maintaining hemoglobin

Cherie1n2n3n4

I am an avid blood/platelet donor and was curious if anyone has noticed a drop in their hemoglobin dieting low carb? Normally my hemoglobin ranges from 14.4 to 12.2 if I'm menstrating.. To donate it has to be at least 12.5. When I've tried to give during periods of weight loss I find myself in the low 12s.. I eat lots of liver and green veggies. Could low calories be the culprit?

CurlyAnnie8466

If you normally would eat more grains when not trying to lose weight, you might be missing out on the iron from those foods, as many are iron enriched or high in iron to begin with. Low b12 and folate can lead to low hemoglobin as well, it's pretty common to need to supplement b12 when restricting protein.

Cherie1n2n3n4

I may try a vitamin supplement with iron. I generally eat chicken livers once a week (I absolutely love them).. So I don't think iron is the problem. I'll try a sublingual b

I tried to research the topic, but since low carb is associated with low hgbA1C its almost impossible to get good search results.

FIT_Goat

I am a regular blood donor, but have no idea what levels I actually have. I would not worry about iron, if you're eating meat. The iron in meat is much easier to absorb than from vegetables.

If you're low, I would suspect it's from low calories than anything else. I don't think you'll be low though. That's a bridge I'd worry about only when I crossed it.

Dragonwolf

CurlyAnnie8466 wrote: »

If you normally would eat more grains when not trying to lose weight, you might be missing out on the iron from those foods, as many are iron enriched or high in iron to begin with. Low b12 and folate can lead to low hemoglobin as well, it's pretty common to need to supplement b12 when restricting protein.

Liver blows every other source of iron out of the water by lightyears. Same with B12 and folate. Combine that with the fact the enriched sources are generally enriched with folic acid, which isn't nearly as bioavailable as folate, or iron sulfate, which isn't as bioavailable as the forms naturally occurring plants and animals, and the fact that plant-based iron already has a fraction of the bioavailability of heme (animal based) iron, and...well... let's just say I doubt she's missing out on iron or folate from her diet due to lack of grains. Additionally, any sensitivities to grains will actually exacerbate and even cause iron absorption issues.

OP -- Odds are, it's from low calories in general. Without enough fuel, your body will down-regulate your blood volume and hemoglobin levels. Try eating a maintenance, or even slightly above, for a week or two before your next donation and see how that works. Also, be sure to drink lots of water.

If that still doesn't work, consider getting the MTHFR test done. That's the gene that handles folate conversion and is often linked to iron and folate deficiencies when it's mutated (some mutation is fairly common). That can help with tweaking your diet and/or supplementation to ensure maximum absorption and use of the minerals.

And keep in mind, too, that you can eat more on low carb and still maintain your rate of loss or maintain weight. It might be useful in general to bump your calories up a little, so don't be afraid to experiment with that.

Cherie1n2n3n4

I gave 3 units of platelets again today.. My last donation was 3 units of platelets 10 days ago. Today's hgb was 13.9! Last reading was 12.5 so its up 1.4..

I'm thinking my fluctuations may be more from menstration than diet. I've literally had collards (as my green) every day since new years and chicken livers twice already this week (and actually the family has requested livers and brussle sprouts for dinner tomorrow)

I just wanted to thank everyone for responding to this thread. I hope others can maybe read this and become conscious of more than just carb/fat/fiber/protein.. There's soooo much more to a healthy diet.

Dragonwolf

Cherie1n2n3n4 wrote: »

I gave 3 units of platelets again today.. My last donation was 3 units of platelets 10 days ago. Today's hgb was 13.9! Last reading was 12.5 so its up 1.4..

I'm thinking my fluctuations may be more from menstration than diet. I've literally had collards (as my green) every day since new years and chicken livers twice already this week (and actually the family has requested livers and brussle sprouts for dinner tomorrow)

I just wanted to thank everyone for responding to this thread. I hope others can maybe read this and become conscious of more than just carb/fat/fiber/protein.. There's soooo much more to a healthy diet.

There's some evidence that we use a little more or less calories depending on the time of the month. It might be worth looking into calorie cycling based on your time in the your cycle and see if that helps smooth out those dips in hemoglobin. If you're interested in a little "biohacking."