Help with iron, please

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Flubbermum
Flubbermum Posts: 7
in Food and Nutrition
I have been logging my food carefully over the past week (and have done on prvious occasions). I'm pretty happy with the quantity of he various food groups and vitamins etc. I'm cosuming but with one big area of concern: I rarely manage even 20% of my recommended iron intake (I don't know how much is recommended because the report only shows the results as a % of some undefined recommended amount).

I notice that if I don't take a supplement with iron very day, I become very tired and a little breathless so I would really like to increase the iron I get from food. I've looked up foods high in iron but just can't see how I can get five times my current amount. I have cut down red meat by a lot as we have a family member livIng with us who has a medical condition which makes it advisable for him to avoid red meat: I feel healthier for it so don't want to go back to eating it on a regulalr basis.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can easliy increase my iron intake significantly? Due to family and work commitments, it would be easiest for me to change snacks rather than main meals so I am really looking for maximum iron for the fewest possible calories (I have a lot of weight to lose!)

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  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    You should discuss this with your physician to see if you need an iron supplement. Please don't take a supplement without discussing it with your doctor, other than what is in a mutlivitamin, because too much iron can be just as dangerous as too little.

    Non red meat source of iron are dark leafy greens, dried beans, soy, oysters, pumpkin seeds, potatoes

    Also, many breakfast cereals and corn meal are fortified with iron.
  • Flubbermum
    Flubbermum Posts: 7
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    Thank you: it is just a multi-vitamin but will consider seeing the doctor in case I need something more as I have a feeling my iron intake has been low for quite a long while (certainly since my relative came to stay sixteen months ago).
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    MFP does not track iron accurately. Most foods are not entered with the correct Iron amounts as it is not a requirement for food labels to carry that information. Too much Iron can be dangerous also I would suggest going to your doctor and getting tested there can be many reasons for feeling tired not just Iron and as I said do not rely on MFP for your Iron intake
  • MeganAnne89
    MeganAnne89 Posts: 271 Member
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    You should discuss this with your physician to see if you need an iron supplement. Please don't take a supplement without discussing it with your doctor, other than what is in a mutlivitamin, because too much iron can be just as dangerous as too little.

    Non red meat source of iron are dark leafy greens, dried beans, soy, oysters, pumpkin seeds, potatoes

    Also, many breakfast cereals and corn meal are fortified with iron.

    This is so spot on.

    I have a high iron problem called haemochromatosis. My body absorbs way too much iron and will not let go of it, meaning that my iron ends up being stored around my organs. This is a life-long condition and if left untreated it will result in organ failure, yellowing of the skin, heart palpitations, pituitary gland issues and you can be unable to have children.

    However, if you go for phlebotomies ( you get a bag of blood drawn) once in a while and make sure your iron levels are normal (12 - 200 range) there will be no side effects so long as it's caught early.

    Haemochromatosis presents itself identical to anemia. It makes you feel extremely fatigued, foggy headed, generally tired, etc. Your joints may start to ache and you can become forgetful as well, due to the constant fatigue.

    So NEVER take iron supplements without having your iron tested. Doctors will not test your iron unless you give them a reason to, which is unfortunate, because haemochromatosis affects 1 in every 200 people, yet no one knows about it.

    That being said, having high iron means there are foods I should stay away from because they have a high iron content: spinach, red meat, beets, etc.
  • SKME2013
    SKME2013 Posts: 704 Member
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    I make myself a morning smoothie with roughly 250g of spinach and other green veggies. This gets my iron level to just under 100%. I was worrying the same thing but was warned by my pharmacist not to just take iron supplements without consulting my doctor and having some bloodwork done.
    Stef.

    P.S. This might help as well: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/top-10-iron-rich-foods
  • uchube
    uchube Posts: 44
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    i have struggled with chronic low circulating ferritin for a decade and diet has never really successfully upped the levels and kept them up. Can you get Floradix liquid supplement? its the one I take, one week out of the month, to keep my stores up and theres no constipation issues.

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