Feeling low on energy? Pump up on iron

Make sure you get enough

This week, my teenage sons were complaining of being utterly exhausted.

I suggested they make certain they eat well. I hinted that perhaps their choice to sleepwalk through breakfast, talk to their friends through lunch and rush through dinner might leave them without all the nutrients, especially iron, that they need.

Iron equals energy. Iron’s main job is to help carry oxygen from the lungs to every cell in the body. When you do not get enough oxygen to your cells, you feel exhausted and weak.

In fact, if our cells do not get the oxygen they require, they start dying.

If the brain isn’t getting enough oxygen, it certainly isn’t going to be as sharp as it could. In fact, the brain uses 20 per cent of all the oxygen in the body, so iron’s delivery job is vital.

Athletic performance is also affected when kids don’t get enough iron, as muscles, too, require lots of oxygen. Immune function and the ability to ward off colds are also affected.

Iron also helps us absorb nutrients. When we are able to access all the protein, fats and carbohydrates from our meals, we have more energy. Iron also helps regulate metabolism and creates healthy skin, nails and hair.

Kids and adults who drink caffeine may be depleting their iron. Caffeine inhibits iron absorption, making it hard to get it to our cells. Excess exercise can damage red blood cells, the cells that carry the oxygen throughout our bodies, so the body may need even more iron when exercising to the extreme.

Women need more dietary iron than men because they lose some through menstruation. And anyone sticking to a vegetarian or vegan diet should focus on iron because vegetarian sources of iron are absorbed into the body differently.

Heme iron, found in animal foods such as meat, poultry, fish, clams and eggs, is two to three times as usable as the non-heme iron found in beans, leafy green vegetables and nuts.

If you are a vegetarian, the optimal way to get your iron is to combine leafy greens, beans and a food with vitamin C because it aids in all iron absorption.

RECOMMENDED DAILY IRON INTAKE

Children ages 4-8: 10 mg (This group often experiences rapid growth and requires more iron than older kids.) Children ages 9-13: 8 mg Boys ages 14-18: 11 mg Girls ages 14-18: 15 mg Women ages 19-49: 18 mg Men ages 19-49: 8 mg Both sexes over 50: 8 mg

JUMP START YOUR ENERGY

Breakfast: three scrambled eggs with whole-grain toast and a cup of berries.

Lunch: a bowl of meat-and-bean chili with sliced avocado.

Dinner: chicken, rice and sautéed spinach.