does my teen girl need more iron?
Did you know that the recommended daily intake of iron for teenage girls is 15mg compared to teen boys that need 11mg?
what do we need iron for?
Teen girls are initiating mensuration, which means that each month they will bleed and churn through their iron stores. So why do we need iron? We need it for -
energy production
to transfer oxygen from the lungs to our tissues
for physical growth
neurological development, and
the synthesis of some hormones
sources of iron
There are two types of iron, haeme iron from animal products and non-haeme iron from plant-based forms. Haeme iron is more readily available for the body to absorb, but if your teen is plant-based we can get enough non-haeme iron in when we know what foods to pair together.
haeme iron -
beef
beef liver
lamb
kangaroo
chicken
fish
non-haeme iron -
wholemeal pasta
chickpeas
weetbix
kidney beans
firm tofu
quinoa
coconut milk
when having non-haeme iron, it needs to be eaten alongside a source of vitamin C for optimal absorption.
putting it into practice
I’ll be honest, I am a menstruating woman and I truthfully don’t think I get enough iron in my diet. I do my best, but I know that I need to be more intentional to meet my bodies demand for it. This just to say, not even healthcare professionals get it right.
Here are a few ideas of how you can pair some meals for your teen. These are all plant-based options because these are the ones that are a bit more tricky to pair up. I’ve put the quantity needed to meet the requirement in brackets to help you out:
Chickpea pasta 5mg per serve – Cooked wholemeal pasta (1 cup) + Chickpeas (1 cup) + tomatoes
Easy breaky 4.2mg per serve – Weetbix (2-3) + strawberries + kiwifruit
Kidney bean curry 13.4mg – Kidney beans (1 cup) + coconut milk + capsicum + quinoa
Stirfry 2.96mg – Tofu (100g) + broccoli + capsicum + snow peas
As a clinical nutritionist I am really passionate about encouraging clients to ADD foods to their diet to support their health. This is not to say that there isn’t space for supplementation, but please speak to a healthcare professional before supplementing with iron. It is important to establish deficiency first, particularly when it comes to iron.
