I need iron!!

santosateos

I recently went to the doctor and had some blood tests done
i found out my iron is very low. I have been vegetarian for quite a few years and i started taking vitamins and supplements at the beginning but somewhere along the way i stopped and i was never a big fan of green-leafy vegetables so as a result, I have anemia. the doctors said it wasn't too bad, but i definitely want to do something about it

i already got some shots to correct this problem and now im taking iron again, but my question is:
----will the anemia go away if i follow a good healthy diet rich in Iron? anyone had a similar problem or know anyone who did?
any help would be greatly appreciated.

ps: currently I've added chicken to my diet [as suggested by the doctor] and i guess i'll continue to eat it till my Iron levels rise

MelissaRaeTerry

i take a nature made multi complete vitamin with iron it has 18mg of iron! 100% of your daily value!

dayzeerock

I'm the opposite...I was always SEVERELY anemic while eating meat, then it went away as soon as I went vegan. I do not supplement, as I do not believe in supplementing, so it is absolutely possible to rid yourself of anemia naturally with an iron-rich diet.

kaitimae

I would guess that it would go away... but I am not a doctor, so who knows! Haha! Could you possibly use the green leafy vegetables you don't like in unusual ways to make them taste better? For example, add a few handfuls of spinach to a fruit smoothie? Make kale chips?

ak_in_ak

have you thought about juicing? It is amazing how much leaft greens you can get into a jucier, add an apple and some lemon and you will never know

Rikki444

Well being anemic is not the same as being 'sick'... it just means that there's iron missing in your diet. Yes, your anemia will go away if you follow your doctor's advice. A quick check on how you are doing on your iron level is by checking the palms of your hands. Your palms should be pink... when they are pale, you are anemic. It is something that I learned from a doc at the Mayo Clinic.

meerkat70

Leafy greens aren't necessarily your best iron source anyway. There's a useful list in this article:

http://vegetarian.org.uk/factsheets/iron.html

I get most of my iron from legumes.

fittocycle

What about a baby spinach salad with raisins, walnuts, and strawberries? Eating a food high in vitamin C with one high in iron helps your body absorb the iron better.
If your doctor decides to have you take an iron supplement, there are several vegetarian iron supplements that are very good!
I'm guessing you don't drink a lot of soft drinks. If you do, then stop because it does take some of the iron out of your body.
Good luck with it!

lalalazzz

I was a vegetarian for 10 years until I got pregnant. I was severely anemic. I did everything possible to increase my iron without meat. LIquid iron, wheatgrass, vitamins, seaweed , prescription iron...you name it. Nothing worked. My midwife told me I coulnd't give birth at home bc of my iron. That was the only thing that convinced me to eat meat. 5 days after eating meat my iron SKY ROCKETED- higher than it had ever been! I was able to give birth at home.

The chicken will help. Beef is best. You can get it free range, organic. Also clams and oysters are really high. The thing is you need heme-iroon (ONLY found in meat) to absorb non-heme iron. SO if you take in 100000000000g of iron a day that is non-heme.....you only absorb a very very small amount , if any.

Vitamin C helps absorb iron. Drink the emergen-C packets. You can also try seaweed and veggies high in iron, but like I said, they are non-heme types of iron so it's really hard for your body to absorb them without the heme type of iron.

killagb

Cook in cast iron pans as a habit, that will add some as well.

SirBen81

So if you're willing to eat chicken, then you're willing to eat other types of meat. If you need only iron and want to keep the meat you consume at a minimum then check out Dessicated Liver tablet. They contain good amounts of heme Iron and Vitamin B12 which both promote healthy red blood cell count. Oh, and they are CHEAP.

Here's a brief writeup about dessicated liver:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/liver.html

grassette

Buy a cast iron frying pan, and use it! It will put trace amounts of Iron in your food. I have had anemia in the past. Eat iron-rich foods until you get over the deficiency disease---that is what anemia is. And make sure you are taking in the iron that you need from then on. Liver is good for iron, but as it is an organ meat, don't have it too often, unless you know that its from a cow that wasn't in a commercial slaughterhouse feed lot. Iron pills are good too--but let your doctor determine the dose.

atomdraco

"Iron Rich Foods: Foods High In Iron For Health" - source: http://www.ironrichfood.org/

"Iron Rich Foods" - source: http://www.redcrossblood.org/learn-about-blood/health-and-wellness/iron-rich-foods

"Top 10 Iron-Rich Foods" - source: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/top-10-iron-rich-foods

santosateos

Wow!
thanks all this information is very helpful

thank you to everyone who replied