Iron deficiency or anaemia is one of the most common medical conditions that affect people globally. When the blood lacks healthy red blood cells, it can have a debilitating effect on your daily life causing, fatigue, chills, dizziness and headaches. If you feel like you have these symptoms, we recommend visiting a doctor and getting supplements to help boost your iron levels, but in the meantime, there are a few quick tricks to raise these levels at home.
Switch To Cast Iron Cookware
Natural, hardy and convenient, cast iron has a lot of great advantages in the kitchen. But nixing toxic Teflon-coated pans and switching to cast iron you can add around 16% more iron to every meal. The cooking time and the moisture content of the food affect the way it absorbs iron from the pan but broadly speaking, wetter foods that simmer for longer will have the best chance of raising your iron intake.
The natural acids in foods such as tomatoes however weaken the seasoned surfaces of cast iron cookware and result in a metallic taste to the food. Just remember that it’s important to care for your cast iron and in return, it will care for you.
Use A Lucky Fish Ingot
Though it may seem odd to drop a piece of metal in your meals it’s been proven that adding a cast-iron ingot to your pan while cooking can have a similar effect to cooking in cast-iron without all the extra hassle of maintenance.
While this method is controversial as it doesn’t always have a noticeable effect in increasing iron levels, it is one way to get ahead of any deficiency issues and ensure you stay as healthy as possible.
Up Your Vitamin C Intake
Sometimes the problem isn’t the amount of iron you’re consuming, it’s the fact that your body isn’t correctly processing the nutrient. By increasing your intake of vitamin C-rich foods they capture the non-heme iron in proteins and store it in a form that your body can absorb more easily.
Foods high in vitamin C include citrus fruits, dark green leafy vegetables, bell peppers, melons, and strawberries.
By making these simple changes to the way you cook and eat, you can prevent and sometimes even reverse the effects of iron deficiency for a healthier, happier lifestyle.