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Iron Rich Foods for Men

In the body, iron play a vital roll in immune function and transporting oxygen from the lungs to various muscles. Without the proper amount of iron, a person may experience lethargy: a feeling of drowsiness or fatigue. Iron deficiency occurs when the amount of iron a man loses daily isn't replaced. Men generally lose around 1 milligram of iron per day, normally through shed skin and sweat. According to the American Red Cross, the largest boost of iron comes from meat and foods rich in vitamin C, though fruit and vegetables also contain a form of iron.

  1. Meat and Poultry

    • The type of iron found in animal tissue is heme iron--the iron derived from the protein in red blood cells--and a person absorbs about 30 percent of it when eating iron rich meat or poultry. According to Wellsphere, the human body absorbs iron in animal tissue more easily than the iron in fruit or vegetables. Iron-rich meats appear in almost every category of animal tissue, and include beef, pork, chicken, veal, fish and turkey.

    Fruits and Vegetables

    • Including iron-rich fruits and vegetables helps create a balanced diet while increasing iron intake. The form of iron in fruit and vegetables is nonheme--a dietary or supplemental source of iron used to enrich foods--and a person absorbs between two and 10 percent of it from these foods. Vegetables high in iron include spinach, peas, broccoli, sweet potatoes and kale. According to the Mayo Clinic, vitamin C increases the body's ability to absorb iron, so eating fruits or drinking beverages high in vitamin C helps a person boost the amount of iron he can absorb from fruit and vegetables. Oranges constitute a natural choice for vitamin C when it comes to fruit, but kiwi, watermelon and strawberries also include a good amount of vitamin C and iron.

    Additional Iron-Enriched and Iron-Fortified Foods

    • Foods that are iron-enriched or iron-fortified also contain a nonheme form of iron, and they are consumed in larger amounts than heme iron, according to the National Institute of Health. The type of foods that contain this form of iron include most cereals, pasta, flour, enriched rice and whole wheat breads. Similar to other foods containing nonheme iron, the absorption of iron is higher from iron-enriched and iron-fortified foods when a person's diet includes foods rich in Vitamin C.

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