ANSWER: While most Americans get enough iron in their diets, there are some groups that may not be getting enough.
Children, toddlers and adolescents who are still growing often need more iron than they get in their diets. According to the latest surveys, about 5 percent of the youngsters in the United States are iron-deficient. Pregnant and breast-feeding women often need extra iron, because the demands of a growing fetus or a growing infant may exhaust the mother's stores. But not all pregnant or nursing women need extra iron, so check with your doctor before supplementing.
Adults with iron-deficiency also need to take extra iron. An estimated 4 percent of Caucasian women, 6 percent of African-American women and 8 percent of Latin women are iron-deficient. Only 2 percent of all men are.
Some causes of iron-deficiency are poor diets, loss of blood from heavy menstrual periods and gastrointestinal bleeding from ulcers. Also, people recovering from major surgery often need iron supplementation due to loss of blood during surgical procedure.
Getting too much iron can mean trouble for people with hemochromatosis (iron overload). There are approximately one million Americans with this genetic illness, which causes them to absorb twice as much iron from their food as other people do.
For most adults, getting enough iron shouldn't be a problem, as long as one eats a healthy, well-rounded diet.
A healthy (and iron-sufficient) diet consists of eating 5-9 servings of vegetables and fruits, 6 to 9 servings of complex carbohydrates (grains, cereals, pastas and breads) and approximately 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of body weight, every day. Protein can be obtained from beans, legume's nonfat dairy products, poultry, fish and meat.
Exactly how much iron should you get from your diet? The recommended daily values currently used on food labeling assume that everyone needs 18 mg a day. This information is incorrect or at the least misleading for most Americans; it relies on the U.S. RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance), which hasn't been updated since 1968. Children, men over 18 years of age and women over 50 need 10 mg. a day. For males 11 to 18 years old, 12 mg. a day is recommended. For females ages 11 to 50 and for lactating women, 15 mg. a day will do, and pregnant women need approximately 30 mg. a day.
Check with your doctor if you think you're deficient, and don't take iron supplements unless doctor advises you to do so.