Iron Rich Foods

When you eat food with iron, iron is absorbed into your body mainly through the upper part of your small intestine.

There are two forms of dietary iron: heme and nonheme. Heme iron is derived from hemoglobin. It is found in animal foods that originally contained hemoglobin, such as red meats, fish, and poultry. Your body absorbs the most iron from heme sources. Nonheme iron is from plant sources.

Foods rich with Heme Iron	Foods rich with Non-Heme Iron
Three ounces of Beef: 3 mg iron	One cup cooked Enriched white rice or pasta: 1.9 mg iron
Three and a half ounces of Beef Liver: 7 mg iron	Half a cup Spinach, boiled: 3.2 mg iron
Three ounces of Chicken: 1.2 mg iron	Half a cup Green peas: 1.2 mg iron
One medium Egg: 1.0 mg iron	Half a cup cooked, Dried Peas or Beans: 2.0 mg iron
Half a cup Fish Tuna: 1.6 mg iron	Two tablespoons of Peanut butter: 6 mg iron
Three and a half ounces of Lean ham: 5 mg iron	One ounce of Fortified cereal: 4.5-18 mg iron
Three ounces of Oysters: 7.8 mg iron	Half a cup raw Tofu: 6.6 mg iron
Three ounces of Pork: 7 mg iron	One packet of Instant oatmeal: 6.3 mg iron
Three ounces of wild Salmon: 8 mg iron	One cup Lentils: 6.6 mg iron
	One cup Kidney beans: 5.2 mg iron
	One cup Garbanzo beans: 4.73 mg iron
	One slice Wheat bread: 0.9 mg iron
	Five whole Dried apricots: 1.9 mg iron
	Five medium Prunes:1.2 mg iron
	Half a cup Prune juice: 5.2 mg iron
	Two tablespoons Raisins: 0.6 mg iron
	One tablespoon Blackstrap molasses: 3.2 mg iron