When you wish to lose weight through a diet plan, you must ensure that your diet is nutritious and well balanced. This is because even while dieting, your body needs to get the nutrients it requires for it to carry out its normal bodily functions without experiencing fatigue. So, if your diet deprives your body of important minerals and vitamins, your weight loss goals are automatically compromised. Iron is one of the most significant nutrients which our bodies need and the amount of iron in your daily meals can affect your ability to lose or gain weight.

Where do you get iron from?

Iron is available in many different kinds of foods; the richest iron sources are animal foods. So, when you reduce your meat intake in the diet, you automatically cut down your iron intake. Foods which are rich in iron are typically high-calorie foods; so, you need to be careful when these form part of your diet. Extremely low calorie diets are significantly less in iron and can make you feel tired and lethargic. This is why you should know which foods to include in your daily meals to ensure that your body is getting enough iron.

1. Leafy vegetables: Dark green leafy vegetables for instance are rich in iron. Broccoli contains about 0.6 milligrams of iron in every half a cup while turnip is another significant iron containing vegetable. Other veggies rich in this mineral are kale and collard. Iron is found in hemoglobin and carries oxygenated blood through the body, boosting your metabolism and keeping you active. So, when you consume an adequate amount of iron every day, it helps in your weight loss efforts too. You can exercise better and burn the excess fat.
2. Legumes: Common beans and chick peas are the richest sources of iron. Green peas, dry beans, lima beans, pinto beans, baked beans, lentils etc are highly recommended as iron foods for pregnant women and young children.
3. Fish: Fish like shell fish, clams, oysters and mussels, sardines and anchovies are believed to contain a lot of iron. Since these foods have protein with less connective tissue, they are easier to digest and absorption is also quicker.
4. Poultry: Livestock foods like turkey and chicken have high amounts of iron in them. Dar meats like pork and beef, liver and lamb are rich in iron but diet experts recommend eating them in lean portions.
5. Whole wheat products: Whole wheat meals are excellent sources of different types of minerals like copper and iron, cobalt and molybdenum. Ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, breads and rolled oats, pasta and rice also contain significant amounts of iron.

Iron is therefore either heme or non-heme, the latter being obtained from plant based foods. To be ingested properly, iron needs vitamin C; so vitamin C foods should also be a part of your daily diet to enable better iron absorption. Iron is important in the body because it carries oxygen from your lungs to different organs and muscles. Iron deficiency is rampant and when you lack iron in the body, you are bound to feel fatigue, exhaustion and irritability. When deficiency becomes uncontrollable, anemia results, and this condition, unless treated, can turn life-threatening as well.