Red meat and poultry dominate this ranking because their iron binds easily to the proteins that carry oxygen through your blood. Animal tissues contain haem iron, the form your body absorbs with the fewest obstacles. Plant foods hold non-haem iron, which your gut takes up less readily and only when other compounds in the meal do not block it.
Iron concentrates in organ meats, then muscle meats, then leafy greens and legumes. A single ranking cannot show you absorption rates. Two foods with the same iron count per 100 g deliver different amounts to your bloodstream depending on what else you eat alongside them.
Without animal foods, you lose access to haem iron. Plant sources and fortified foods supply non-haem iron instead, which your body absorbs at a lower rate and loses to interference from phytates, tannins and polyphenols in the same meal. Eating vitamin C alongside iron-rich plants improves uptake substantially. Many fortified cereals and plant milks contain added iron in amounts comparable to meat, but absorption remains the limiting factor on a vegetarian or vegan diet.
FDA daily value: 18 mg
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Showing 1001–1050 of 3,595 foods
| # | Food | Category | Per 100 g | % DV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1001 | Nuts, brazilnuts, dried, unblanched | Nuts and Seeds | 2.43 mg | 14% |
| 1002 | Bread, pumpernickel, toasted | Baked Products | 2.43 mg | 14% |
| 1003 | Nuts, coconut meat, raw | Nuts and Seeds | 2.43 mg | 14% |
| 1004 | Cracker, crispbread, rye | Baked Products | 2.43 mg | 14% |
| 1005 | Cookie, shortbread, pecan, commercial | Baked Products | 2.43 mg | 14% |
| 1006 | Roll, dinner, whole wheat | Baked Products | 2.42 mg | 13% |
| 1007 | Doughnut (donut), French cruller, glazed | Baked Products | 2.42 mg | 13% |
| 1008 | Bread, whole wheat, commercial | Baked Products | 2.42 mg | 13% |
| 1009 | Meatless, bacon | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.41 mg | 13% |
| 1010 | Veggie / soy burger patty, unprepared | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.41 mg | 13% |
| 1011 | Muffin, chocolate chip, commercial | Baked Products | 2.41 mg | 13% |
| 1012 | Bread, oat (includes oatmeal and oat bran), commercial | Baked Products | 2.41 mg | 13% |
| 1013 | Peas, edible-podded (snow peas), frozen, boiled, drained, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 2.40 mg | 13% |
| 1014 | Cereal, ready to eat, Whole O's, Nature's Path | Breakfast cereals | 2.40 mg | 13% |
| 1015 | Cracker, honey sesame | Snacks | 2.40 mg | 13% |
| 1016 | Cracker, roasted vegetable | Baked Products | 2.40 mg | 13% |
| 1017 | Beans, lima, dry, baby, boiled | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.40 mg | 13% |
| 1018 | Peas, edible-podded (snow peas), frozen, boiled, drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 2.40 mg | 13% |
| 1019 | Cereal, ready to eat, Granola: Blueberry, light, Rogers | Breakfast cereals | 2.40 mg | 13% |
| 1020 | Beans, lima, dry, baby, boiled, salted | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.40 mg | 13% |
| 1021 | Fireweed, native, leaves, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 2.40 mg | 13% |
| 1022 | Dock (sorrel), raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 2.40 mg | 13% |
| 1023 | Nuts, simulated product, wheat-based, unflavoured, with salt | Nuts and Seeds | 2.40 mg | 13% |
| 1024 | Beans, lima, dry, large, boiled | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.39 mg | 13% |
| 1025 | Muffin, plain, homemade, made with 2% milk | Baked Products | 2.39 mg | 13% |
| 1026 | Nuts, European chestnuts (sweet), dried, peeled | Nuts and Seeds | 2.39 mg | 13% |
| 1027 | Beans, lima, dry, large, boiled, salted | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.39 mg | 13% |
| 1028 | Cracker, standard snack-type, sandwich, with cheese filling | Baked Products | 2.39 mg | 13% |
| 1029 | Grains, corn flour, yellow, whole-grain | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 2.38 mg | 13% |
| 1030 | Soup, potato, instant, dehydrated, unprepared | Soups, Sauces and Gravies | 2.38 mg | 13% |
| 1031 | Soy sauce (made from soy), tamari | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.38 mg | 13% |
| 1032 | Nuts, European chestnuts (sweet), dried, unpeeled | Nuts and Seeds | 2.38 mg | 13% |
| 1033 | Doughnut (donut), yeast-leavened (honey bun), glazed | Baked Products | 2.38 mg | 13% |
| 1034 | Cookie, oatmeal, refrigerated dough, prepared | Baked Products | 2.38 mg | 13% |
| 1035 | Cookie, vanilla wafer, 12 to 17% fat | Baked Products | 2.38 mg | 13% |
| 1036 | Fast foods, mexican, burrito with beans and cheese | Fast Foods | 2.37 mg | 13% |
| 1037 | Fast foods, sandwiches and burgers, cheeseburger, regular, double patty, plain | Fast Foods | 2.37 mg | 13% |
| 1038 | Beans, navy, boiled | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.36 mg | 13% |
| 1039 | Fast foods, hot dog, plain | Fast Foods | 2.36 mg | 13% |
| 1040 | Beans, navy, boiled, salted | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.36 mg | 13% |
| 1041 | Candies, bars / chips, milk chocolate, plain | Sweets | 2.35 mg | 13% |
| 1042 | Fast foods, sandwiches and burgers, cheeseburger, regular, double patty and bun, with condiments | Fast Foods | 2.35 mg | 13% |
| 1043 | Cowpeas (black-eyed peas), immature seeds, frozen, unprepared | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 2.35 mg | 13% |
| 1044 | Fast foods, sandwiches and burgers, cheeseburger, regular, double patty, with condiments | Fast Foods | 2.35 mg | 13% |
| 1045 | Granola bar, chewy, fruit and/or nut | Baked Products | 2.34 mg | 13% |
| 1046 | Cereal, ready to eat, Harvest Crunch: Raisins and almonds, Quaker | Breakfast cereals | 2.33 mg | 13% |
| 1047 | Cookie, sugar, homemade, made with margarine | Baked Products | 2.33 mg | 13% |
| 1048 | Snacks, tortilla chips, unsalted | Snacks | 2.32 mg | 13% |
| 1049 | Drumstick (horseradish-tree), leaves, boiled, drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 2.32 mg | 13% |
| 1050 | Amaranth leaves, fresh | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 2.32 mg | 13% |
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