Iron rich foods

There are 2 types of iron in our food, heme and non-heme, and we absorb these in different amounts and rates.  Heme iron is in our meat, fish and poultry.  It is the most quickly absorbed form of heme that we eat.  Non-heme iron is in our plant based foods: fruits, vegetables and nuts.  While these foods are important for well balanced, nutritious diets, the non-heme iron is not as readily absorbed and it takes more of these foods to increase iron and hemoglobin levels.