Eating foods rich in iron is essential for good health. We need iron rich foods to make haemoglobin for our red blood cells, which carries oxygen around our bodies. When we are anaemic, or short of iron then we have less haemoglobin and less oxygen circulates in our bodies. This leads to symptoms of anaemia such as tiredness and pale skin.

Anaemia sufferers have less capacity for exercise and in bad cases can get short of breath very easily. If untreated the anaemia can lead to symtoms such as palpitations and an increased heart rate as the body tries to pump the limited oxygen supplies around the body more quickly. This in turn can lead to heart problems and collapse.

Anaemia occurs when iron loss from the body is not matched by iron intake. Women and small children are more likely to become anaemic. In women blood is lost every month via the menstrual cycle and these losses need to be replaced. Small children do not have big reserves of iron and the faddy eating habits of toddlers can lead to a low iron intake. Other factors that can contribute to anaemia are special diets in anyone, pregnancy, breastfeeding, chronic blood loss from diseases such as ulcers or growth spurts during adolescence.

The best way to avoid anaemia is to make sure that you eat plenty of iron rich foods. Only a small amount of the iron present in foods is actually absorbed by our bodies, about eighteen percent in a normal diet, and only ten per cent from vegetable sources. It is important to maximise absorption by boosting your vitamin C intake. Vitamin C consumed at the same time as the iron rich foods converts the iron to a form more easily absorbed by the body.

The daily requirements for iron vary throughout life. Fifteen mg per day is adequate for most people but during pregnancy the requirement is increased to twenty-seven mg per day, and women who menstruate heavily may need as much as twenty mg per day.

The best sources of iron in a normal diet are red meat, liver and fish. Consumption of these foods is falling in our every day diets as we are encouraged to eat less red meat, and this has contributed to a rise in anaemia. It is important to eat some red meat if you are not vegetarian, as well as other vitamins and minerals such as zinc. Eating fresh vegetables at the same time as the meat will increase the amount of iron that is absorbed.Vegetarians need to even more care to endure their consumption of iron rich foods is high. Pregnant women should avoid liver

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