IRON SPECIAL - ESSENTIAL INFO AND RECIPES

Iron is a tricky one, but after a bit of research I reckon the best solution is to eat a WIDE RANGE OF HEALTHY FOODS every day.


Recently a reader, Violet Tingle, requested a Billie Bites Iron Special after she ditched cooking meat at home. This spurred me to dig around and clear up some confusing information surrounding iron absorption in foods. Below the facts and figures you'll find links to Billie Bites iron-rich recipes.


The best iron tip is to  always eat vitamin C at the same time - necessary for absorption, particularly for non-meat iron forms. This is easy and straight forward, and you probably do it without thinking. But keep these in mind:

• Eat fresh fruit with cereal. 
• Slice up a fresh tomato to include in your sandwich or on whole grain toast, with hommus
• Serve fresh tomatoes with spinach salad, or just on the side with dahl, chili beans, tofu, lentils etc
• Squeeze lemon or lime juice over meals - only cut open fruit just before serving
• Vitamin C diminishes during cooking and over time. So those juice bars are a rip-off

But what's been bugging me is the warning by my midwife when I was pregnant to keep calcium away from iron. One midwife even said to avoid ice cream after a steak, if you were so inclined.


For a while I tortured myself trying to follow this rule. And I enforced it with Billie for a while too. But I'm sorry, nachos without cheese or yoghurt/sour cream? Spinach pie without feta? Dahl without yoghurt? No. Wrong. Very wrong.


I was a little suspicious that I had been duped when this warning about mixing calcium and iron didn't come up anywhere else.


Wandering around on the internet this month, sticking to reputable government and university sites, I had to look pretty hard to find this calcium/iron warning repeated. The Australian government health sites did not mention it. 


However, a minerals fact sheet put out by MIT in the United States, does report that ''calcium and iron combined in a meal may decrease the absorption of iron''. And other US government sites mentioned it. 'Decrease' i think is the key word. You'll still get some.


But then the MIT fact sheet goes on to warn against mixing your iron with phosphates (sodas), polyphenols (red wine, purple grape juice, coffee, tea, spices, some fruits, some vegetables), wheat bran, phytates (phytic acids found in legumes, grains and rice can decrease absorption by 50%), tannins (teas, coffees), manganese, cobalt, copper, cadmium (in cigarette smoke), calcium, legume protein (soybeans, lentils, black beans, mung beans, and split peas), lignin (fibrous tissued vegetables) and soy protein. Nonheme - vegetarian - iron is more affected by the above inhibitors than heme - meat and seafood - iron.


It turns out many foods we eat for iron, also contain calcium, and also polyphenols and phytates (found in legumes and whole grains). So clearly, nature didn't intend us to bother leaving cheese off our nachos. (This is my opinion, after doing the reading. Please seek advice from your GP to be certain, particularly if pregnant).

And look at all the food sources for iron, from our friends at MIT:

Kelp, curry powder, brewer's yeast, shellfish, fortified cereals, blackstrap molasses, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, parsley, almonds, canned sardines, dried apricots, prunes, cashews, tomato paste, artichokes, brazil nuts, beet greens, dandelion leaves, walnuts, whole wheat bread, semisweet chocolate, lentils, peanuts, eggs, bean curd, beef, great northern beans, corned beef, watercress, kidney beans, green peas, brown rice, ripe olives, Boston baked beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, red wine, white fish, wheat germ, soy flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, firm tofu, raisins, light tuna, oysters, dark meat of chicken, shrimp, and baked potato with skin. (Their highlights, not mine).

Source:  MIT Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation (US) Last updated 5/30/2007 


But a very important one they have missed is QUINOA. Perhaps because this ancient super food has yet to make it on to the mainstream stage. But it's up there with the best of them, Quinoa offers at least as much iron as kidney beans. See below for recipe suggestions.

We need iron to carry oxygen around our bodies where it is used for energy. There are two types of iron:

1. Haem iron - found in red meats, seafood and poultry
2. Non-haem iron - predominantly found in:
• Legumes eg beans, lentils, tofu, dried peas/split peas, hommus
• Wholegrain breads and cereals.
• Green leafy vegetables.
• Nuts and seeds. eg peanut butter and tahini
• Eggs.
• Dried fruits.
• Breakfast cereals with added iron.

As mentioned, Vitamin C helps the body to absorb more iron. Foods that are high in vitamin C include some fruits (rockmelon, strawberries, pineapple, citrus fruits, oranges, mandarins, kiwi fruit and tomato) and some vegetables (broccoli, capsicum, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts).

Sources: Iron foods fact sheet from NSW Health; Hungry Human Beans: A Guide for Vegetarian Diets in Children from NSW Health

The tables below are from the United States Food and Drug Administration:

Table 1: Selected Food Sources of Nonheme Iron

Food	Milligrams per serving	% DV*
Ready-to-eat cereal, 100% iron fortified, ¾ cup	18.0	100
Oatmeal, instant, fortified, prepared with water, 1 cup	10.0	60
Soybeans, mature, boiled, 1 cup	8.8	50
Lentils, boiled, 1 cup	6.6	35
Beans, kidney, mature, boiled, 1 cup	5.2	25
Beans, lima, large, mature, boiled, 1 cup	4.5	25
Beans, navy, mature, boiled, 1 cup	4.5	25
Ready-to-eat cereal, 25% iron fortified, ¾ cup	4.5	25
Beans, black, mature, boiled, 1 cup	3.6	20
Beans, pinto, mature, boiled, 1 cup	3.6	20
Molasses, blackstrap, 1 tablespoon	3.5	20
Tofu, raw, firm, ½ cup	3.4	20
Spinach, boiled, drained, ½ cup	3.2	20
Spinach, canned, drained solids ½ cup	2.5	10
Black-eyed peas (cowpeas), boiled, 1 cup	1.8	10
Spinach, frozen, chopped, boiled ½ cup	1.9	10
Grits, white, enriched, quick, prepared with water, 1 cup	1.5	8
Raisins, seedless, packed, ½ cup	1.5	8
Whole wheat bread, 1 slice	0.9	6
White bread, enriched, 1 slice	0.9	6

*DV = Daily Value. The DV for iron is 18 milligrams (mg). A food providing 5% of the DV or less is a low source while a food that provides 10-19% of the DV is a good source. A food that provides 20% or more of the DV is high in that nutrient. It is important to remember that foods that provide lower percentages of the DV also contribute to a healthful diet. For foods not listed in this table, please refer to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Database Web site:http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl.

What affects iron absorption?

Healthy adults absorb about 10% to 15% of dietary iron, but individual absorption is influenced by several factors.

Storage levels of iron have the greatest influence on iron absorption. Iron absorption increases when body stores are low. When iron stores are high, absorption decreases to help protect against toxic effects of iron overload. Iron absorption is also influenced by the type of dietary iron consumed. Absorption of heme iron from meat proteins is efficient. Absorption of heme iron ranges from 15% to 35%, and is not significantly affected by diet. In contrast, 2% to 20% of nonheme iron in plant foods such as rice, maize, black beans, soybeans and wheat is absorbed. Nonheme iron absorption is significantly influenced by various food components. 

Table 2: Recommended Dietary Allowances for Iron for Infants (7 to 12 months), Children, and Adults [1]

Age	Males (mg/day)	Females (mg/day)	Pregnancy (mg/day)	Lactation (mg/day)
7 to 12 months	11	11	N/A	N/A
1 to 3 years	7	7	N/A	N/A
4 to 8 years	10	10	N/A	N/A
9 to 13 years	8	8	N/A	N/A
14 to 18 years	11	15	27	10
19 to 50 years	8	18	27	9
51+ years	8	8	N/A	N/A

Source: http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/



Check out this site for good nutritional break-downs for kidney beans and other foods

Billie Bites Iron-rich Recipes

This is just a selection from this blog - some of my recipes containing ingredients with high iron scores. More to come. Looks like if you eat Billie Bites-style, you'll be doing alright for iron.




Red Summer Quinoa Salad with Lime, Olives and Mint


Three Sisters Stew with Quinoa


Super Patties with Tofu, Brown Rice and Walnuts 


Nutty Fritters with Tofu and Sweet Potato

Magic Rolls - Tofu and Pecan 'Sausage Rolls'


Baby Friendly Curry - Pumpkin, Coconut, Tomato and Tofu


Sarah's Classic Chili Beans (with tacos)

Santa Fe Black Bean Salad

Black Beans and Sweet Corn with Polenta

Great Grandpa Lou's Italian Manasta

Great Grandma Eve's Vegetable Chili


Salad for All with Puy Lentils


Cheesy Spinach Potatoes


Lentil, Beet and Goat's Cheese Salad


Spinach Dahl


Triple A Salad - Arame, Almond and Avocado with Spinach


Spiced Lentil and Pumpkin Soup with Yoghurt


Sumac Roasted Vegetable and Lentil Salad

Miream's Foul Medammas