Does eating meat regularly correct iron deficiency?

spectralmoon

I am anemic. My anemia, however, comes from not being able to absorb iron from food, so meat and/or leafy greens do little to nothing for me; I have to get shots.

Please do try the meat/greens route, but keep checking your levels. I hope you do not have to resort to shots as well. It's a monthly/bi-monthly pain in the *** to get appointments for it. :grimacing:

dreeandree

Hi there! I used to be anemic when I was eating meat and animal products actually, and I was constantly eating things like chicken liver to try and up my iron. But I have actually reversed my anemia with a plant based diet. I eat plant based foods that are super high in iron: chick peas, broccoli, spinach (I know you don't like spinach but I blend it into smoothies-- maybe you'd like it that way) kale and sweet potatoes. If you read medical journals or books by Dr McDougall, Dr Dean Ornish, or Dr T. Colin Campbell, they explain how consumption of animal products can actually lead to an iron deficiency. I know that sounds crazy bc we've all been told the opposite, but there are decades of medical research to back that up. I suggest reading The China Study. You ca even skip to the part concerning anemia. I'm not a doctor, and no one on here can tell you exactly how to solve this, but all I know is that I was anemic and now I'm not. And I used to eat meat and now I don't. I hope this helps in some way and doesn't confuse you further. If you want to see the sort of things I eat I have a food instagram: @bebe_glow

simplydelish2

Lots of opinions here. Before any one can help, or even come close to correctly answering your question, the cause of your iron deficiency needs to be ascertained. If it has been caused strictly by your diet - then eating more iron rich foods may help. If it has an origin outside your diet - then what you eat most likely isn't going to help.

If your doctor doesn't care - get a new doctor. Or, if you are mis-reading the doctor not thinking this is an issue as not caring, then maybe changing your perception is needed. Your anxiety about taking an iron supplement indicates there may be other issues, you may want to see a psychologist.

punchgut

BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »

punchgut wrote: »

The bioavailability of iron from plant based sources is minimal compared to red meat. In general, red meat will be the best, but you will also gain from Turkey. Not nearly as much in turkey though. A 3 oz serving of beef will have 14% or your daily amount of iron, whereas the same amount of turkey will have 3%.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17982706

Thank you! I know that beef has more iron than turkey but turkey has more than 3%. At least the ground turkey meat I eat does. It has 8% iron per serving.

I quoted a specific size serving, 3 ounces by weight. What size serving are you discussing? I also used turkey breast as the standard for ground turkey, but thigh and leg will have a bit more.

jensterk

You don't need meat for iron. Where do you think cows, horses, gorillas, etc. get their iron (all vegan btw)?? I've been a vegetarian for many years, and do just fine. I donate blood on a regular schedule as well.