Prevent Anemia During Pregnancy: Iron Rich Foods to Eat When You're Pregnant
74If you're pregnant and worried about getting enough iron to your baby and perhaps developing iron-deficiency anemia yourself, then you may be looking for ways to get enough iron in your diet. Dietary iron from food, especially meat, is absorbed readily by your body when you're pregnant and helps carry oxygen to your baby. Prenatal vitamins usually have at least the amount that the National Institutes of Health recommend pregnant women get daily: 27 mg of iron. Taking the iron in the prenatal vitamin is advised on top of eating foods high in iron--but you should talk to your doctor about the correct amount of iron intake when you're pregnant. There is current research out challenging the notion that taking iron supplements is helpful during pregnancy (for some current research articles, see the section below Comments).
When You Eat Foods Rich in Iron...
When you eat foods rich in iron, pair the foods with orange juice, lemon juice, sweet peppers, cabbage, broccoli, and other foods high in vitamin c. Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, aids your body in iron absorption, helping it absorb iron more efficiently. And stay away from taking in milk products, soy products, coffee or tea at the same time as you eat foods high in iron, since these foods have minerals (such as calcium) that compete with iron for absorption.
Meat Sources of Iron
Eat beef, buffalo, veal, chicken, turkey, lamb, pork, egg yolk, and/or wild salmon as meat sources of iron during pregnancy. Meat sources of iron are important because meat has heme, a readily absorbed form of iron in comparison to iron from vegetable sources. Each ounce of beef tenderloin has a single mg of iron.
Be careful and don't eat more fish than is recommended for pregnant women. Don't eat raw fish when you're pregnant. Avoid eating too much iron-rich seafood like oysters, clams, halibut, crab and shrimp, or check with your doctor about the safety of these items in your area. Eat limited amounts of tuna only.
Legume Sources of Iron
For iron rich legumes, eat kidney beans, lima beans, navy beans, pinto beans, soybeans and other soybean products like tofu, and especially lentils. A half cup of lentils has 3.3 mg of iron.
Fruit and Vegetable Sources of Iron
During pregnancy, sweeten your foods with molasses, which has 3.5 mg of iron in a tablespoon.
Popeye knew what he was doing; spinach is one of the highest iron vegetables, with over 3 mg of iron in a half cup, cooked--though since spinach is also high in calcium, not all the iron is bioavailable. Also eat plenty of the following fruits and veggies containing iron:
- tomatoes
- raspberries and other berries
- turnip greens, collard greens and mustard greens
- Brussels sprouts
- apricots
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Current Research on Iron and Pregnancy
- NewsCAP: Iron supplements in pregnancy may not be without risks.
Related Articles NewsCAP: Iron supplements in pregnancy may not be without risks. Am J Nurs. 2009 Nov;109(11):21 Authors: PMID: 19858844 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
