Jessica had never paid attention to her iron intake until her blood results came back and her hemoglobin was low. The doctor asked her some questions about recent blood loss or heavy menstrual bleeding, but she did not have any. So, it looks like Jessica's iron intake is low and she needs to take better care of her iron needs. She does not want to take the supplements just yet, and her doctor agrees that making better food choices and monitoring her iron intake, followed by a new blood test, is the way to go for the next few months.
Here is what Jessica planned to eat today and the amounts of iron these foods contain:
- 1 cup of rolled oats: 1.8 mg
- 1 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice: 0.5 mg
- Bowl of cream of broccoli: 0 mg
- Barbequed beef brisket: 3.3 mg
- Medium baked potato with sour cream and cheese: 2.7 mg
- Corn on the cob: 0 mg
Check if Jessica's iron intake is adequate for her needs.
Part A: Calculating Iron Intake
How much heme and how much non-heme iron did Jessica consume?
Don't forget to enter two numbers, one for heme and the other for non-heme iron, separated by a comma. Round up the answers to the first decimal place.
- mg of heme iron
- mg of non-heme iron
Part B: Iron-Rich Foods
Jessica's planned diet was iron-rich, and she decided to do some research about iron-rich foods and make some exchanges. She did not want to add more meat to her diet, so she was working only with non-heme iron sources. She was overjoyed to find out that dark chocolate is a good source of iron, and she has finally found the excuse to indulge her sweet tooth, or in fact, semisweet tooth.
She has exchanged the bowl of cream of broccoli (0 mg) for iron-rich lentil soup (4.2 mg), and she has added pieces of Trader Joe's dark Belgian chocolate (7.2 mg) and 1 cup of cranberry juice (0 mg) to her diet.
What is Jessica's total iron intake with the adjusted iron-rich diet?
Round the answer to the first decimal place.