Haemochromatosis · iron overload
Foods low in Iron
Carries oxygen in haemoglobin. Plant (non-heme) iron absorbs less efficiently than meat (heme) iron, pair with vitamin C to boost absorption.
Looking for what Iron is and where it comes from? See the Iron overview.
Why eat low iron?
Limiting dietary iron matters for iron overload, most commonly hereditary haemochromatosis, which affects roughly 1 in 200 people of northern European descent, and also transfusional overload and porphyria cutanea tarda. The first thing to be clear about is that diet is not the treatment. Iron is removed by venesection (regularly taking off a unit of blood), and no eating pattern matches what that achieves. Food choices are a useful adjunct to a clinical plan, never a replacement for one.
Where diet does help, it helps because of absorption rather than raw content. Haem iron, from meat and especially red meat, liver and other offal, is absorbed at roughly 15-35% and is barely affected by anything else in the meal. Non-haem iron, from plants, grains and eggs, is absorbed at nearer 2-20% and is highly sensitive to context: vitamin C taken with a meal can multiply its uptake several times over, while the polyphenols in tea and coffee and the calcium in dairy reduce it. So a cup of tea with a meal, and keeping vitamin C supplements away from mealtimes, does more than swapping one plant food for another.
Foods genuinely low in iron include most fruit, most dairy, egg whites, and fats and oils. Two specifics are worth knowing. In the UK, white and brown flour is fortified with iron by law, so bread and many breakfast cereals are not the low-iron foods they appear to be, and wholemeal flour is exempt from the fortification but higher in natural iron anyway. And raw shellfish is best avoided altogether: Vibrio vulnificus thrives in iron-rich blood, and infections in people with haemochromatosis are far more often fatal. Alcohol is worth limiting too, since it both increases iron absorption and compounds the liver damage that overload already risks.
Foods lowest in iron, milk, milk, milk, and more
Reference foods ranked by lowest amount per 100 grams, filtered to meaningful foods (excludes water, broths, and ingredients used purely as bulking agents). Values from USDA FoodData Central, McCance & Widdowson's CoFID, ANSES Ciqual, and other public nutrition databases. Amounts in milligrams.
This list is measured per 100 grams, while our foods high in iron list is measured per calorie. The difference is deliberate: per calorie suits a nutrient you are trying to get more of, but reverses badly for one you are trying to limit, because it rewards a food for carrying plenty of energy and none of the nutrient. Ranked that way, cooking oil would come out lower in sodium than lettuce. When you are watching an amount, grams are what you count.
- Milk, reduced fat, fluid, 2% milkfat, with added vitamin A and vitamin D 0mg per 100 grams
- Milk, whole, 3.25% milkfat, with added vitamin D 0mg per 100 grams
- Milk, lowfat, fluid, 1% milkfat, with added vitamin A and vitamin D 0mg per 100 grams
- Milk, nonfat, fluid, with added vitamin A and vitamin D (fat free or skim) 0mg per 100 grams
- Margarine, regular, 80% fat, composite, tub, with salt, with added vitamin D 0mg per 100 grams
- Margarine-like, vegetable oil spread, 60% fat, tub, with salt 0mg per 100 grams
- Yogurt, Greek, fruit, whole milk 0mg per 100 grams
- Syrup, NESTLE, chocolate 0mg per 100 grams
- Pears, asian, raw 0mg per 100 grams
- Salad dressing, mayonnaise, imitation, soybean 0mg per 100 grams
- Yogurt, vanilla, non-fat 0mg per 100 grams
- Salad dressing, home recipe, vinegar and oil 0mg per 100 grams
Common questions
- Can a low-iron diet treat haemochromatosis?
- No, and this is the most important thing on this page. Iron overload is treated by venesection, regularly removing a unit of blood, which takes out far more iron than any change in eating could. Diet is a helpful adjunct once a clinical plan is in place. It is not an alternative to one, and using it as a substitute risks organ damage that is preventable.
- Why does the type of iron matter more than the amount?
- Because absorption differs enormously. Haem iron, from meat and especially red meat and offal, is absorbed at roughly 15 to 35% and is largely unaffected by the rest of the meal. Non-haem iron, from plants, grains and eggs, is absorbed at nearer 2 to 20% and depends heavily on what it is eaten with. A food's iron content on its own tells you less than where that iron came from.
- What reduces iron absorption at a meal?
- Tea and coffee, through their polyphenols, and calcium from dairy or supplements. Both act mainly on non-haem iron. Working the other way, vitamin C substantially increases non-haem absorption, so vitamin C supplements are usually best taken away from meals rather than with them. None of this affects haem iron much, which is why limiting red meat and offal remains the larger dietary lever.
- Are there foods to avoid entirely with iron overload?
- Raw shellfish is the clearest one. Vibrio vulnificus grows readily in iron-rich blood, and infections in people with haemochromatosis are far more often severe or fatal, so raw oysters and similar are generally advised against outright. Iron supplements and iron-containing multivitamins should be avoided unless prescribed. Alcohol is worth limiting too, since it both raises iron absorption and adds to the liver risk that overload already carries.
- Is white bread low in iron?
- In the UK, no. White and brown flour must be fortified with iron by law, so bread made from it, and many breakfast cereals, carry more iron than their unfortified equivalents elsewhere. Wholemeal flour is exempt from the fortification requirement but is naturally higher in iron anyway. This is a good example of why the figures on this page, which come from composition tables for specific foods, are more reliable than general rules of thumb.