Are you feeling tired and run down? You might need more Iron in your diet. If you’re a young woman, you’re more at risk of being low in Iron because of your monthly period and if you’re still in puberty, but this also applies to adult women and men too. So it is of vital importance to make sure you’re eating foods that are iron- rich.
Now the recommended daily allowance for women is 18mg per day, and for men 8.7mg. The symptoms of Iron deficiency are fatigue, very irritable and cold hands, if you have anyone of theses symptoms you will want to start looking at your intake. And this applies if you are a vegetarian or not, Iron is one of the most important minerals. Here is how to get the right amount the easy way.
Legumes: Beans and Chickpeas and other legumes, are a tasty and cheaper way to get Iron in your diet. Load up on the stuff to get your daily dose of Iron while staying full at the same time.
Greens: Greens especially the darker green ones such as Spinach and Kale are a brilliant source of iron, especially for vegetarians or those that just do not eat enough meat.
Dried Fruit: Such as Raisins, Prunes and Apricots are all dried fruits that provide high amounts of iron. I would suggest you think about adding dried fruit to other sources of Iron such as Salads and Oatmeal to get a double boost of Iron.
Red Meat: Heme Iron the type of Iron found in red meat and is more easily absorbed by our bodies than any other types, which in turn helps make red blood cells really healthy. And since women and teenage girls require more Iron in their system, red meat is the key nutrient to have especially around the teen/ development stages of our lives. But be smart look for lean cuts of meat we do not want to gain any more weight!
Other foods that will help are as follows: Egg Yolks, Oysters, Clams, Liver..
(Not your own), Scallops and Aritchokes.