Dietary iron comes from both plant and animal food sources, with heme, or animal-based, iron being the most accessible for body functions. The human body absorbs nonheme, or plant-based, iron less easily. The FDA-recommended average daily intake of 18mg, therefore, assumes that iron will come from both sources. People who don't eat meat or who have greater mineral needs for health reasons may need to increase that total. Those who eat foods with high heme iron content frequently may need to decrease it.
Mollusks, Crustaceans and Fish
Clams top the seafood list of heme iron food sources in 3 oz. servings, providing from 12mg to 24mg in mineral content, depending on whether cooks prepare them from raw, frozen or canned supplies. The USDA Nutrient Database compares this intense iron content to oysters, with 6mg, which still satisfies 33 percent of daily requirements. Fish such as haddock, halibut, salmon and sardines offer between 1mg and 3mg of iron.
Meat and Poultry
Beef and pork liver and poultry giblets represent the most iron-rich foods among animal meats, which are heme sources. Dieters can raise their iron levels quickly by eating chicken liver, which has 12mg in 3 oz.; turkey giblets, 11mg in 1 cup; or braunschweiger, a pork liver sausage, 6mg in two slices. Common beef cuts contain about 3mg of iron, the USDA reports. Overall, dark poultry meat has greater iron content than white, and lamb delivers more dietary iron than pork.
Grains
Another quick fix for low iron levels comes from grain food sources, which MedlinePlus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, ranks among the best. Wheat, barley and oats, already significant in nonheme iron, may be fortified, as in ready-to-eat cereal products. Cold cereals such as wheat bran flakes may contain as much as 18mg, or 100 percent of dietary iron needs for the whole day. Some cooked oatmeal and wheat varieties provide up to 13mg of iron. Additional whole grains with iron content include corn, brown rice and millet.
Legumes
For a wide variety of vegetarian dishes that provide dietary iron, consumers can choose among legumes. Cooked dry soybeans, beans, lentils and peas add significant nonheme iron to diets, with soybeans offering 9mg per 1 cup serving. MedlinePlus adds lima and kidney beans, which provide 4mg to 5mg of iron, to this nonheme list. Lentils, chickpeas, black-eye peas and other types of cooked dry beans have similar mineral content.
Vegetables
Dark green vegetables comprise the remaining group of nonheme iron foods. Mineral benefits vary greatly between raw and cooked greens, such as 1mg of iron in 1 cup of raw spinach versus 6mg in cooked spinach, according to the USDA. The same type of nutrient concentration occurs in similar food sources, such as collards, turnip greens and kale, but these tougher greens are usually eaten cooked.
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