Iron: Energize Your Life!
Canadian beef is naturally rich in iron that is easily absorbed by your body. Iron, an essential mineral found in every cell in your body:
- Helps builds red blood cells and keep your cells working
- Carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body - helping you and your family to have the energy to do the things you love to do!
- Helps developing brains in babies and children and assists with learning, concentration and memory throughout your entire life
- Helps boost resistance to infection, keeping your body healthy
Chew on This!
Canadian beef is loaded with brain-boosting nutrients, like iron, B-complex vitamins and zinc, that are essential to a child's brain development and help your brain to work at it's best all through life. And that makes Canadian beef a 'smart' choice!
Take The Iron Challenge!
Test your iron know-how with this simple quiz.
How much do you need?
Iron is essential for health, growth and development for everyone through all stages in life. The amount of iron you need depends on your age, gender and whether or not you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is the daily intake you should strive to achieve. If your usual intake meets or exceeds this level, it is almost certain you've met your requirement. Intakes below this level do not necessarily mean that your intake is not adequate but that you may be at risk for not getting enough iron.
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
(mg/d - total iron intake)
| Ages |
Males |
Females |
| 0-6 months* |
0.27 |
0.27 |
| 7-12 months |
11 |
11 |
| 1-3 years |
7 |
7 |
| 4-8 years |
10 |
10 |
| 9-13 years |
8 |
8 |
| 14-18 years |
11 |
15 |
| 19-50 years |
8 |
18 |
| > 50 years |
8 |
8 |
| Pregnancy |
|
27 |
|
Want to get the most iron from your food to help meet your recommended intake? Make sure to choose sources of heme iron (like Canadian beef ) and include foods rich in vitamin C with your meals. Learn how to beef up your absorption.
Good To Know
If you are a vegetarian and don't eat any meat, fish or poultry, you'll need almost twice as much iron. Recommended intakes of iron for a vegetarian can be estimated by multiplying the RDA by 1.8. For example, a 40 year-old vegetarian woman would need 32 mg of iron.