Iron-rich foods to include in your diet
IRON is one of the most essential minerals in our diets— it is needed by the body for many of its functions. The body needs iron to make haemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body, and myoglobin, a protein that provides oxygen to the muscles.
A lack of iron will leave you feeling lethargic, looking pale, and even cause you to develop iron deficiency anaemia, a condition in which the blood lacks adequate healthy red blood cells. Signs of iron deficiency include paleness, malaise, weakness, lack of energy, increased palpitations, shortness of breath, as well as cravings for non-nutritive substances such as dirt, chalk and coal.
Iron is absorbed from the food we eat, or from supplementation, and so choosing iron-rich foods is important.
What do these include? Here are some of the foods you should be including in your diet.
•Callaloo
•Moringa
•Liver
•Eggs
•Lean meats (red meat, pork and poultry)
•Leafy greens such as spinach, fish, nuts and beans.
•Green bananas
•You should also have seafood, dried fruit such as raisins and apricots, and iron-fortified cereals, breads and pastas.
Be sure to also choose foods containing vitamin C, which enhance iron absorption.
These include:
•Citrus juices
• Broccoli
• Grapefruit
• Kiwi
•Melon
•Oranges
•Peppers
•Strawberries
•Tomatoes and
•Tangerines.
