United States: You might not be getting enough iron, and a recent study shows that nearly 1 in 3 American adults may have iron deficiency, which is a big health concern. Iron is an really essential mineral that your body needs to work well, and you mainly get it from the foods you eat, whether they come from animals or plants. It’s important to know why iron is vital for your health and how you can easily add more iron-rich foods to your diet to stay healthy and prevent any problems.
Iron is very important in the manufacture of hemoglobin, and this is the protein in our red blood cells which the body uses in transporting oxygen from the lungs like the breathing system of our body to the rest of the body. It is also linked to myoglobin — another protein responsible for oxygen transport to muscles. Iron is important in the development of the brain, body growth and in cell formation, formation of hormones in the body as well.
As reported by Yahoo life, If you run low on iron you could get what is called iron deficiency anemia this means less oxygen gets to your body because red blood cell formation is diminished. Some signs or markers include, fatigue and weakness, stomach problems, hair loss, pale skin, attention and memory problems and lastly a low immune system. You may get check your iron levels through blood test.
The female body requires more iron than the male body, particularly starting from the age of fourteen years because of the menstrual cycle. Females between 19 to 50 years require 18mg of iron daily while males require only 8mg. In pregnancy, this increases to 27 mg per day. Indeed, more than a third of the females in America in the age group of 12 to 21 years are admitted to be iron deficient, and common causes are; heavier menstrual bleeding, pregnancy, and the postpartum period may lead to an iron deficiency anemia.
Infants and children, and especially those from food insecure households are most vulnerable owing to the rapid growth and development. Other vulnerable populations include the elderly because they have a lower ability to absorb iron, diabetics, patients with kidney disease or obesity. Other individuals that may have a problem because of frequent loss of iron are athletes and those people that donate blood frequently.
This means vegetarians, or more precisely vegans should be getting approximately 1.8 times the recommended daily allowance of animal-based iron than people consuming animal products.
Eating iron-rich foods is key preventing deficiency, Although iron from the iron sources is more easily absorbed and plant based sources are just as important to include and offer the added health benefits like fiber, vitamins, minerals and water and also to boost the iron absorption from the plant-based foods in particular, the pair them with vitamin C-rich produce like bell peppers and the tomatoes or the citrus fruits.
Which also skips the coffee or tea when the eating iron rich meals since the tannins in these drinks can bind to iron and to limit how much your body actually absorbs.