The iron from animal sources, or heme iron, is most easily absorbed by the body. Non-heme iron, such as that found in breads and cereals, is not as well-absorbed if eaten in isolation, but absorption improves if foods containing vitamin C (such as oranges) are eaten at the same time.
Most experts recommend 8 to 14 milligrams of iron per day, depending on how much you lose each month, and this amount varies with individual women. Dr. Katherine Gray-Donald, director of the School of Nutrition and Human Nutrition at McGill University, says a "healthy, active woman who is not dieting or who is not a vegetarian with a small appetite is probably getting all the iron she needs if she eats a variety of foods." Experts advise that anyone who feels fatigued or who has symptoms of anemia should consult their doctor.
In the meantime, those in good health can guard against anemia by making these three recipes part of their regular repertoire.
Recipes:
Spinach Caesar With Pine Nuts
Broiled Lamb Chops on Bean Stew
Red Lentil Curry on Rice
Absorbing Information
Follow these tips for maximizing iron absorption from dietary sources:
- Avoid drinking tea and coffee with meals since they can diminish absorption of dietary iron.
- The intake of natural wheat bran significantly reduces iron absorption, so increase your iron if you eat a lot of bran.
- Poor Popeye didn't know that although raw spinach is a source of iron, when it's cooked the absorption of the iron is blocked by the production of oxalic acid. Be sure to add vitamin C -- even just a squirt of lemon juice helps -- to increase the absorbability of the iron in cooked spinach.
Iron ore
- The best sources for dietary iron are red meat, liver, poultry, seafood (such as lake trout, clams, oysters), eggs, legumes (such as beans, peas, lentils), nuts, seeds, whole grains, dried fruits and iron-enriched cereals and pastas.
- Non-meat sources of iron are easier to absorb if combined with a good source of vitamin C such as citrus fruit or juice, berries, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, Brussel sprouts, cantaloupe, kiwi, mangoes and papayas.
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