Having a healthy amount of iron in your body prevents you from getting iron deficiency anaemia and helps to improve the success rates of your blood donation! Maintaining a well-balanced iron-rich diet that includes plenty of iron-rich foods and is high in Vitamin C, brings you a step closer to saving many lives.
Boost your iron with these 6 easy-to-prepare iron-rich recipes, curated specially for you by Chef Ben Kirk of The Carbon Chef, in collaboration with the Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
Tip! Avoid taking caffeine together with your meals as this will reduce the absorption of iron.
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Pump up your iron level easily with other iron-rich foods! The following food are high in iron content:
More information on haemoglobin, iron, and blood donation
Iron is essential for the production of haemoglobin, which is responsible for transporting oxygen in our body. Your haemoglobin level is measured by a fingerpick test before the actual blood donation.
Haemoglobin level requirement:
Females- at least 12.5g/dL
Males- at least 13.0g/dL
This is to ensure safety of the donor as frequent blood donations without sufficient replacement of iron may lead to iron deficiency anaemia.
The development of iron deficiency anaemia varies with age and sex. The four common causes are:
- Increased physiological demand of the body for iron (e.g. women during pregnancy and breast feeding)
- Loss of blood due to bleeding (e.g. heavy menstruation bleeding or bleeding in the gut)
- Diet low in iron
- Malabsorption
The most effective way to replace the iron lost from blood donation is to consume the full course of iron supplements issued by the blood bank.
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