Sorghum contains 4.4 milligrams of iron per 100 grams. Grams is a measure of weight. To put 100 grams in perspective, consider alternative measures for this food:
- 1 cup equals 192 grams.
In the category of grain, we included whole grains and flours in the Top 10 list. Foods may be fortified with iron but are not included in this Top 10 list.The food tested for the particular graph below can be described more specifically as:
Sorghum
Read more about iron in grains or visit our iron-rich foods list.
Sorghum: An Iron Rich Food
Sorghum can be a great source of dietary iron. Whole grain sorghum is abundant in iron. However, sorghum contains substances that inhibit your iron absorption, as do all grains such as wheat, spelt, barley, rye, and kamut. The good news is that with basic cooking techniques, you can reduce those iron inhibitors in your sorghum and absorb more iron. For example, if you are eating sorghum as a hot breakfast cereal, you could soak it in warm water overnight (keeping it in a warm spot). In the morning, your sorghum would cook up about twice as quickly and it will also have more bio-available iron.
If you bake bread with sorghum, you can grind it fresh if you really want to get serious (it also happens to be cheaper to mill your own flour). You could even bake sourdough bread which makes the iron more digestible still. There are many options to improve the iron digestibility from sorghum. Read our iron rich foods tips page for more information.