Flourish Health & Wellbeing Magazine - Dec23 - Flipbook - Page 36
HOW dietary iron WORKS
Dietary iron is the iron you get from the food you eat. Your body can’t make iron. That’s why it’s
important to eat iron-rich foods to give your body the iron it needs.
Iron absorption
Types of dietary iron
Your body needs iron every
day, and the best way for your
body to get iron is to absorb it
from the food you eat. In most
cases, your body can regulate
itself to absorb the right
amount of iron it needs.
There are 2 types of dietary iron:
• haem iron
• non-haem iron
As your iron levels get
lower, your body gets
be琀琀er at absorbing iron and
excre琀椀ng less.
While haem iron is easier to
absorb, ea琀椀ng a diet high
in haem iron from red meat
sources can increase your risk
Haem iron comes from animalbased foods and is easier for
the body to absorb.
of heart disease and bowel
cancer. For that reason, it is
recommend limi琀椀ng red meat
intake to a maximum of 455
grams a week.
Non-haem iron comes from
plant-based food and isn’t as
easy for the body to absorb.
Although non-haem iron is a
li琀琀le harder to absorb, it’s easier
for the body to regulate its