Have you ever gone to give blood and been turned away because your iron’s a little low? It happens to the best of us, including many right here in our office.

Depending on whether you’re male or female, you’re looking for about 10 to 15 mgs per day. And it’s worth putting in a little extra effort the day before you donate.

To get you started, here’s an “iron rich” food list. There’s a fair number of yummy options on here, but some of them — liver, sardines and prunes, for example — sound less than desirable. (Note: there’s also a great list of iron sources for vegans right here.)

So, I’ll offer one more tip, courtesy of a blood drive coordinator: Quaker Oatmeal Squares.

If you check out their nutritional data, you’ll see that they have about 95% of your daily value for the mineral. And supposedly they taste really good…pretty cool.

One way or another, make sure you get plenty of iron prior to donating blood. Wanna know why it’s so important? Check out this PDF…