Need more iron, calcium, and potassium - IDEAS?

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seriouslytrying
seriouslytrying Posts: 8
in Food and Nutrition
Hi All. I've been deligently tracking my food intake and all is good except for iron (about 50% deficient), calcium (30% deficient), and potassium (about 50% deficient). I know I would need spinach, milk, and bananas. Any other ideas? I kind of don't like those items....
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Replies

  • Diyah13
    Diyah13 Posts: 76 Member
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    Yogurt is awesome, as are berries. Then there's the vitamin supplements in your local department stores.
  • KeriW626
    KeriW626 Posts: 430
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    I buy a multi vit. for women going through menopause. Hubby takes some for men over 50. We get them at a good price at : Puritan's pride .com. they have great prices you can see how much of what are included in each and order individuals or a combo as I did. Good luck.
  • gargisingh
    gargisingh Posts: 123 Member
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    bump! Let us see if we get some vegan options.
    I am a vegan and I am running short on Calcium. I love veggies and whenever I remember this I stock up on Kale and broccoli. But most of the times, I am still short of Ca.
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
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    Multivitamin. gotta have one.
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
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    Potassium: potatos, apricots, oranges, almond milk, pork, cow's milk, mushroom, avocados, beef, squash, many nuts...
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
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    Multivitamin. gotta have one.
    Debateable.
  • SashThompson
    SashThompson Posts: 130 Member
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    supplements are the quickest way to get the sufficient amount of what you need. i had a friend that was deficient in potassium and the dr told her that to get the equivilant of potassium she needed from bananas she would have to eat 7 a day..... i dont know if i could handle that many bananas :laugh:
    If you dont have any issues with pills id suggest using them but if you dont want to go down that direction then im stumped... im way to lazy to find foods with sufficient amounts of vitamins etc :laugh:

    Good luck though x
  • seriouslytrying
    seriouslytrying Posts: 8
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    Thanks everyone. I'm trying to even get vegetables from breakfast, so I've googled vegetable pancakes and this turned out pretty well. I made mine with sweet potato, carrots, and broccoli - I liked it. I even tried it with some mozza and parmesan - it was also good. I saw some for spinach pancake. I'll see how that one turns out. I know I can make an omelet too but I've just been turned off from eggs. I'm trying to do real food that I can eat forever.

    I was taking multivitamins from GNC but again was just turned off from it cause it's a whole packet (I think 6 pills). I will give the multivitamin route a good and see if that sticks to becoming a routine. Thanks again!
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    Spinach.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
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    Have you noticed that the food in the database doesn't usually have these mirconutrients listed? Are you really deficient?
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
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    Iron: Red meat, offal, fortified cereals, shellfish, wholegrain breads, pasta and cereal. Pulses and leafy green veg.

    Calcium: Milk and diary products, sardines, dark green leafy veg, pulses, nuts and seeds.

    Potassium: Most vegetables, fruit and fruit juices, unprocessed cereals.



    As you can see, there is a lot of overlap, and you're probably already eating these.
  • rawfull
    rawfull Posts: 178
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    Kale...

    Data: Nutrition Facts
    http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2461/2
  • blink1021
    blink1021 Posts: 1,118 Member
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    Right now I have low iron due to pregnancy and on top of taking an iron supplement I have been given a list of iron rich foods and believe it or not spinach isn't on it. My list suggests almonds, collard greens and dandelion greens. It also suggests liver but you won't catch me eating them. I like collard greens and almonds so my go to snack is definitely almonds. If you do not like spinach you really won't like collard greens.
  • Vonwarr
    Vonwarr Posts: 390 Member
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    Just FYI - A lot of foods have potassium, but it's not included on the label as it's not a requirement for food manufacturers to list it. At least here in Canada.
  • NoisyAstronomer
    NoisyAstronomer Posts: 9 Member
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    Ditto on the kale! Good source of iron. You can roast it in the oven for a few minutes and it's a delicious snack. Don't forget beans as well. If you are not a vegetarian, a little bit of red meat goes a long way as our bodies absorb iron more efficiently from meat sources than from non-meat sources.

    Don't know about vegan options for calcium, but I go for the milk and yogurt. Having trouble getting all the potassium I need as well. A baked potato goes well with most meals and has some.

    Your body absorbs vitamins more efficiently from food than from multi-vitamins. And OD-ing on vitamin pills just leads to very expensive pee. If you can get it from food, that is best.

    And like a previous commenter said, check the labels! Make sure you're getting all the "credit" on here for what you eat. :-)
  • domgirl85
    domgirl85 Posts: 295 Member
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    I don't know about the others but I have low iron so I can speak for that one:
    Liver
    Dark leafy greens (spinach, kale, collard greens, etc)
    red meat
    some seafood
    Iron supplements (30mg)
    Chia seeds
    Flaxseed meal
  • NoisyAstronomer
    NoisyAstronomer Posts: 9 Member
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    More than you ever wanted to know about supplements: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09338.html

    I was still taking vitamins when I was a college kid and eating crap cafeteria food. But now I have to be a big girl and eat my veggies. :-)
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
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    Hi All. I've been deligently tracking my food intake and all is good except for iron (about 50% deficient), calcium (30% deficient), and potassium (about 50% deficient). I know I would need spinach, milk, and bananas. Any other ideas? I kind of don't like those items....

    I actually would not worry too much about potassium, and possibly iron, unless your doctor does tests and SAYS that you are low.

    Potassium is not tracked on a majority of food labels, so you may not actually BE deficient. It is actually dangerous to take an iron supplement if you do not truly need it.

    I am actually on a 2,500 mg prescription potassium supplement. My urologist prescribed it after doing urine tests.
  • HYBRIDXXX
    HYBRIDXXX Posts: 86
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    AS FAR AS IRON GOES, TOTAL CERAL HAS AT LEAST 11 VITAMINS ND MINERALS DAT CONTAINS
    100% DV.
  • Aventuria
    Aventuria Posts: 151
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    I have one cup of Milo (hot water and 100ml milk) a day to boost my iron intake (6gr per serve). I always eat a piece of fruit with it to boost my intake efficiency and it's my every day snack.

    Be careful about the mfp info on iron. Sometimes people put in the iron as grams instead of percentage. :wink:

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