Science Facts Sundays: Maximizing Iron Absorbency, Part 9 (Final): Meal Ideas

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Welcome to Science Facts Sundays.

These are some notes I took when reading Iron Rich Foods: Unlock the Iron in Your Food and Fight Iron Deficiency by Amanda Rose, Ph.D.

My daughter knows why we don’t drink milk with an iron-rich meal. She can tell you, “calcium inhibits iron absorption!”

I don’t see the point of eating foods and not being able to absorb them and utilize all their benefits. What a shame to waste the iron in our foods when we eat them with dairy products. Simply knowing to separate the foods for ultimate utilization can be helpful for combating low iron levels.

You may find this geeky - so be forewarned! If this topic doesn’t appeal to you, check back in a few weeks and I’ll have moved on to something else that you may be interested in.

Here are some morsels for you to chew on (written in my own words):

Remember, it’s always a good idea to add foods containing Vitamin C along with iron meals to enhance absorption.

For breakfast, nothing beats eggs. I [Lea] like to add red or orange peppers to my eggs.

If you’re looking for a vegetarian option for breakfast, you will want to combine a grain with some fruits which contain Vitamin C.

Top iron-rich options for grains are: amaranth, teff, whole wheat, oats, sorghum, kamut, spelt, quinoa, barley, and rye.

Vitamin C topping ideas could be a mixture of pineapple, papaya, mango and melon with citrus fruits, or perhaps berries or pitted fruits (apricots, peaches, plums, and pears).

Combining cinnamon with your grains and fruit is a nice iron enhancement.

For an iron-packed lunch, consume beans or legumes along with grains. Making your own baked beans with molasses is a great iron-booster, especially when paired with cabbage (on the side).

The rest of the book (seventeen pages) are filled with ideas and recipes and methods so you can create your own iron-rich meals. Some of the recipes included are: Boston Baked Beans, Sourdough (with lots of tips, including Cheater’s Starter), Sourdough Pancakes, Sourdough Cornbread, Sourdough Whole Wheat Bread, Gingerbread, Banana Bread, Zucchini Bread, Pumpkin Bread, Pizza Crust, and more…

That’s it for this series! I hope you learned something. If you did, feel free to leave me a note in the comments If you didn’t learn anything, then you are definitely a geek!

Next week we will be giving away a copy of Iron Rich Foods: Unlock the Iron in Your Food and Fight Iron Deficiency + the digital class to one of you - stay tuned

Amanda Rose, Ph.D. authored Iron Rich Foods: Unlock the Iron in Your Food and Fight Iron Deficiency, where I have based these science facts. She is also the author of Rebuild From Depression: A Nutrient Guide, Including Depression in Pregnancy and Postpartum, and the Phytic Acid White Paper: Reducing Phytic Acid in Your Food. She is also the blogger behind Traditional-Foods.com.

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Lea Harris founded Nourishing Treasures in 2006. A mom passionate about her family's health and well-being, Lea believes education is power. Encouraging others to take baby steps in the right direction of health for their families, Lea's goal is to raise awareness of what goes into our mouths and on our bodies, providing natural alternative information that promotes health and prevents disease by using traditional foods and nature's medicine.

Lea is a Certified Health Coach graduate from Beyond Organic University, and a Certified Aromatherapist graduate from Aromahead Institute.

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