Iron Rich Foods
As your baby approaches the 6-month mark, his or her iron reserve will have depleted and, to top it off you no longer produce adequate amounts of iron in your breast milk. So what do you do? We have made a list of iron rich foods that you can incorporate into your baby’s diet.
Types of Iron
- Heme: Found in animal and fish hemoglobin (25-35% gets absorbed).
- Non-Heme: Found in plant sources (only 10% gets absorbed).
Note: Liquid iron supplements tend to have non-heme iron so it may be easier to get your child's iron levels up through diet.
Ways to Increase Absorption
- Avoid mixing meat and dairy (dairy hinders the absorption of iron).
- For poultry, give your baby the dark meat (it has the most iron).
- Try to incorporate fruits that are high in vitamin C with the meal like mangos, pineapple and oranges (increases absorption of iron).
Recommendations
The table that follows provides a list of iron rich foods that you can incorporate into your baby’s diet. We have the following recommendations:
- Try to get heme iron of 0.7 mg/oz. into your baby’s diet at least 3 times a week.
- Try to get different types of fish into your child’s diet at least 2 times a week.
- Eggs are a super food for babies that can be given every day.
- Try to incorporate different types of nut butters to reduce the risk of allergies.
Iron Levels | Food | Comments |
---|---|---|
Heme |
||
1 mg/oz. |
Beef liver |
Upon doctor’s recommendation, liver has high levels of vitamin A so not more than once a week |
1 mg/oz. |
Chicken liver |
Upon doctor’s recommendation, liver has high levels of vitamin A so not more than once a week |
0.7 mg/oz. |
Beef |
Choose quality cuts of meat (avoid ground meat) |
0.7 mg/oz. |
Lamb |
Choose quality cuts of meat (avoid ground meat) |
0.7 mg/oz. |
Turkey |
Choose quality cuts of meat (avoid ground meat), the dark meat has more iron |
0.7 mg/oz. |
Sardines |
Low in mercury |
0.23 mg/oz. |
Chicken |
The dark meat has more iron |
0.23 mg/oz. |
Haddock |
Low in mercury |
0.23 mg/oz. |
Perch (ocean) |
Low in mercury |
0.23 mg/oz. |
Salmon (wild) |
Low in mercury |
0.23 mg/oz. |
Veal |
None |
Non-Heme |
||
0.88 mg/serving |
Cooked beans |
Buy dried beans and soak them overnight (canned beans are salted) |
0.88 mg/serving |
Tofu |
Tofu should always be organic |
0.88 mg/serving |
Pumpkin seed butter |
Can usually be found in the organic section of grocery stores or in health stores, we recommend mixing it into cereal |
0.88 mg/serving |
Sesame (tahini) |
Without salt |
0.88 mg/serving |
Infant cereals |
Try to eat at the same time as a banana as babies don’t produce enough of the enzyme Amylase to break down cereals until 1 year and bananas are full of this enzyme |
0.6 mg/egg |
Egg |
Scramble with milk or formula for picky eaters |
0.52 mg/serving |
Baked potato |
Wash and leave the skin on (more iron) |
0.52 mg/serving |
Broccoli |
Steamed or raw |
0.18 mg/serving |
Peanut butter |
Buy organic with no additional ingredients. There will be a clear liquid at the top which can be mixed into cereal |
0.18 mg/serving |
Tree nut butter |
Buy organic with no additional ingredients. There will be a clear liquid at the top which can be mixed into cereal |
0.18 mg/serving |
Dried raisins, peaches or prunes |
Avoid added sugar |
0.18 mg/serving |
Spinach |
Can be blended with other fruits |
0.18 mg/serving |
Green peppers |
Steamed or raw |
*Iron levels are approximations