Brown sugar and red dates don't replenish blood, and the foods that really do are the ones girls don't like to eat

When our "friend" comes every month, we girls get especially tired easily, feel weak all over, and lose our appetite, just wanting to curl up in bed hugging a hot water bottle. In fact, this is mostly caused by a lack of iron in the body. Iron plays a vital role in the health of the human blood system. If you lack iron, it will lead to anemia, and will also cause lowered immunity, decreased digestive function, and even symptoms of depression.

Among the foods we commonly eat, those with higher iron content are mainly:

Unreliable iron-replenishing foods: red dates, spinach, brown sugar, nori, black wood ear mushroom

From the data it can be seen very clearly just how low the iron content of dates and brown sugar really is. In fact, that's not all: the iron in plant-based foods is non-heme iron, with an extremely low absorption rate. So, relying on dates and brown sugar to replenish blood is not as good as eating some duck blood or pork liver. Most importantly, this kind of animal-based food not only has a high iron content, but also a high absorption rate.

The most reliable "iron triangle" for iron supplementation: animal blood, animal liver and red meat

1. Animal blood

Similar to the blood in our human bodies, the main components of foods such as chicken blood, duck blood, pig blood and beef blood are also water and hemoglobin. Their iron content is extremely high, and most of it is heme iron, with a high absorption and utilization rate. Therefore, it is recommended that you eat animal blood once or twice a week to replenish iron, about 1 liang each time.

2. Animal liver

The liver is an important organ for synthesizing ferritin, transferrin and storing iron. Under normal circumstances, 1/3 of the iron stored in the body is present in the liver. But the liver contains relatively more cholesterol, and is also a detoxifying organ, so eating too much at one time will do more harm than good. When eating liver, remember to stop in moderation: generally speaking, you can eat it 1-2 times a week, about 1 liang each time, roughly the amount of one egg.

Tip: In order to remove as much residual toxin from the liver as possible, when cleaning the liver, first rinse it repeatedly under running water, and slice and soak it; when cooking the liver, focus on overcooking rather than undercooking, it must be thoroughly cooked, and using a high-temperature braising method is safer.

3. Red meat

Pork, beef, lamb and others are called "red meat". Their iron content is quite considerable, and the iron content in the meat is closely related to its color: the redder the meat, the higher its iron content, and the better the iron-replenishing effect.

The absorption rate of iron in red meat is very high, not only because they contain about half heme iron, but also because they contain special substances that can promote the absorption of non-heme iron. Eating 1 liang of lean meat every day can well improve the iron nutritional level in our bodies.