🔬 The science, kept simple
Iron sits at the center of hemoglobin, the protein that picks up oxygen in your lungs and delivers it everywhere else. Run short and every cell runs short of oxygen... which is why iron deficiency feels like being tired in your bones. Plant iron (non-heme) is absorbed less easily, but vitamin C eaten at the same meal multiplies its uptake.
Why you need it: Oxygen transport, energy production, and a sharp mind; growing children and menstruating and pregnant women need the most.
Daily target: 8 mg a day for men, 18 mg for women until menopause; vegetarians may need nearly double from plant sources.
📖 In Scripture
The life of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11)... and every drop of it depends on this mineral.
🥇 Best food sources, ranked
- Lentils ... about 6.6 mg per cup, cooked
- Spinach ... about 6.4 mg per cup, cooked
- Tempeh and tofu ... about 3-4 mg per cup
- Quinoa ... about 2.8 mg per cup, cooked
- Blackstrap molasses ... about 3.6 mg per tablespoon
- Pumpkin seeds ... about 2.5 mg per ounce
- Prunes and raisins ... about 1 mg per quarter cup
Figures are approximate, in the style of USDA FoodData Central; real foods vary with soil, variety, and cooking.
⚖️ Worth knowing
Pair plant iron with vitamin C (a squeeze of lemon on the spinach) and keep tea and coffee away from iron-rich meals, since their tannins block uptake. Never take high-dose iron supplements without a blood test... excess iron is harmful.
Matters most for
Educational information, not medical advice. Talk with your doctor before supplements, especially with kidney, thyroid, or heart conditions or in pregnancy.