what foods produce iron
Organ meats are among the most iron-rich foods available -- a 3-ounce serving of beef liver delivers just over 5 milligrams of iron. With 11 milligrams per serving, chicken liver is an even better source. When it comes to poultry, darker meat is generally higher in iron.
There are two forms of dietary iron: heme and nonheme. Heme iron is derived from hemoglobin. It is found in animal foods that originally contained hemoglobin, such as red meats, fish, and poultry (meat, poultry, and seafood contain both heme and non-heme iron). Your body absorbs the most iron from heme sources.
Many types of seafood are high in iron. Oysters are particularly iron-rich -- a 3-ounce portion of wild eastern oysters supplies 8 milligrams. Mussels, octopus, sardines, clams and crab typically provide anywhere from 2 to 6 milligrams of iron per serving, while most varieties of fish contain less.
If you don't eat meat, you can still get your iron. Tofu is a good choice. Or go for beans, like kidney, garbanzo, or white. Food from plants has non-heme iron, which means your body doesn't absorb it as well as the heme type found in meat. Wash down your vegetarian meal with a drink that has vitamin C. It helps you take in iron better.