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What Are the Benefits of Having Iron in Your Diet?

by Nicole Canfora

Overview

An essential element and the most abundant metal on Earth, iron plays a major role in the proper functioning of the human body. Iron binds itself to protein molecules to create hemoglobin, which carries oxygen throughout the bloodstream to adequately fuel the body's processes. The more iron in your diet, the more efficiently oxygen is distributed. Getting the proper daily amount of iron is easy, since it is found in many meats, fish, legumes and vegetables. Some people, such as those suffering from kidney failure or women who are pregnant, need to keep a closer eye on their iron intake so that they do not become anemic.
Significance

The human body needs iron in order to function properly. Iron helps deliver oxygen throughout the bloodstream and keeps up energy and immunity. Most iron is found as a component in hemoglobin, in red blood cells.

Types

There are two forms of iron that come from foods: heme and non-heme. Heme iron is found in meats like chicken, pork and steak, and also in fish like oysters, sardines and clams, and comes from the hemoglobin in the animals' blood. Non-heme iron, which is added to iron-enriched foods, is derived from edible plants like lentils, spinach, beans and tofu (soybean). Both are essential in a person's diet to ward off anemia.
Benefits

Proper iron intake through diet and supplements prevents anemia, a condition where the blood's hemoglobin uses up all of its iron stores because no new iron is coming into the body. Eventually, the hemoglobin count decreases and less oxygen circulates through the bloodstream. Regular absorption of dietary iron also helps women keep up their iron levels during menstruation.
Effects

Eating foods rich in iron has a number of advantages, such as keeping you physically energized and mentally alert, maintaining proper body temperature, and keeping the immune system at peak performance. It's also essential for pregnant women, teenage girls, and people with renal failure or gastrointestinal disorders that keep them from properly absorbing iron.
Warning

Because iron isn't efficiently excreted by the body, too much iron in your diet can cause the element to build up in the bloodstream, causing a toxic reaction and possibly death. Keep your total intake of iron, including that gleaned from food and diet supplements, to the recommended value of 45 mg per day for both males and females.