section_path: Biological and pathological role/Nutrition/Diet
section_name: Diet
paragraph_text: Diet
  
  Iron is pervasive, but particularly rich sources of dietary iron include red meat, oysters, beans, poultry, fish, leaf vegetables, watercress, tofu, and blackstrap molasses. Bread and breakfast cereals are sometimes specifically fortified with iron.
  
  Iron provided by dietary supplements is often found as iron(II) fumarate, although iron(II) sulfate is cheaper and is absorbed equally well. Elemental iron, or reduced iron, despite being absorbed at only one-third to two-thirds the efficiency (relative to iron sulfate), is often added to foods such as breakfast cereals or enriched wheat flour. Iron is most available to the body when chelated to amino acids and is also available for use as a common iron supplement. Glycine, the least expensive amino acid, is most often used to produce iron glycinate supplements.