Start Eating these Foods if you Need Iron

Iron is one of the important minerals needed by our body to carry out various functions on a daily basis.  It is important to ensure we get sufficient daily supply of iron if we must maintain a healthy body.  A lot of us are careless about what they eat, most remain with the hope that they can always get over the counter drug fortified with iron to help if they need iron, but there is bad news for such ones,  iron requirement is  best maintained by eating a healthy balanced diet on a daily basis, the reason is because, iron supplement you depend on most times have side effect if taken continuously, they become easily toxic and cause other health problems like constipation, stomach cramps and other distress.

WHAT IS THE WORK OF IRON IN THE BODY

Iron is needed for energy, muscle function, brain function, heart function, healthy pregnancy and almost every cell in the body need iron to function.  Iron carries oxygen to the cells, without iron, other organs of the body including liver and kidney cannot function well.

SYMPTOMS OF IRON DEFFICIENCY

There are different signs and manifestations of iron deficiency, the fact is that most people are moving about highly deficient in iron unknown to them especially children and young girls who are not feeding well, also in this category are most women during their productive years.  Here are the commonest symptoms of iron deficiency:

1.  General fatigue
2.  weakness
3.  Tongue swelling and soreness
4.  Cold hands and feet
5.  Shortness of breath
6.  Headaches
7.  Poor concentration
8.  Strange cravings to eat things that are not food such as clay, ice etc
9.  Insomnia
10. Frequent infections etc

If you discover or feel  3 or 4 of these symptoms continuously, it may be warning that you need to boost your iron reserve and here are the natural and affordable foods to rely on:

1.  Fresh Tomatoes

Tomatoes is high in antioxidants like vitamin A and C  but surprisingly, it is also high in iron which is easily absorbed due to the presence of vitamin C, Including sufficient tomatoes in your meal will help up your iron reserve,

2.  Peanut Butter

Peanut butter is high in heart supporting fat, but a source of iron too, other nuts like almond, coconut, cashew nut also make the list of nuts that can help up your iron reserve.

3.  Soybeans

Another top-on the list of high iron food is soya beans whether it is the powder or the fermented soya as a drink which ever, as long as the soya is well processed.   It is a good source of iron with protein having complete amino acid as against other legumes, like beans, black-eyed cowpea, etc.

4.  Eggs

Including eggs in our regular meal is a good and natural way to ensure we do not become deficient in this important mineral.  Egg is also a source of vitamins  A, C, D, E and K.  All these help ensure we are in good health.

5 .Leafy Greens

Including sufficient leafy greens daily is a sure way to staying loaded with iron, veggies on top of the list include:  spinach, moringa leaves, pumpkin leaves, Curry leaves, water leaf and other greens.

6.  Oats

Starting your morning with a bowl of oat with low fat milk will ensure that supply needed iron for our body functions.

7.  Beet Root

Another raw food that is gaining much popularity recently in this area is bloody beet root, especially when combined with carrot juice, it becomes, iron galore.  if you desperately need iron, try beets with carrot juiced together may be add green apple  to make a delicious iron rich drink without all the salt and oil.

8.  Bitter Cocoa 

It is important to specify bitter cocoa, since various chocolate originate from bitter cocoa but unfortunately sugar and other additives have reduced its immune boosting function.  if you choose chocolate, ensure it over 60% pure cocoa.

9.  Red Meat

So  many are afraid of meat today because of the bad tag put on it by health conscious individuals, but grass fed meat are still a natural and healthy way to quickly restore iron to the body.  Moreso,  the iron in meat is a heme iron, means it is easily assimilated by the body.  Turkey meat is also in this category

10.  Sardines

Eating sardines whether fresh or canned sardines without the oil, sardine also contain heme iron and is a good way to restore iron to our body fast.

11.  Grains

Grains like sorghum,  and millet are rich in iron and affordable too,  they could be fermented and taken as pap or leafy teas as some industries are now processing quality sorghum tea without the carbohydrates that come along with all grains.

There are various other foods that we can rely on for iron such as fish, sweet potatoes, red palm oil etc to help increase iron naturally.   Following the natural way removes most of the side effect that goes with supplementation.  it is also important to increase our vitamin C consumption anytime we up iron for proper absorption


Ref:  www.careeeck.devantfact.com
www.healthline.com