A ranking of 6 common iron-rich foods. I never thought that the "king" would be this one!

When it comes to "iron and blood supplements", many people only think of red dates. In fact, red dates only look like they are rich in iron. In fact, the iron they contain is non-heme iron, and the iron supplement effect is greatly reduced (the iron absorption rate is only 2~20%). It is not reliable to expect to supplement iron by eating them.

So what should I eat?

This article lists 6 common iron-supplementing foods. One of these foods has an iron content that is 22.4 times that of pork tenderloin, making it the "king of iron supplements." Let's take a look at what iron-supplementing foods there are, and who is the final "king"?

1. No. 6: Pork tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is the most popular part of the pig. It refers to the strips of tender meat on the inside of the pig's spine. It is almost all lean meat with very little fat. Whether it is used for stir-frying meat slices or making sweet and sour pork tenderloin, it is a very good choice.

Because of the high lean meat content and red color, many people believe that eating pork tenderloin can supplement iron. Yes, eating pork tenderloin can indeed help supplement iron, but its iron content is not very high, only 1.5 mg/100 g.

According to the recommendations of the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents", eating 40 to 75 grams a day can only supplement about 1.2 grams of iron at most. Although the absorption rate of iron in pork tenderloin is good, this amount is not high.

2. No. 5: Chicken thighs

The most enjoyable thing about eating chicken is to tear the chicken thighs by hand, and some people like to eat chicken thighs in big mouthfuls. Chicken is a typical white meat, which does not seem to be "iron-rich" at all, but chicken thighs are an exception.

Because parts such as chicken legs and chicken necks are more "active", they require more exercise than other parts such as chicken breasts and consume more oxygen, so their hemoglobin content is higher, the meat color is red, and the iron content is also higher than other parts.

For example, the iron content of chicken breast is 1 mg/100 g, while the iron content of chicken thigh is 1.8 times that of chicken breast. Think about eating chicken thighs on a daily basis, not only can you supplement protein, but also iron, which is also good!

3. No. 4: Beef tenderloin

Beef tenderloin is the most tender part of the cow and is also the most commonly used raw material for making beef jerky. You can tell from the color of the beef tenderloin that it should be very effective in supplementing iron.

That's right, compared to pork tenderloin, beef tenderloin has nearly three times the iron content of pork tenderloin. If you can eat 75 grams of beef tenderloin every day, you can meet 16.5% of the daily iron requirement of an average woman, which is a good amount.

However, many people prefer beef jerky. Because it has been processed, the iron content of beef jerky is as high as 15.6 mg per 100 grams. Although the iron content looks good, the calories and salt content are generally high. For example, the following picture shows a beef jerky with over a million reviews on a certain platform:

▲Picture: E-commerce platform

Its calorie content is as high as 285 kcal/100 g, which is more than twice that of beef tenderloin. And eating 100 g will consume 2.6 g of salt, which is higher than the salt intake of a meal. Not only that, some brands also add sugar for flavoring, which will increase the calorie content.

4. No. 3: Pork liver

According to the recommendations in the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents", it is recommended that people eat animal offal 2 to 3 times a month, and pork liver is a more recommended one. Its iron content is as high as 23.2 mg/100 g, which is better than pork and beef.

However, although pig liver is rich in iron, it also has high cholesterol, purine and vitamin A content, so you should not eat too much. It is recommended to eat about 25 grams each time, which is about the size of half an egg.

5. No. 2: Duck Blood

Duck blood is a must-order food for many people when eating hot pot. It not only tastes good, but also has advantages in terms of mineral iron and protein content.

Among animal blood, duck blood and pig blood are both convenient and easy to obtain. Compared with the two, the protein content is similar, but the iron content of duck blood is 3.5 times that of pig blood, which is 30.5 mg/100 g.

Duck blood in hot pot restaurants is about 5-6 pieces, which is about 100 grams. Even if you eat 50 grams, it can meet 76% of the daily iron requirement of an average adult woman, and also provide 6.8 grams of protein. In addition, duck blood has a very low fat content, only 0.4 grams of fat per 100 grams, which is very suitable for those who need to control their weight and lose weight.

From these three aspects, duck blood is worth loving.

6. No. 1: Razor clams

Razor clams are a type of shellfish seafood with white and plump flesh. Many people would never have thought that it would be the "king of iron supplements"! The iron content of razor clams per 100 grams is as high as 33.6 mg, which is 22.4 times that of pork tenderloin!

According to the recommendations of the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents", the intake of aquatic products is 40 to 75 grams per day. If you can eat 75 grams of clam meat (about 15 ordinary-sized clams), then you can meet 126% of the daily iron requirement of an average adult woman. It's amazing!

Spicy fried clams, clam tofu soup, stir-fried clams, razor clam vermicelli soup...make your plans quickly!

Summarize:

The above 6 foods can be used as our daily iron supplement choices, among which razor clams are the best.

Here is a reminder for everyone: the plant-based foods we often hear about, such as red dates, black fungus, spinach, amaranth, etc., are generally not very effective in supplementing iron, so don’t count too much on them!

References:

[1] Yang Yuexin, Ge Keyou. Chinese Nutrition Science Encyclopedia 2nd Edition (Volume 1)[M]. People's Medical Publishing House, 2019

[2] Yang Yuexin. Chinese Food Composition Table 6th Edition Volume 1[M]. Peking University Medical Press, 2018

[3] Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents[M]. People's Medical Publishing House, 2016