If you aren’t getting enough iron, simply adding some to your diet can give you more stamina, improve your mood and feeling of well being, and even make it easier to manage your weight.

A simple blood test is all you need to find out whether you’re deficient. Consult your physician and see where you stand.

Iron-Rich Foods There’s no shortage of foods high in iron. Good sources of iron include meat (red meat is the best source), liver, poultry, fish, beans, nuts, most dark green, leafy vegetables, and enriched flours and cereals.

Obviously, it’s best to incorporate iron-rich foods into your diet and get iron that way, but did you know that cooking in iron pots increases the iron content in food, especially if the food is acidic, such as tomato sauce?

The longer the food is in the pot, the greater the iron content in the food is enhanced, although this form of iron is not readily absorbed.

Vegetarians should make sure they eat enough whole grains, dried beans, leafy green vegetables and enriched cereals to make up for the absence of meat in their diet, as well as supplement with vitamin C to improve iron absorption.

Certain foods and supplements reduce iron absorption, while others like sugars and amino acids increase it. Ingesting calcium and zinc supplements with iron-rich foods, for example, reduces iron absorption.

The tannins from regular and decaffeinated coffee and tea, the oxalates in spinach and milk, and soy proteins also reduce iron absorption. [source: Best Body]