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| Iron Rich Foods Chart |
The daily iron requirement depends on age and gender. If you are a woman, your recommended daily amount of iron is 8 mg. A woman needs 18 mg of iron daily, whereas a pregnant woman may need up to 27 mg. You should aim to take the required amount of iron in your diet.
- Keep in mind that iron is not easily absorbed by the body even if you eat high iron foods. The amount of iron absorbed from vegetarian food is up to 10%, while it is 10 - 20% from animal food. Foods that are rich in vitamin C help to increase iron absorption. Also iron from raw foods is absorbed better.
- Vegetarians need to be especially careful, because plant-based sources of iron are not as easily absorbed as iron from animal-based foods.
- Vegetables such as capsicum, potato, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, tomato, etc. enhance the iron absorption
- Fruits such as cantaloupe, grapefruit, strawberries, orange, etc. help iron absorption.
- There are specific iron-rich foods for anaemia (anemia), the anemic people can take high iron diet if your doctor recommends it.
List of Top Iron Rich Food Sources
Following are the best iron containing vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and spices.- Pulses & Beans: Chickpeas, black-eye beans, lentils, soybean.
- Vegetables: Vegetables high in iron are Beetroot greens, mint, parsley, turnip greens, broccoli, bok choy, collard greens and Brussels sprouts, Sea vegetables are high iron foods.
- Sea vegetables
- Fruits: Apricot, tomatoes, Dried dates, watermelon, raisins
- Herbs and Spices: Almost all herbs and spices are high in iron.
| Iron Rich Vegetables (1/2 cup cooked) | Iron |
| Sea vegetables | 18- 42 mg |
| Spinach (Growing spinach) | 3.2 mg |
| Swiss chard | 2.0 mg |
| Potato, baked with skin | 1.7 mg |
| Pumpkin | 1.7 mg |
| Sweet potatoes, canned | 1.7 mg |
| Turnip greens | 1.6 mg |
| Beet greens | 1.4 mg |
| Potato, 1 large (Growing potatoes) | 1.4 mg |
| Peas | 1.2 mg |
| Brussels Sprouts | 0.9 mg |
| Bok choy | 0.7 mg |
| Tomato juice (growing tomatoes) | 0.6 mg |
| Green beans | 0.6 mg |
| Broccoli | 0.55 mg |
| Growing Kale | 0.55 mg |
| Watermelon, 1/8 medium | 0.50 mg |
| Iron Rich Fruits (100 g) | Iron |
| Tomatoes, sun dried (Growing tomatoes) | 9 mg |
| Apricots, dried | 6 mg |
| Raisins | 3 mg |
| Mulberries | 2.6 mg |
| Pears, dried | 2.1 mg |
| Figs, dried | 2.0 mg |
| Apples, dried | 2.0 mg |
| Prune juice, 4 oz | 1.5 mg |
| Iron in Legumes (1/2 cup cooked) | Iron |
| Chickpeas (200 g) | 6.2 mg |
| Soybeans | 4.4 mg |
| Lentils | 3.2 mg |
| Black eye beans | 2.6 mg |
| Navy beans | 2.5 mg |
| Lima beans | 2.2 mg |
| Pinto beans | 2.2 mg |
| Kidney beans Rajmah | 1.5 mg |
| Herbs High In iron (10 g) | Iron |
| Thyme, dried | 12.3 mg |
| Parsley, dried | 9.7 mg |
| Spearmint, dried | 8.7 mg |
| Marjoram, dried | 8.2 mg |
| Cumin seed | 6.6 mg |
| Oregano, dried | 4.4 mg |
| Bay leaf | 4.3 mg |
| Coriander leaves, dried (Growing coriander) | 4.2 mg |
| Basil, dried | 4.2 mg |
| Turmeric powder (growing turmeric) | 4.1 mg |
| Cinnamon, ground | 3.8 mg |
| Anise seed | 3.6 mg |
| Fenugreek seed (Growing fenugreek) | 3.3 mg |
| Curry powder | 2.9 mg |
| Rosemary, dried | 2.9 mg |
| Black pepper | 2.8 mg |
| Paprika | 2.3 mg |
| Iron in Nuts & Seeds (2 tablespoon) | Iron |
| Pumpkin seeds | 2.5 mg |
| Figs, dried, 5 mg | 2.0 mg |
| Apricot, dried 5 | 1.6 mg |
| Almond (Grow almond from seeds Video), 1/4 cup | 1.3 mg |
| Tahini | 1.2 mg |
| Sesame | 1.2 mg |
| Sunflower seeds | 1.2 mg |
| Cashew nuts | 1.0 mg |
Herbs and Spices High In Iron
All the spices and herbs are high in iron content, so the herbs are good for increasing iron, but you must know that you cannot consume too much of these in your diet, not more than 10-20 g. You may drink iron rich herbal tea made of these herbs.From the list of iron in spices and herbs, all the dried herbs are high in iron, you will notice that dried thyme herb is one of the most iron-rich herbs.
Many vegetables, fruits, legumes and lentils are iron rich. Chickpeas and soybeans are also good sources of iron.
One cup of sunflower seeds gives about half the body's daily iron needs along with plenty of vitamin E.