Heme iron

Description

Heme iron is found only in meat, poultry, seafood, and fish, so heme iron is the type of iron that comes from animal proteins in our diet.

Source

Heme iron is found predominantly in blood and muscle, whereas non-heme iron is primarily found in plants, such as whole grains, nuts and seeds, legumes, and leafy greens. We used to think of heme iron as coming exclusively from animal products and non-heme iron as found only in plants, but that isn’t the case. The plant-based Impossible Burger contains heme iron derived from soybean plants, for example, and non-heme iron can be found in meat if the animal had consumed plant foods with non-heme iron.