Overview "Frequently Asked Questions and Answers about Iron in Food"

Iron is not always iron - what is the difference between iron of plant and animal origin?

Human beings can far more readily use iron from foods of animal origin (heme iron) than from fruit and vegetables (non-heme iron). Iron of plant origin is normally present in a fixed bound and trivalent form (Fe³⁺). Before it can be absorbed by the human body, it must be converted into a soluble form and reduced to bivalent iron (Fe²⁺). Heme iron in meat, poultry and fish is present as bivalent iron. In the human organism it is absorbed roughly two to three times more efficiently through a specific intake path in the intestines.