3 Iron-rich foods you should add to your daily diet

If you don't want to suffer from anaemia, make sure you include these 3 foods in your diet

By: Aishwarya Iyer | Edited by: Aishwarya Iyer | | Updated: July 18, 2018 3:26 pm

Do you feel giddy while you suddenly get up after sitting for a long duration? Do you feel exhausted even while you have barely started your day? Do you experience an abnormal pale colouration on your face? Probably these aren’t signs of ageing but conclusive symptoms of iron deficiency. Vitamins and minerals are basic requirements of our body. Lack of these, could prove to hamper wholesome development in our body. Also Read - Six in 10 women and children in India are anaemic: Try these tips to prevent aneamia

Iron helps in production of haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells (RBCs) that helps in carrying oxygen from your lungs to the other parts of the body. In other words, if your body lacks iron, it cannot produce healthy oxygen-carrying RBCs. Lack of RBCs is called anaemia. Also Read - Iron Deficiency: 8 Signs you may have anaemia

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about two billion people with anaemia in the world and half of anaemia in these people is due to iron deficiency. Also Read - Suffering from hair loss? It may be because your body lacks these nutrients

A study named ‘Prevalence and Severity of Anaemia Stratified by Age and Gender in Rural India’ in the journal ‘Anemia’ concluded, “The vast majority of anaemia cases were microcytic, suggesting that iron deficiency was the main cause of anaemia.”

That’s why it is important to have the adequate amount of iron in your daily diet. Here is a chart of Iron requirement by the National Institute of Health.

Table 1: Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for Iron
Age	Male	Female	Pregnancy	Lactation
Birth to 6 months	0.27 mg*	0.27 mg*
7-12 months	11 mg	11 mg
1-3 years	7 mg	7 mg
4-8 years	10 mg	10 mg
9-13 years	8 mg	8 mg
14-18 years	11 mg	15 mg	27 mg	10 mg
19-50 years	8 mg	18 mg	27 mg	9 mg
51+ years	8 mg	8 mg

* Adequate Intake (AI)
Source: National Institute of Health

Here are 3 easily available iron-rich foods to be added in your daily diet:

Dates: This little dry fruit is a power-packed one! They are amazing sources of iron, zinc, fibre, calcium, folate, Vitamin A and Vitamin K to name a few. 1 serving of dates will give you roughly 5.3mgs of iron. So now you know why your mom insisted on you having at least a serving of this dry fruit daily.
Pomegranates: 100 gms of pomegranate contains 0.3 mg of iron. This iron-rich fruit’s seeds are one of the most common fruits for fighting anaemia. This fruit is also a rich source of Vitamins A, folic acid, Vitamin C and Vitamin E. Also, this fruit helps in curing the signs of iron deficiency like fatigue etc.
Jaggery/ gur: This unrefined sweetener that is used in our daily diet is of great importance. Filled with nutrients and various health benefits. However, it is a rich source of iron. A 100 gms of jaggery may offer 11 mgs of iron. This is why, a lot of times, gynaecologists ask women to have a piece of jaggery daily.

Reference:

Gerardo Alvarez-Uria, Praveen K. Naik, Manoranjan Midde, Pradeep S. Yalla, and Raghavakalyan Pakam
Anemia
Volume 2014, Article ID 176182, 5 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/176182

Image Source: Shutterstock

Published : July 18, 2018 1:36 pm | Updated:July 18, 2018 3:26 pm

Keep your body in shape to beat dementia

Check and prevent Dengue the nature's way

About The health Site

Useful Links