IRON TO HELP FIGHT FATIGUE

DAILY NEEDS 14mg

3 HANDFULS (75g) CASHEWS 4.7mg iron

ALL nuts contain iron, but cashews are the richest in it (hazelnuts and almonds are good, too — six handfuls will provide this amount of iron). Three handfuls of cashews also gives a quarter of the daily recommendation of blood pressurelowering potassium, and 40 per cent of the daily zinc requirement.

125g CRISPY DUCK 5mg iron

FOR a clue to how much iron is in meat or poultry, remember: the redder or deeper the colour, the higher the iron content. A 125g serving (the standard portion size you’d get in a takeaway or supermarket) of crispy duck also supplies half your daily selenium needs. Serve with spring onions to add vitamin C and fibre.

2 WEETABIX BISCUITS 4.5mg iron

LIKE many cereals (apart from organic), Weetabix is fortified with iron, but also contains some from the wholegrain wheat. Serving it with 150ml milk will add more than a fifth of your daily intake of bone-building calcium, and a vitamin C-rich glass of orange juice will help iron absorption.

415g HEINZ NO ADDED SUGAR BEANZ 5.8mg iron

THE 415g can of beans supplies around 40 per cent of your daily iron needs, as well as half of your daily fibre needs (and more if you serve on wholemeal bread). With all non-meat sources of iron, eat with a source of vitamin C to improve its absorption. Eat beans with a big handful of watercress — which also counts as one of your five-a-day.

2 LARGE GLASSES OF RED WINE 4.5mg iron

RED wine is a decent source of iron and polyphenols, thought to help keep arteries flexible. The downside? Polyphenols also interfere with iron absorption, so don’t rely on wine as a major source. Two 250ml glasses provide a good amount of iron but six units of alcohol.

6 DRIED FIGS 4.7mg iron

DRYING figs concentrates their mineral content and six figs supply a third of your daily iron needs and around a fifth of your calcium requirements. They only have traces of vitamin C, so serve them with a good source, such as berries, to optimise iron absorption. This also counts as one of your five-a-day.

200g BOILED KALE

4mg iron

GRAM for gram, boiled kale has 80 per cent of the amount of iron in roast beef. It also has a third of your daily calcium needs for healthy bones, plus 85 per cent of your daily folate, needed for healthy blood. It is packed with vitamin C to assist with iron absorption. This portion counts as two of your five-a-day.

200g BOILED RED LENTILS 4.8mg iron

LENTILS, like most pulses, are good sources of iron, with a third of your daily needs in 200g of red lentils. This serving also provides around 30 per cent of your daily fibre intake, which will help feed good gut bacteria, as well as maintain a healthy bowel.

65g LIQUORICE ALLSORTS 5mg iron

IT’S the molasses in liquorice that contains iron — and this portion (roughly a third of a 190g bag of Bassetts Liquorice Allsorts) also provides more than a third of your daily manganese, needed for healthy bones and joints. But it exceeds your daily limit of ‘added’ sugars (30g).