Up to 80% of world population is deficient in iron. All of us need iron for a healthy body. But what is iron?

What is Iron?

Iron is major nutrient for transporting life saving oxygen to all parts of the body. Everyone needs Iron it is essential for healthy blood and good health. Two types of Iron are available - haem and non-haem. Most iron is stored in haemoglobin- a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to your tissues. Iron has a very important affect, it involves in all red cells’ production, production of haemoglobin. It’s a very critical and important mineral and you need to ensure that if are having enough of it. Iron also plays an important role in the immune system. Besides haemoglobin, our body use Iron to make myoglobin. Myoglobin is a hemoprotein that receives oxygen from haemoglobin and stores it in the tissues until needed.

Why You Need Iron?

Iron deficiency can lead to anaemia. Signs of iron deficiency are fatigue, weakness, and increased susceptibility to infection. Lack of Iron reduces our ability of tolerance and work capacity. Also when we don’t have enough Iron we face health problems such as inflammation, gas, belching, and constipation or diarrhea.

To avoid this men and post-menopausal women need 8 mg of Iron daily. Pre-menopausal of women need 18 mg of Iron daily; especially those who experience heavy bleeding during menstruation. Some conditions like people who donate blood frequently or have Crohn’s disease, bypass surgery, chronic malabsorption/diarrhea- they require more Iron.

Categorical Functions of Iron

• Iron transports oxygen to all parts of the body.

• Stores oxygen in muscle tissues.

• Plays an important role in immune system.

• Iron is important for hair growth.

Sources of Iron

Red meat, poultry, and fish are excellent source of Iron. Besides these dry beans, nuts and seeds, green peas, raisins, apricots, dates are very good source of Iron. Iron can be found in good amount in whole grains. Other basic animal foods that contain iron are spleen, kidney, liver, and lungs.

For the vegetarians foods like raw spinach, raw broccoli, lentils, soybeans are very good source of Iron. In addition to these, kale, collards, and asparagus also contain good amount of Iron.

Iron is essential for our health and we should take sufficient amount of Iron for our better health. But one thing to remember, too much of Iron can be harmful for the health.