Which foods contain iron?

Lean meat and seafood are the richest sources of heme iron, the form the body absorbs best.^[1] Beans, nuts, vegetables and fortified bread and cereals give nonheme iron.^[1] A serving of fortified breakfast cereal can give 18 mg. Oysters (3 ounces) and canned white beans (1 cup) give 8 mg, beef liver (3 ounces) 5 mg, and lentils or spinach (half a cup) 3 mg.^[1]

The body absorbs 14% to 18% of the iron from mixed diets with meat, seafood and vitamin C, and 5% to 12% from vegetarian diets.^[1] For this reason, the US recommended intake for vegetarians is 1.8 times higher.^[1] Spinach has iron, but its polyphenols lower how much of it the body takes up.^[1]