HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD GETS ENOUGH IRON

There are a few important things to know about how iron is absorbed and how you can make sure that your child can actually make use of the iron in the foods you serve.

Depending on what you serve together with the iron-rich foods, your child’s body may take up between 5 and 40% of the iron in the foods! Huge difference!

IRON IN MEAT IS THE EASIEST FOR THE BODY TO ABSORB

While many vegetables, fruits, and berries are excellent sources of iron, meat is the best because the human body absorbs that iron the most easily. (2-3 times better than vegetable iron sources)

In addition, when you add meat to a meal, the body actually also takes up more of iron from other foods sources in that meal. So, if you, for example, serve chicken and broccoli together, the total iron intake will be higher than if you served these to foods on separate occasions.

C-VITAMIN IS AN IRON BOOSTER

Another trick is to serve iron-rich foods to kids together with c vitamin-rich foods. The c-vitamin makes it easier for the body to absorb iron in vegetables.

USE AN IRON PAN FOR COOKING

This is a pretty cool tip for adding iron naturally to your family’s food. If you make the food, like for example a pasta sauce or casserole, in an iron pan, the iron content will be many times higher than if cooked in a regular pan. Just make sure you use one of those old-fashioned black pans and not one that’s enameled.

BE CAREFUL WITH COW’S MILK

Cow’s milk contains calcium, which can inhibit the iron absorption. In addition, cow’s milk contains very little iron.

The recommendation is to avoid cow’s milk (as well as goat milk ) to drink during a baby’s first year.

It can also be wise to offer water to drink with iron-rich meals rather than cow’s milk. Of course, serving some yogurt or a bit of milk with the porridge is fine.


Post time: Oct-09-2022