Did you know that Women between the ages of 20-55 have nearly double the Iron requirement as their male counterparts! While the daily requirement for males is 8mg/day, this can be as high as 18mg/day for women.
Another important fact is that the absorption of dietary iron is influenced by many factors – namely whether the iron is bound to hemoglobin, the concentration of iron and/or the presence of cofactors which can enhance or hinder iron absorption.
What do you think the best sources of iron are?
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I have always heard the red meat was a great source of iron! Here is my question: What are other symptoms of lack of iron, or anemia, besides fatigue and exhaustion? Thank you so much for the article! I had no idea that women had to indulge themselves with more iron than men!
I don’t like to eat a lot of meat, so my favorite sources of iron are oatmeal, bran flakes (they supposedly supply you with 100% of your daily requirement) and chick peas (garbanzo beans). I make hummus dip with the garbanzos for raw vegies.
Chicken livers are actually THE best source of iron. I personally don’t enjoy them but oysters follow up second and I love those little guys. Barbeque them and add lime and hot sauce. Yummy! It’s scary to think that women between 20-55 have more iron than men their age. Being a woman in that age group and noticing that I eat quite a bit of the foods listed as good sources of iron I worry whether I eat too much iron. I also take a multivitamin. I read that over consumption of iron could lead to toxicity, even death. Is it possible that I get too much iron?
Oh my goodness! I have never heard that too much iron can lead to possible death. That’s crazy because iron is good for you. I guess now I know why my mom always made me eat chicken livers when I was a kid! I had no idea that they were actually good for you. I am glad I like them, although I haven’t eaten them as an adult because the thought of eating a chicken liver freaks me out. Unfortunately, I do not eat oysters either. I guess I am out of luck on the things that are highest in iron!
I have actually heard of cases where too much iron is bad for you, believe it or not. Some people I think, have a disease which affects their ability to store iron and their bodies overload on it, which can be really dangerous for your liver and your heart. Also, I have heard that men and postmenopausal women shouldn’t even take an iron supplement. Is this true, Dr. O? And why is it POST menopausal women and not all women?
JUST like everything else in nature – TOO much is never good.
Our bodies actually have very poor mechanisms to eliminate excess iron. So when Iron levels are excessive – we start storing it in a bunch of different tissues – skin, gut, heart, lungs etc. There’s a condition known as hemochromatosis (see the latin root?). This disorder of iron elimination results in all iron getting deposited into cellular “nuggets” – left untreated, the disorder results in failure of the affected organs.
The reason that we stress iron supplementation in pre and NOT postmenopausal women is that typically, most iron that is lost is due to the female menstrual cycle. Once you no longer are menstruating, you don’t LOSE that much iron – in fact, the levels of postmenopausal women and and men are pretty equal!
Thanks for the quick and thorough response. I learned a lot that I didn’t know, and this is definitely valuable information for the future!
Wow. I didn’t know there was so much to know about iron. I have five little ones and I wonder about how iron affects their little bodies. I know they need iron because of the formula I used to give them as babies was always iron fortified but how much is necessary at each age? Mine are all 6, 5, 4, 3, and a year and a half. Should I be overly concerned about their iron intake? My kids are good eaters and I occasionally give them vitamins when I have them. It’s hard to remember sometimes. I like to keep things natural but with my kids I don’t want to take any chances.