Iron in the diet 🆙

Iron in the diet everyday is like calcium for the bones: a substance without which our body would not stand.

Iron in the diet: how much do we need it per day?

Correct daily iron intake hovers around 10-20 mg per day. A healthy person absorbs about 1-2 mg of iron per day, a low percentage, about 10%.

If the need for iron increases for any reason, it can even reach a daily absorption of 30%.

Homeostasis is precisely this delicate balance, between the amount of iron introduced and that absorbed. About 65% of the body's total iron is present in the hemoglobin molecule while 10% is contained in myoglobin.

What Are Iron Rich Foods?

Iron is a substance that must not be missing in the diet of every human being, in order not to encounter important nutritional deficiencies. The foods that contain the highest amounts of iron are: red meat, and especially the meat of the entrails (liver, kidney, heart); molluscs; legumes; fruit, especially nuts; dark green leafy vegetables.

If we had to make a list of 10 foods that should not be missing in your daily dietalternatively, bringing the right amount of iron through the diet, these foods on the "Iron list" would be: liver, bitter dark chocolate, clams, oysters, caviar, chicken and turkey, muesli , lentils, soy flour and wheat germ, followed by egg yolk, wholemeal bread, carrots.

There is to consider that the absorption of iron of vegetable origin is more difficult for the human body than that of animal origin.

What are plant foods rich in iron?

When is higher iron intake recommended?

It can be said that 20mg of iron per day they are more than enough to ensure a good balance of the substance in our body.

Iron should be integrated with a careful diet, and possibly with supplements, only in particular situations, such as breastfeeding or pregnancy, or, again for women, during menstruation or in menopause, if necessary. In all other cases, with the exception of certain pathologies, a regular iron intake can be ensured by a varied, balanced and balanced diet.

For example, having breakfast with the muesli and by taking at least 100 grams of lentils in a meal, the daily amount of iron is already guaranteed. As well as one chicken thigh, with two potatoes and 100 grams of bitter chocolate distributed throughout the day.

Even better if yes dine with water and lemon (vitamin C helps in the absorption of iron, along with sugars and amino acids) and if so avoid tea and coffee after main meals. Also use spices, herbs also contain iron: thyme, basil, mint, cumin are very rich!

Curiosity: 100 grams of unsweetened cocoa contain the same amount of iron as 100 grams of clams!