Iron is a dietary mineral essential for the formation of haemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to tissues. Iron deficiency is common amongst menstruating and pregnant women, babies, toddlers, teenage girls and female athletes. The symptoms of which include fatigue, insomnia and loss of appetite and a compromised immune system.
The solution for most is to take an iron supplement or try adjusting their diet and both options work well increasing iron levels quickly.
The flip side of this is iron overload a result of the bodies difficulty in excreting excess iron. Left unchecked it will build up in tissues and organs generating harmful oxygen species, damaging membranes, proteins and DNA.
Sufferers of iron overload must undergo chelation therapy, in which drug ligands bind to the iron and allow it to be removed by excretion. However, chelation therapy can be hazardous, even conducted with the FDA-approved chelation agents. For this reason many feel the focus should shift to measuring ferritin levels – a protein that stores iron and releases it in a controlled fashion.
Ferritin acts as a “buffer” against iron deficiency (if the blood has too little iron, ferritin can release more) and, to a lesser extent, iron overload (if the blood and tissues of the body have too much iron, ferritin can help to store the excess iron). Having your blood tested for ferritin levels will help determine if more drastic measures are actually required.
But as an acute-phase reactant, serum ferritin is increased when there is inflammation, so it does not always reflect what is happening with iron stores in the tissues.
Fortunately, most of us are able to maintain appropriate levels of available iron in the body (enough available iron to ensure an adequate supply of hemoglobin, but not so much as to produce toxic effects), even if our iron consumption does not always exactly match the body’s iron loss.
Surprising Sources of Iron
Cast Iron Cookware can contribute to your iron intake. A study published in the Journal of American Dietetic Association found most foods increased in iron content when cooked in iron cookware. The amount of iron in 100g of scrambled eggs increased from 1.49mg to 4.75mg. In the case of tomato pasta sauce, the same-size serve jumped from 0.6mg to 5.6mg.
Whether you like them raw on the half shell or cooked in your clam chowder, Clams are another surprisingly high source of iron just three ounces of the shellfish provide 23.8 mg of iron.
Soy is also surprisingly abundant in iron with half cup of cooked soybeans containing 4.4 mg of iron.
Raisins will also rev-up your iron uptake with 1/4 cup providing 1 gram of iron.
