How much iron is your body absorbing?

This can lead to tiredness, a lack of energy, feeling short of breath and even heart palpitations.¹ So what’s the issue? Well, according to research, there are certain types of food that can impact the amount of iron that’s absorbed into your body.² But before you start the witch hunt to find the culprits, you may want to know what foods you’re looking for. 

Handpicked content: Iron sources: foods high in iron

But don’t fear, before you ditch the Wensleydale and crackers, it’s still important to consume foods rich in calcium. You may just want to try and limit these types of foods when you’re eating a meal containing most of your daily intake of iron. The same idea of segregation should be applied when taking iron and calcium supplements too. Tea and coffee are two other examples to look out for. They contain polyphenols, which has been shown to hinder iron absorption.⁸ To put this into context, drinking just one cup of black tea with a meal reduced iron absorption by 60-70%. Yet if it was consumed in between meals, this percentage drops to just 20%.⁹ So the good news is that it’s just a matter of timing these food and drinks, instead of discarding them altogether (phew).

The red-orange pigment found in plants and fruits, beta-carotene, can be turned into vitamin A in your body too. In the same study, adding this into a meal further increase iron absorption by more than 300% for rice and 180% for wheat and corn.¹¹ Food for thought? We think so.