{"id":940817,"date":"2026-10-25T21:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T21:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/940817\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T21:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T21:26:09","slug":"11-foods-to-increase-your-ferritin-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/940817\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Foods To Increase Your Ferritin Levels"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Can you increase ferritin levels through food?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, you can absolutely raise your ferritin levels through food by eating high-quality <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vogue.com\/article\/best-iron-rich-food\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">iron-rich foods<\/a> consistently,\u201d says board-certified sports dietitian <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/roxanaehsani.com\/\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/roxanaehsani.com\/&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/roxanaehsani.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Roxana Ehsani<\/a>, MS, RD. \u201cIf a person comes to me with low ferritin stores, I typically suggest they focus on including one high-iron meal per day to boost absorption. It doesn\u2019t happen overnight, but it can increase in a few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s a slow build, not a quick fix,\u201d Shapiro agrees. \u201cThe key is eating iron consistently and maximizing how much you actually absorb.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Best Foods for Ferritin<\/p>\n<p>According to Ehsani, there are two types of dietary iron: heme iron, which comes from animal-based food sources and is most readily absorbed by the body, and non-heme iron, which are found in plant-based foods and fortified cereals. Though non-heme iron isn\u2019t absorbed by our bodies as easily as heme iron, she says it\u2019s still a good idea to include in your diet if you\u2019re low in ferritin. Shapiro agrees and encourages combining both heme and non-heme sources in the same meal.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the best examples of heme and non-heme iron foods include:<\/p>\n<p>Heme Iron<\/p>\n<p>Non-Heme Iron<\/p>\n<p>Fortified cerealCream of wheat cerealMolassesBeansLentilsSpinachTofu<\/p>\n<p>No matter which option you go for, Ehsani recommends pairing iron-rich foods with a source of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vogue.com\/article\/10-vitamin-c-rich-foods\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">vitamin C<\/a> like tomatoes, strawberries, bell peppers, or oranges to enhance absorption of iron.<\/p>\n<p>Another pro tip: she says to cook your foods in a cast-iron skillet to increase iron stores in the body. \u201cFoods cooked in the skillet will actually draw iron from the pan itself,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>Are there foods you should avoid?<\/p>\n<p>Both Shapiro and Ehsani say that you don\u2019t have to cut food out for the sake of your ferritin levels. What\u2019s more important is the timing of when you eat your iron-rich foods, as certain foods can interfere with iron absorption. Those foods include:<\/p>\n<p>Coffee and Tea<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir tannins and polyphenols can significantly reduce iron absorption,\u201d says Shapiro. \u201cDrink them at least an hour before or after an iron-rich meal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Calcium-rich Foods and Calcium Supplements<\/p>\n<p>Shapiro explains that because calcium competes with iron, she would recommend taking calcium supplements at a different time of day. Also, don\u2019t rely on a glass of milk alongside your iron-rich dinner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Can you increase ferritin levels through food? \u201cYes, you can absolutely raise your ferritin levels through food by&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":940818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[64,63,137,532,537],"class_list":["post-940817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-nutrition","tag-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=940817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/940818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=940817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=940817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=940817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}