I have anemia due to how I changed my diet

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britmom
britmom Posts: 12
in Health and Weight Loss
It seems I cut out too much iron when I changed my diet. I developed anemia, and it's super hard to stay motivated. I need advice on what I can add easily and cheaply that is also kid friendly. I eat alot of salads for dinner, lots of fiber but not iron. I'd like to add baby spinach to them but it's expensive. Any suggestions?

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  • CalorieNinja
    CalorieNinja Posts: 645 Member
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    Iron supplements they sale for around $10-15
    I am sure your doctor can prescribe you iron supplements as well
  • garedds
    garedds Posts: 251
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    I was so anemic this past summer that I was passing out. Then I added spinach in to my diet along with taking prescribed supplements. The liquid iron was only about $12/bottle. And the spinach I can buy a weeks worth for about $4-$6. That's less than a dollar a day. I say it's worth it. Maybe it's more expensive where you are at though. I no longer have to take the supplement and just make sure I keep eating spinach! I actually make it into a smoothie most days.

    Red meat is high in iron, as are shrimp, liver, bran flakes, special K, lentils, some nuts, kidney beans, and soya beans.

    Hope this helps you some.
  • gc_tweety
    gc_tweety Posts: 205 Member
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    Following is a list of foods that are high in iron which provide 8 mg or more of iron per 100 g of the food.


    Excellent Sources Good Sources

    Enriched breakfast cereals
    Cooked beans and lentils
    Pumpkin seeds
    Blackstrap Molasses

    Canned beans
    Baked potato with skin
    Enriched pasta
    Canned asparagus
  • freerange
    freerange Posts: 1,722 Member
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    Any suggestions?

    Red meat!
  • jemmur
    jemmur Posts: 57 Member
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    Spinach, because of it's oxalate content, isn't quite the amazing source of iron it can seem. Other things can interfere with iron absorbtion too, like tannins (which particularly upsets this tea addict!).

    Vitamin C aids the absorbtion of nonheme iron (ie all iron from plants and about half of the iron in meat, iirc) though. With a little planning, you might be able to boost your absorbtion without making too many radical changes :)
  • Stasia_Niuka
    Stasia_Niuka Posts: 12
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    Thanks for starting this topic. The same thing happened to me!

    I have been taking an iron supplement each night before I go to bed, and now I think I'll try adding some vitamin c in with that. It has been working, my last blood tests came back normal. =)

    I didn't know that about spinach....I eat about a cup of baby spinach in a salad most days and I thought it was a good source of iron...

    I better stick to adding in more lean red meat.
  • kacarter1017
    kacarter1017 Posts: 651 Member
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    Add beans back in- cheap and SO healthy. You can food process them to mush and sneek them into things if you have to for kids. But most kids don't mind white or pinto beans at least.

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