Iron is an essential mineral that a lot of people might be lacking in their diets. If you feel tired and sluggish even while accomplishing an everyday task, an Iron deficiency might be to blame, especially if you are a woman.
Why is Iron Important?
Iron plays a significant role in producing red blood cells and transferring oxygen throughout your body.
Iron is an essential component of hemoglobin, the substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to transport it throughout your body. Hemoglobin represents about two-thirds of the body's Iron. If you don't have enough Iron, your body can't make enough healthy oxygen-carrying red blood cells.
There are two different types of Iron: Heme which comes from animal products, things like chicken, beef, pork, and Nonheme, which is things like tofu, spinach, and legumes.
The main difference between Heme and Nonheme is that nonheme is not as bioavailable as heme iron. What that means is that your body can't use it and utilize it as well as Heme products. One thing you can do to make it more bioavailable is adding Vitamin C to it. So when you are preparing your Nonheme items, try to add things high in Vitamin C. Some examples would be things like bell peppers, lemons, kiwis, tomatoes. All of those items are things that are high in Vitamin C will make your nonheme products more bioavailable.
How Much Should I Have?
Women ages 18-50 should have at least 18mg of Iron per day, and males ages 18-50 should have 8mg of per day.
Both males and females over the age of 51 should have 8mg of Iron per day.
