Is Cheese High In Iron?

Many people can't imagine living without cheese, myself included. We all know that it's high in protein and calcium, but is cheese high in iron?

Table of Contents

Is cheese high in iron?

Cheeses generally aren't high in iron. The cheese that is high in iron is goat's cheese that has 9% of RDA for women and 20% for men in a 3.5 oz serving (100 g).

Nutritional Facts: Cheddar cheese (3.5 oz/100 g)

402 Calories
Total Fat 33 g
Sodium 621 mg
Total Carbohydrate 13 g
- Dietary fiber 0 g
- Sugar 0.5 g
Potassium 98 mg 2% DV
Protein 25 g
Vitamin C 0% DV
Calcium 72% DV
Iron 4-9% DV
Vitamin B6 5% DV
Vitamin B12 13% DV
Magnesium % DV

The recommended daily intake of iron for adult women is 18 mg. For adult men, that's only 8 mg. See more in the chart below.

Is cheese a good source of iron?

A review of long-term studies has uncovered that calcium and milk products, cheese included, didn't have any negative effects on iron absorption.

However, to maximize iron absorption, you shouldn't eat calcium-rich foods like cheeses with meals that provide most of your daily iron.

Can you get enough iron from cheese?

Unfortunately, cheese doesn’t contain nearly enough iron to be considered a good source of iron. So, you can’t get enough of this mineral from just eating cheese – no matter which kind you choose.

Is cheese an iron blocker?

There is some evidence that cheese can impede iron absorption. However, those were short-term studies. Long-term studies mostly showed no effect.

What cheeses are highest in iron?

Generally speaking, goats cheeses are the highest in iron, and arguably the only variety of cheese to have a significant amount of iron in them.

Cheeses made of cow's milk that have some relatively significant iron content inside are Parmesan, Feta, Gouda, and American cheese.

Cheese	Iron content in mg
Goat cheese	1.6
Parmesan	0.9
Cheddar	0.7
Feta	0.7
Monterey Jack	0.7
American cheese	0.6
Provolone	0.5
Ricotta	0.4
Camembert	0.3
Mozzarella	0.3
Blue cheese	0.3
Gouda	0.2
Edam	0.2
Emmental	0.2
Gruyere	0.1
Cottage cheese

3.5 oz (100 g)

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Okay, let's see now how individual cheese types are fairing in regards to their iron content. Let's start with the most popular English cheese - Cheddar.

Is Cheddar cheese high in iron?

Cheddar cheese isn't high in iron. 3.5 oz (100 g) of cheddar cheese contains only 0.7 mg of iron. That's only around 4% of recommended daily intake for women and around 9% for men.

Is American cheese high in iron?

American cheese, like most cheeses, isn't high in iron. 3.5 oz (100 g) of American cheese contains 0.6 mg of iron or 3% of RDA for adult women and 7.5% for adult men. There are far better sources of iron out there.

Is blue cheese high in iron?

Blue cheese has barely any iron inside. 3.5 oz (100 g) of blue cheese contains only 0.3 mg of iron. That's only around 1.6% of recommended daily intake for women and around 4% for men.

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Is camembert cheese high in iron?

Camembert cheese also has hardly any iron inside. 3.5 oz (100 g) of Camembert includes only 0.3 mg of iron. That's only around 1.6% of RDA for women and around 4% for men.

Is gouda cheese high in iron?

Gouda is a very popular cheese from the Netherlands that contains barely any iron. 3.5 oz (100 g) of Gouda has only 0.2 mg of iron. That's only around 1% of recommended daily intake for women and around 2.5% for men.

Is feta cheese high in iron?

Feta is relatively high in iron; for a cheese. Overall, feta isn't high in iron, though. 3.5 oz (100 g) of feta cheese includes only 0.7 mg of iron. That's only around 4% of recommended daily intake for women and around 9% for men.

Is edam cheese high in iron?

Edam is another popular cheese that originated in the Netherlands. However, Edam cheese is also low iron. 3.5 oz (100 g) of Gouda has only 0.2 mg of iron. That's only around 1% of recommended daily intake for women and around 2.5% for men.

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Is goat cheese high in iron?

Goat cheese is the only cheese with a considerable amount of iron. 3.5 oz (100 g) of goat cheese contains 1.6 mg of iron. That's 20% of recommended daily intake of iron for men and around 9% for women.

It's produced in a wide assortment of styles, from soft fresh cheeses to hard aged ones. And, although goat cheese isn't to everyone's liking, it's lower in lactose, lower in sodium, has smaller and easy to digest fats, and equal if not higher vitamins and minerals levels than cow cheese.

Is parmesan cheese high in iron?

Similarl to feta, parmesan cheese is relatively high in iron; for a cheese. Generally, parmesan isn't high in iron because 3.5 oz (100 g) of parmesan contains only 0.9 mg of iron. That's only around 5% of recommended daily intake for women and around 11% for men.

Is Swiss cheese high in iron?

Swiss cheese is generally referring to Emmental, a yellow, medium-hard cheese from a valley in Switzerland. However, this Swiss cheese contains barely any iron. 3.5 oz (100 g) has only 0.2 mg of iron. That's only around 1% of recommended daily intake for women and around 2.5% for men.

Is mozzarella cheese high in iron?

Mozzarella, famous Italian cheese, made from Italian buffalo's milk, is low in iron. 3.5 oz (100 g) of Mozzarella includes only 0.3 mg of iron. That's only around 1.6% of RDA for women and around 4% for men.

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Is gruyere cheese high in iron?

Another popular Swiss cheese is Gruyère, an alpine cheese named after the town of Gruyères. However, this popular Swiss cheese contains barely any iron. Same as Emmental, 3.5 oz (100 g) has only 0.2 mg of iron. That's only around 1% of recommended daily intake for women and around 2.5% for men.

Is Monterey Jack cheese high in iron?

Monterey Jack, a Californian white, semi-hard cheese, is relatively high in iron. Overall, Monterey Jack isn't high in iron because 3.5 oz (100 g) of this cheese contains only 0.7 mg of iron. That's only around 4% of recommended daily intake for women and around 9% for men.

Is provolone cheese high in iron?

Provolone, another popular aged Italian cheese, is, like most other cheeses, low in iron. 3.5 oz (100 g) of Provolone includes only 0.5 mg of iron. That's only around 3% of RDA for women and around 6% for men.

Is ricotta cheese high in iron?

Ricotta, Italian whey cheese, is also low in iron. 3.5 oz (100 g) of ricotta has only 0.4 mg of iron. That's only around 2% of RDA for women and around 5% for men.

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Is cottage cheese high in iron?

Cottage cheese is made by draining, as opposed to pressing the cheese. However, this cottage cheese contains barely any iron. 3.5 oz (100 g) has only 0.1 mg of iron. That's only around 0.5% of recommended daily intake for women and around 1% for men.

Recommended intakes for iron

Your recommended daily intake of iron depends on your age and sex. It was developed by the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies.

RDAs for Iron
Age	Male	Female	Pregnant	Lactating
0-6 months	0.27 mg	0.27 mg
7-12 months	11 mg	11 mg
1-3 years	7 mg	7 mg
4-8 years	10 mg	10 mg
9-13 years	8 mg	8 mg
14-18 years	11 mg	15 mg	27 mg	10 mg
19-50 years	8 mg	18 mg	27 mg	9 mg
51+ years	8 mg	8 mg

RDAs for nonvegetarians. The RDAs for vegetarians are 1.8 times higher than for those who eat meat.

Conclusion

Most types of cheese are deficient in iron, so they don’t make for good food to consume to load up on this mineral.

They still contain important nutrients, so you don’t have to eliminate cheese from your diet altogether.

Just make sure to consume it as part of a healthy, balanced diet and include a lot of other iron-rich foods.

Sources: Nutrition Data, Science Direct, and National Library of Medicine