Iron

Iron is an important mineral that is needed in a healthy diet, people who don’t receive enough iron in their diet become tired easily because their bodies are starved of oxygen.

What foods contain iron?

Iron is found in oysters, meat, poultry and fish as well as in leafy green vegetables, dried fruit and wine.

How much iron do we need?

The average adult will need 100mg of iron per day, some factors can prevent us from receiving the correct amount of iron in our diet for example those that donate blood and sometimes because of this your Doctor will recommend iron tablets or iron supplements.

Are there any side effects from taking iron supplements?

If your Doctor has prescribed iron as a supplement then he will have given you clear instructions on the daily amount needed to be taken, however iron tablets can have some side effects the most common being constipation.

If you are taking supplements then be sure to drink plenty of fluids throughout the day and increase the amount of fibre you have in your daily diet.

Drinking a lot of coffee, foods that are high in fibre and calcium supplements all affect the absorption of iron into your body and taking Vitamin C supplements will slightly increase the absorption.

Potassium

Potassium is a trace mineral that is essential for good health and strong bones; it helps to regulate the blood pressure and helps the cellular enzymes to function properly.

What foods contain potassium?

Around 400 milligrams of the following foods contain potassium

• 1 medium banana
• 1 8oz cup of orange juice
• 1 medium baked potato
• 1 cup of tomato juice
• 1 large nectarine
• 8oz of honeydew melon

How much potassium do we need?

Eating between five and nine servings of fruit and vegetables every day will ensure that the body receives enough potassium, the minimum amount of potassium that we need per day is around 2,000 milligrams.

Phosphorous

Phosphorous is essential for skin and bones and also makes up part of DNA and RNA; it serves as the main regulator of energy metabolism in cells and helps the body with the absorption of glucose.

What foods contain phosphorous?

Almost all foods contain phosphorous, including milk, meat, fish and eggs.

Excellent sources of phosphorous can be found in the following foods

• 1 cup of all bran cereal – 792mg
• 3 small pancakes – 430mg
• 1 8oz cup of milk – 245mg
• 8oz of bran flakes – 174
• 1 large egg – 90mg
• 120z of coca cola – 63mg

How much phosphorous do we need?

The recommended daily allowance of phosphorous is 700 milligrams a day for adults and 1,250 for children.

Calcium

Calcium works alongside vitamin D in helping to build healthy teeth and bones, in addition to this calcium can help with:

• Lowering the blood pressure and regulating the heartbeat
• Regulates the contractions within our muscles
• Helps the blood to clot
• Maintains the cell membranes
• Helps the body to absorb vitamin B12

All dairy products are rich sources of calcium and growing children need 4 servings per day and adults need about 3. The foods listed below contain about 400 milligrams of calcium.

• 3 ½ oz of sardines including the bones
• 12 ounces cup of café` latte coffee
• 1 cup of plain low fat yogurt
• 1 ½ to 2oz of cheese

Foods containing 100 milligrams of calcium

• ¾ of a cup of cottage cheese, this can either be low fat or full cream
• 1 cup of cooked broccoli
• One small taco
• 1 English muffin
• 1/3 of a cup of almonds
• 4 dried figs
• ½ a cup of frozen yogurt

How much calcium do we need?

As a general rule most adults will need roughly 1000 milligrams a day of calcium, adults over the age of 50 will need slightly more, around 1200 milligrams per day.

Children need calcium to help build strong bones and teeth and should have about 1300 milligrams of calcium per day. Certain factors such as medical conditions, lifestyle and medications can all affect the calcium intake, for example calcium from sweet potatoes, beans and spinach can sometimes be absorbed poorly into our body.

Drinking a lot of coffee can have an affect as this contains caffeine, which reduces the absorption of calcium. If you smoke then you may not get enough calcium as smoking can decrease the absorption of calcium.

If you think you may not be getting enough calcium in your diet then you can take extra supplements, taking supplements will not have the same effect as receiving calcium through food as they cannot provide the same nutritional benefits of food but they help.

If you do take supplements of calcium there are certain guidelines that should be followed:

• If you take high amounts of calcium supplements then be sure to get at least 18 milligrams of zinc per day.
• Take your calcium supplements with meals and don’t take them all at once spread them out throughout the day.
• Make sure you know the dosage as not all supplements contain the same amount of calcium .