Foods With the Best Iron Content

Iron is a nutrient needed for building hemoglobin in the blood. Hemoglobin assists the red blood cells in distributing oxygen throughout the body and providing energy. Women are prone to iron deficiencies, which can lead to low energy or anemia. Men need a minimum of 10 milligrams of iron a day, and women should have at least 18 milligrams. Children younger than 6 months need 10 milligrams, and older children need at least 15 milligrams. You can use foods that are especially high in iron to get the proper amount of iron in your diet.

Meat

• Liver contains the highest amount of iron compared with other types of meat. Animal protein contains heme iron, which refers to iron found in blood. Vegetables contain nonheme iron. Eat vegetables with your meat: the proteins in red meat increase the absorption of nonheme iron found in vegetables by as much as 400 percent.

Grains

• Cereal foods such as oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, Total or Raisin Bran contain iron. Total, which is fortified with iron, contains the most with 18 milligrams per one-ounce serving. Cream of Wheat follows with 10 milligrams of iron per cup. These amounts make up, or come close to, the total recommended daily allowance for iron. Spaghetti contains 2 milligrams of iron per cup. Other grains and grain products, such as brown rice, whole-wheat bread, English muffins and wheat germ, contain less iron per serving.

Vegetables

• A baked potato with its skin contains about four milligrams of iron, which is higher than other vegetables. Watermelon and leafy greens contain the next-highest amounts of iron per average serving.

Legumes

• Iron can be found in beans and nuts. Natto, a traditional Japanese breakfast dish that consists of fermented soybeans, has the highest amount of iron in the legume family. The dish contains about 7.5 milligrams of iron in a half-cup serving. Soybean and soybean products have the next-highest amounts of iron. Regular tofu contains 6.2 milligrams of iron, whereas a half-cup cup of raw soybeans contains 4.5 milligrams.

Vitamin C

• Foods high in vitamin C help the body to absorb iron from other foods. Vegetarians and vegans especially can benefit from eating foods high in vitamin C.