Eat Fortified Cereal to Increase Iron in your Diet

Are you getting enough iron in your diet?  Low iron is the most common nutritional deficiency in the US.  WebMD

U.S. Dietary Guidelines (page 98) recommend 18 mg per day for females 31 - 50 years of age and 8 mg per day for a males 31 - 50 years of age. 

Iron is an essential element for blood production.  It is a major component of hemoglobin which carries oxygen from your lungs throughout your body.  

If you don't have enough iron, your body can't make enough healthy oxygen-carrying red blood cells. Iron deficiency can result in symptoms which could impact your quality of life.  These include poor health, concentration and work productivity.  Symptoms include unusual tiredness, shortness of breath, and headaches and dizziness. HealthLine Iron Deficiency Symptoms

I don't eat a lot of meat so I make a point of eating spinach in my salad to make sure I get enough iron.  (I don't even really like spinach).  

I was curious to see if I am getting enough iron and I was very surprised to learn spinach does not have as much iron as I thought.

Foods in my typical diet that contain iron:

• Breakfast:  1 cup oatmeal - 1.5 mg  
• Snack:  2 tbs peanut butter - 1 mg 
• Lunch:  1 cup raw spinach - 2 mg 
• Snack:  1 bowl cheerios - 9.3 mg 
• Dinner:  1 serving sloppy joe lentils - 6.6 mg  Lentil Sloppy Joe Recipe

TOTAL:  20.4 mg

I was surprised to learn that cooking spinach helps make iron more available to your body.   One cup of cooked spinach supplies 6 mg of iron while one raw cup only supplies 2 mg of iron.  HealthyEating

Cheerios have significantly more iron that 1 cup of raw spinach!  1 cup of Cheerios has 9.3 mg of iron.  It is a good thing I like to eat Cheerios for a snack.  

Based on the amount of iron in my typical diet I thought I might have to eat more meat.  However when I found out how much iron is in meat I decided I don't have to make an effort to add it to my diet. 1 cup of diced white meat chicken contains 1.5 mg of iron while 100 grams of ground beef contains 1.6 mg.

I plan to eat more black beans (5.3 mg in 1 cup), peas (2.1 mg in 1 cup), almonds (1.1 mg in 1 ounce) and broccoli (1.1 mg in 148 grams).  USDA

If you need to add more iron to your diet you could consider eating a fortified cereal.  Some cereals contain 18 mg of iron in one serving such as: General Mills Total Raisin Bran or Kellogs Product 19.  There are also lots of other cereals that have more than 10 mgs of iron per serving.  See this link: 200 Breakfast Cereals Highest in Iron