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Iron plays a crucial role in helping to regulate several major systems within the body, including the transportation of oxygen in the blood to the lungs as well as helping to regulate the immune system. Having an iron deficiency can create an array of symptoms, none of which are very pleasant. Approximately 80% of total body iron is ultimately incorporated into red cell haemoglobin.

The average adult stores about 1 to 3 grams of iron in his or her body. An exquisite balance between dietary uptake and loss maintains this balance. About 1 mg of iron is lost each day through sloughing of cells from skin and mucosal surfaces, including the lining of the gastrointestinal tract. Menstruation increases the average daily iron loss to about 2 mg per day in pre - menopausal female adults this can lead to anaemia.

Iron is needed to synthesize vital substances such as the brain chemical, dopamine, DNA and white blood cells. Thus iron deficiency can do much more harm than merely causing anaemia; it can have widespread effects -- from damaging a person's ability to think to weakening their resistance to infection.

You can get iron from foods like ground beef, clams, spinach, lentils, baked potato with skin, sunflower seeds, cashews and especially frozen peas.

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