Does eating meat regularly correct iron deficiency?

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  • vbenoit81
    vbenoit81 Posts: 22
    edited March 2015
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    Eat leafy greens and meats. Don't drink tea, it brings your iron levels down. I give blood and was told one time when I gave blood that my levels were lower than they normally are. She asked me if I was drinking tea, when I told her I drink green tea daily, she stated that is probably the reason.
  • ForeverSunshine09
    ForeverSunshine09 Posts: 966 Member
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    BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »
    AmberSue09 wrote: »
    Can I ask why you don't eat read meat?

    I don't like steaks or hamburgers or anything like that. It has been a while since I've tried it though. The only red meat I think I would like is as meatballs in pasta. I'm not a big meat eater in general and even when I have turkey meatballs or turkey meatloaf I don't like it plain. I like it with something like pasta or mashed potatoes. A steak is kinda by itself and a hamburger is basically by itself. You can more so taste the meat as you're eating it. Also, I have a fear of getting food poisoning which seems more common with red meat.
    My mother in law and husband are scared of under cooked chicken and pork. Mother in law wont even eat chicken period. I love red meat steak and hamburgers are weekly things. You could try adding hamburger to your spaghetti or I eat this cubed steak that you can cover with a multitude of tastes. I like beefy onion but, my husband uses cream of chicken on his. You cam experiment. I understand anxiety is not rational but, it doesn't matter. I am pretty much terrified of driving in the snow which was not always the case and downright petrified of the meer thought of mice. Not as delibatating as yours but, I understand the pain. All I want is to feel comfortable and normal not like I am going to jump out of my own skin.
  • ForeverSunshine09
    ForeverSunshine09 Posts: 966 Member
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    BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »
    AmberSue09 wrote: »
    Can I ask why you don't eat read meat?

    I don't like steaks or hamburgers or anything like that. It has been a while since I've tried it though. The only red meat I think I would like is as meatballs in pasta. I'm not a big meat eater in general and even when I have turkey meatballs or turkey meatloaf I don't like it plain. I like it with something like pasta or mashed potatoes. A steak is kinda by itself and a hamburger is basically by itself. You can more so taste the meat as you're eating it. Also, I have a fear of getting food poisoning which seems more common with red meat.
    My mother in law and husband are scared of under cooked chicken and pork. Mother in law wont even eat chicken period. I love red meat steak and hamburgers are weekly things. You could try adding hamburger to your spaghetti or I eat this cubed steak that you can cover with a multitude of tastes. I like beefy onion but, my husband uses cream of chicken on his. You cam experiment. I understand anxiety is not rational but, it doesn't matter. I am pretty much terrified of driving in the snow which was not always the case and downright petrified of the meer thought of mice. Not as delibatating as yours but, I understand the pain. All I want is to feel comfortable and normal not like I am going to jump out of my own skin.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    edited March 2015
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    BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »
    AmberSue09 wrote: »
    Can I ask why you don't eat read meat?

    I don't like steaks or hamburgers or anything like that. It has been a while since I've tried it though. The only red meat I think I would like is as meatballs in pasta. I'm not a big meat eater in general and even when I have turkey meatballs or turkey meatloaf I don't like it plain. I like it with something like pasta or mashed potatoes. A steak is kinda by itself and a hamburger is basically by itself. You can more so taste the meat as you're eating it. Also, I have a fear of getting food poisoning which seems more common with red meat.

    Your fears are causing you injury.

    The anemia is just a secondary symptom of that, until you deal with your fears - with or without counseling no amount of advice on here will help with the nutrition part. You understand that you need to get over 100% RDA and yet, aren't doing it.

    What do you think will get you to tip the balance from current fears to addressing the real issues? Maybe "trick" your mind with understanding the fear of a real disease (what you are going towards) vs an imaginary possibility.

    Food poisoning from well prepared red meat is highly less likely than the inevitable anemia you are heading towards. Also, generally speaking, most food poisoning resolves in a few days, anemia is a much more pernicious.

    Good luck. Continue to seek therapy, I hope it helps.

  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,459 Member
    edited March 2015
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    BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »
    There are lots of people I'm sure who can't tolerate iron supplements and get their iron back up through their diet. There has to be a way.

    I am mildly iron deficient. I eat more beef than you can believe, and lots of veg with it too. Not that many seeds and nuts or some of the other sources, but I eat beef daily, sometimes twice a day. Only rarely do I meet 100% of my DV through food. Trying to do it through that way will help, but if you are experiencing this kind of trouble, and you don't like half the foods that have the most iron, you're not going to get it from cereal. Especially if you are severely deficient.

    It sounds like you're really suffering. I really want to encourage you to find a new doctor, tomorrow. And the same day, to come up with a list of five psychologists proficient in exposure therapy for phobia. Not all of them are going to be awful.

    So if it will help with meat, I should still try it. Right now my ferritin just keeps going down so if it helps it go up even a little bit, I think it's a good thing to try. I always meet 100% of my DV of iron. I get a little bit over. But not all of it gets absorbed. Especially not the iron from the cereal since I have it with milk. And not only that but when your ferritin is this low you have to get way over 100% since 100% just maintains. But since I'm not gonna get it through cereal, should I not have a couple servings of Honey Nut Cheerios as a snack later in the day which would give me around 50% extra iron?

    I wish I could offer more information, but you know more about ferritin than I do :)

    Lol yeah I do a lot of research :)

    You do know your stuff :)

    BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    I understand your concern, and you're right, it is very concerning!

    And I hear you, therapy sounds like it takes ages. And sometimes it does. And a lot of people don't have great experiences with therapists for a lot of different reasons.

    But, specific phobias (like your fear of supplements) are unusual in that there is a ton of research that shows they can be treated very effectively, very quickly. However it is only some psychologists who know how to do this treatment.
    tomatoey wrote: »
    BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »
    There are lots of people I'm sure who can't tolerate iron supplements and get their iron back up through their diet. There has to be a way.

    I am mildly iron deficient. I eat more beef than you can believe, and lots of veg with it too. Not that many seeds and nuts or some of the other sources, but I eat beef daily, sometimes twice a day. Only rarely do I meet 100% of my DV through food. Trying to do it through that way will help, but if you are experiencing this kind of trouble, and you don't like half the foods that have the most iron, you're not going to get it from cereal. Especially if you are severely deficient.

    It sounds like you're really suffering. I really want to encourage you to find a new doctor, tomorrow. And the same day, to come up with a list of five psychologists proficient in exposure therapy for phobia. Not all of them are going to be awful.

    So if it will help with meat, I should still try it. Right now my ferritin just keeps going down so if it helps it go up even a little bit, I think it's a good thing to try. I always meet 100% of my DV of iron. I get a little bit over. But not all of it gets absorbed. Especially not the iron from the cereal since I have it with milk. And not only that but when your ferritin is this low you have to get way over 100% since 100% just maintains. But since I'm not gonna get it through cereal, should I not have a couple servings of Honey Nut Cheerios as a snack later in the day which would give me around 50% extra iron?

    I can find a therapist but even if I find one who's really good, therapy takes months to work. My iron will be too low by then and I'll be very anemic. I would need to get it up before then.

    I am not saying that whatever other anxiety issues you have can be treated as efficiently. But treatment for specific phobias (I'm not talking about generalized anxiety disorder or anything else) has the best support of all psychological treatments, when the behavioural method of exposure therapy is used. It does not typically take months. It can be effective in five sessions - even as little as one long session.

    http://bestpractice.bmj.com/best-practice/monograph/693/treatment/step-by-step.html

    It has to be a behavioural therapist, doing exposure therapy, though. They have to have experience in that.

    I do have generalized anxiety disorder. That's why I'm scared of a lot of things. It's not just iron supplements. It's a lot of different things. I could try it and see if it takes a while or if it starts working quickly. I can see if they could focus on that particular phobia. But I don't know if it will go that quickly since it's all tied into generalized anxiety disorder. But either way, I need treatment for that so it can't hurt to try.

    Ah, so, it's a little more complicated. Well, I couldn't agree with you more - since you need the help in any case, it's a good idea to get started, and you can see how it goes, at the same time that you work on dealing with the iron deficiency.

    Just wanted to say as well, it sounds like you've had a rough time with doctors. That's demoralizing when you've been looking for help, no question. I can imagine the GAD makes everything harder. But, it's clear you understand better than anyone how important it is to keep trying. Even if you encounter some obstacle, just keep knocking on doors. One of them will open.

    A lot of us are rooting for you :)
  • Vune
    Vune Posts: 672 Member
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    BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »
    I found a nutritionist and therapist which I'm gonna be seeing soon. I've also read that low ferritin can cause anxiety on several sites so I'm wondering if that's contributing cause when my ferritin was normal in high school, my anxiety was controlled and I wasn't even exercising at the time. So hopefully they can help.

    Does anyone know if hotdogs work to correct iron deficiency if you have it several times a week since it is red meat or does that not count?

    Also, I'm thinking I need to try the Flintstones crushed up in a smoothie. I might not even be able to taste it. I found out they use ferrous fumarate as the iron in Kellogg's breakfast cereals and ferrous fumarate is the same kind of iron used in the Flintstones. It's really no different than eating cereal. You don't get side effects or feel sick after eating fortified cereal just cause it has vitamins in it. So I'm probably being ridiculous.

    That's awesome that you found someone already! I googled the average iron content of hot dogs, and it's pretty low. My chicken sausages have about the same amount. It's better than no iron, so definitely use it as a placeholder until you can find something that works for you better. Can you cook? If you don't I'd learn how and start experimenting with new foods with the help of your therapist and dietician.

    And if the nutritionist you're seeing is not actually a registered dietician, I'd keep looking. An RD will be able to work with your other doctors and interpret lab results better than a nutritionist. A lot of nutritionists get their certification from correspondence schools and such. In fact, I'm technically certified as a "nutrition specialist."
  • Eudoxy
    Eudoxy Posts: 391 Member
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    BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »
    I found a nutritionist and therapist which I'm gonna be seeing soon. I've also read that low ferritin can cause anxiety on several sites so I'm wondering if that's contributing cause when my ferritin was normal in high school, my anxiety was controlled and I wasn't even exercising at the time. So hopefully they can help.

    Does anyone know if hotdogs work to correct iron deficiency if you have it several times a week since it is red meat or does that not count?

    Also, I'm thinking I need to try the Flintstones crushed up in a smoothie. I might not even be able to taste it. I found out they use ferrous fumarate as the iron in Kellogg's breakfast cereals and ferrous fumarate is the same kind of iron used in the Flintstones. It's really no different than eating cereal. You don't get side effects or feel sick after eating fortified cereal just cause it has vitamins in it. So I'm probably being ridiculous.

    Hey, I don't have any advice about food, but that's great you got a therapist and nutritionist! I wouldn't be surprised if your low ferritin is contributing to your anxiety. I'm pleased to read your new line of thinking and wish you the best of luck.
  • monikker
    monikker Posts: 322 Member
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    OP, I'm glad you've found some positives regarding the supplement and are willing to try it out. Keep it up.
  • jenniferinfl
    jenniferinfl Posts: 456 Member
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    I'm not sure if it was mentioned already, but if you regularly cook in a pan, switch to a cast iron one.
    http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/does-cooking-cast-iron-pots-and-pans-add-iron-our-food

  • pepperpat64
    pepperpat64 Posts: 423 Member
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    BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »
    My doctor is tired of dealing with me and doesn't care.

    Probably because you won't do what s/he repeatedly tells you to do. LOL.

  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,624 Member
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    pepperpat64 wrote: »
    BlondeBeauty5 wrote: »
    My doctor is tired of dealing with me and doesn't care.

    Probably because you won't do what s/he repeatedly tells you to do. LOL.

    lol ouch.

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