The Iron & Energy Explorer
How much iron do you actually need — and what should you eat for it? Tell us a little about you: see your daily target, the everyday foods that get you there, and build a day of eating against your number.
Your Iron Target
Your iron target is about 18 mg a day. Plant (non-heme) iron absorbs less readily than iron from meat or fish — pair it with vitamin C, and keep tea or coffee for between meals rather than with them.
Absorption is half the story. "Heme" iron (meat, poultry, fish) absorbs more readily than "non-heme" iron (plants and fortified foods). Vitamin C alongside a meal boosts non-heme absorption; tea and coffee with the meal reduce it, and calcium competes.
Best iron foods for your pattern
Ranked by iron per serving · tap to add a serving to your day
Build your day
Add foods from the list above and watch the total climb toward your target.
What if you switch the diet pattern — or the life stage? Watch the target and the list re-rank.
This tool is about food, not diagnosis. If you're worried about low iron, iron status is confirmed by a ferritin blood test through your clinician — not by symptoms, and not by adding up what you ate. Talk to a clinician before starting any iron supplement.
About This Data
Iron targets are the Recommended Dietary Allowances from the National Academies' Dietary Reference Intakes — a shared US–Canada standard, so the numbers are the same on both sides of the border (retrieved July 2026). Food iron values come from the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements iron food table and USDA FoodData Central (seed dataset — a full ingest pass is scheduled before wide launch). "Heme" iron absorbs more readily than "non-heme"; vitamin C helps non-heme absorption while tea and coffee with a meal reduce it. This tool adds up the iron in the foods you pick — it does not estimate how much your body absorbs, and it is not a test of your iron levels.
Educational, Not Medical Advice
Daily Vitality tools organize information and published guidance — they don't diagnose conditions, and they're not a substitute for care. Talk with your doctor, pharmacist, or another clinician about what's right for you.
Pregnant, or thinking about supplements? Iron needs and iron supplements in pregnancy are exactly the conversation to have with your clinician or midwife — never self-dose iron.
Sources: Dietary Reference Intakes for iron — National Academies (joint US–Canada), as published by the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, retrieved July 2026 (menstruating women 19–50: 18 mg; pregnancy: 27 mg; lactation: 9 mg; men and women 51+: 8 mg; teens 14–18: 11 mg male / 15 mg female). Vegetarian caveat quoted verbatim from NIH ODS. Food values: NIH ODS iron fact-sheet table + USDA FoodData Central, seed values retrieved July 2026. This tool stores nothing you enter — your inputs live only in this page's URL.