Posted by kathryn in Nutrition

Today’s task in 31 Days to Better Energy is to eat some iron-rich foods.

Why?

One of the main places you’ll find iron in the body is in the molecule haemoglobin. As you’ll see from the picture on the right, haemoglobin is a complex protein. It’s found in red blood cells and contains four heme units, each of which includes iron – you can see these in green in the picture.

Haemoglobin is important for your energy levels, because it captures oxygen from the air you breath. Oxygen is needed by the cells of your body to function and perform their metabolic processes – it’s essential for daily life.

As you breath in and fill your lungs with air, oxygen passes into the blood stream where it’s taken up by haemoglobin. As haemoglobin circulates, it releases oxygen to the cells, so they can function and perform their metabolic processes.

Without iron, haemoglobin levels drop and there is not enough oxygen delivered to your cells for them to function optimally. This is called iron-deficiency anaemia and symptoms include fatigue, breathlessness and sometimes dizziness.

How much iron

The daily RDI of iron is 8mg per day for men and 18mg per day for women. Women need more iron than men, because of their monthly period. Good sources of iron include:

• red meat
• spinach, parsley, watercress and other green leafy vegetables
• legumes, such as chick peas, red kidney beans, lima beans, lentils
• soy products including tofu, tempeh and soy milk
• nuts, especially hazelnuts, pine nuts, pistachios, almonds and cashews
• seeds, including sesame seeds (and tahini) and sunflower seeds
• dried fruit, eg sultanas, raisins and apricots
• eggs (it’s all in the yolk)
• pumpernickel bread

There’s more advice on how vegetarians can get more iron here.

Today’s task

Today’s task is to include some iron rich foods in your diet. Choose one or more of the above sources and try to include them in your diet today. For example you could:

• snack on a mixture of nuts, seeds and dried fruit
• have hummous and tabbouleh in your lunch-time sandwich
• get the barbecue out tonight, cook some steaks and serve these with a leafy green salad
• buy a stir-fry for lunch with some tofu and Asian greens
• make a lentil soup for dinner and top with pan-toasted pumpkin seeds
• make a side dish of seasonal greens to go with dinner
• stir some nuts through your breakfast cereal or make your own muesli

If you are concerned about your iron levels, then I would strongly recommend visiting your GP and having a simple blood test. If do have iron deficiency anaemia, then supplements will help, but it’s important to have the blood test first – before self-prescribing.

August is 31 Days to Better Energy month here at Limes & Lycopene. If you’d like to know more or view the full range of tasks so far, then take a look at the introductory post.

Haemoglobin molecule by Richard Wheelerfrom Wikipedia

22 August, 2007