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Prevention
By Mayo Clinic staffYou can help prevent iron deficiency anemia by eating foods rich in iron, as part of a balanced diet. Eating plenty of iron-containing foods is particularly important for people who have higher iron requirements, such as children and menstruating or pregnant women.
Foods rich in iron include:
- Red meat
- Pork
- Seafood
- Poultry
- Eggs
- Iron-fortified cereals, breads and pastas
- Beans
- Peas
- Dark green leafy vegetables, such as spinach
- Nuts and seeds
- Dried fruit, such as raisins and apricots
Meat sources of iron are more readily absorbed by your body.
You can enhance your body's absorption of iron by drinking citrus juice when you eat an iron-containing food. Vitamin C in citrus juices, like orange juice, helps your body better absorb dietary iron.
Vitamin C is also found in:
- Melon
- Strawberries
- Apricots
- Kiwi
- Mangos
- Broccoli
- Peppers
- Tomatoes
- Cabbage
- Potatoes
- Leafy greens
To prevent iron deficiency anemia in infants, feed your baby breast milk or iron-fortified formula for the first year. Cow's milk isn't a good source of iron for babies, and isn't recommended for infants under one year. Iron from breast milk is more easily absorbed than the iron found in formula.
- Iron-deficiency anemia. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/ida/ida_all.html. Accessed Jan. 22, 2009.
- Schrier SL. Causes and diagnosis of anemia due to iron deficiency. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 19, 2009.
- Schrier SL. Approach to the adult patient with anemia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 19, 2009.
- Mesa R (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Jan. 28, 2009.
- Schrier SL. Treatment of anemia due to iron deficiency. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 19, 2009.
