Expert: Keith Patton - 10/20/2008

Question
My mother is 93 and has low iron, anemic, and was told to eat more food with iron.

What meats are high in iron content?  My Dad was an avide hunter and so was my Mom also hunted, but no longer.  She love game and cooks it extremely well.  But I want to get her the best meat with high iron content.

Can you answer this question?

Sincerely,

Kathleen Myers


Answer
Kathleen:

I would say off the top of my head, liver.  It has the highest iron content of the red meats.  Clams are the highest, does your grandmother like linguini with clam sauce?

Here is a good source of iron content in meats and vegetables.


http://www.bchealthguide.org/healthfiles/hfile68d.stm

As far as game goes, the organ meats must be consumed with caution especially liver as the liver can contain high levels of pesticides and herbicides depending on where the game lives and forages for food.

I remember an advisory in Montana against eating canada goose livers since they foraged in grain fields and had been found to have high levels of organic pesticides and such.

Keith