iron deficient?

IvoryParchment · February 2012

If you're trying to lose weight but have iron deficiency, the deck is stacked against you. People with low iron get weird-*kitten* cravings, like Argo starch, baking powder, red clay, ice, paper, baby powder, etc. They can also get cravings for normal foods in abnormal quantities, especially Pepsi for some reason.

If your hemoglobin is 8 and you're drinking 2 liters of Pepsi a day, you don't have enough calories left over to get your basic nutrients.

ronellevan · February 2012

I've never heard that before, sounds a little far-fetched to me.

I have an iron deficiency and I don't crave anything weird like that. In fact I don't crave anything.

TheMistressofMayhem · February 2012

I too have an iron deficiency, and don't crave any of those things you listed. Where did you get your information? Normally, I crave sugar because I'm tired, but that's pretty much it in relation to my anemia iron deficiency.

hdlb123 · February 2012

If you're trying to lose weight but have iron deficiency, the deck is stacked against you. People with low iron get weird-*kitten* cravings, like Argo starch, baking powder, red clay, ice, paper, baby powder, etc. They can also get cravings for normal foods in abnormal quantities, especially Pepsi for some reason.

If your hemoglobin is 8 and you're drinking 2 liters of Pepsi a day, you don't have enough calories left over to get your basic nutrients.

Sounds like total BS to me. Craving dirt/clay etc. refers to Pica, not iron deficiancy.

I am also iron deficient, to the point of getting blood transfusions and iron IV treatments. It hasn't helped much, but I can promise that I have never ever had the desire to eat something like dirt, and I have never drank all my days calories in pepsi and blamed it on anemia.

I probably eat more on some days, like today, because I feel awful form the time I open my eyes. If I let myself get hungry, that turns into nausea. But I eat cheese, triscuits, fruit/veggies and fill up on water to stay ahead of it, not pepsi and mud. Most days are good days, today is a bad day.

I have also had very low hemoglobin levels, and I didn't want pepsi. I wanted to sleep, and I wanted out of the hospital, but pepsi never crossed my mind.

klybarger3 · February 2012

I have always had issues with iron (up and down). About a year ago, I went to donate blood and it was just low enough they had to reject me. But the nurse asked if I drank tea. And I replied that I drink a lot of tea (hot and cold). He said you will always have trouble with your iron. I had never heard this before and did some research on-line.

There was a study in the UK that showed drinking tea with a meal inhibits the absorbsion of iron. (Just a couple of sites - sure there's more out there if you search).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1727318/
http://www.livestrong.com/article/490710-does-drinking-tea-cause-iron-deficiency/

After coming out of a bit of depression as I am a HUGE tea drinker, I only drink tea an hour after I eat. It seems to be working for me!

PaleoPath4Lyfe · February 2012

I've never heard that before, sounds a little far-fetched to me.

I have an iron deficiency and I don't crave anything weird like that. In fact I don't crave anything.

I have heard of that and my husband's cousin who was severely anemic used to eat the acrylic stuffing out of the middle of comforters and bed spreads.............It was weird.

For anyone that is very iron deficient, getting cast iron skillets and pots was one of the best things I have done.

tangiesharp · February 2012

I am anemic. When my iron is really low, I do have pica and a desire to eat a common household substance that can be hazardous. When ever I talk iron pills, I'm good. But, when I don't its sort of scary. I've never told my doctors or friends about my pica. I feel ashamed that I eat that stuff. So, I just keep my iron in check and it's all good.

phoenixoncemore · February 2012

I have heard of that before, my doc asked if I had weird cravings for things like dirt after I was diagnosed (thankfully not) I think it only happens in some people though. Not heard about Pepsi - surely though you could go for the diet option and save a few cals or am I being over-simplistic?

I was mega low on all counts, anaemic and ferritin level almost non-existant. Even with Ferrous Sulphate 250 4 times per day for 6 months my ferritin was still too low (and these are by UK standards which for some obscure reason are lower than USA)

It took a long time to get back up and still I'm on the low side and have to take iron supplements and ramp them up when I get low.

I can tell now from the wacky symptoms. Anybody else get sore/achy tongue?! Yep, that's also due to low iron and it's one of the first things I notice!

I do the tea thing as well, avoid it for a while after I eat. Also apparently vit c helps you absorb iron better so I tend to have a piece of fruit after meals.

RillSoji · February 2012

I've been anemic (and calcium deficient) for 15 years....up until this January.

Over the last year I'd been slowly changing my diet to include waaaay more vegetables than before. A lot more dark greens, cruciferous veggies, and getting in a fresh juice once a day. I've also cut out most of the sugar and processed foods. I stopped drinking dairy milk (still use cheese/yogurt) and reduced meat intake to a little over 1lb per week.

I couldn't tell you "THAT change!" That's the one that did it! But all those combined changes helped something because my iron levels are now on the low side of normal and my calcium is perfectly normal. It rocks not being tired and grumpy all the time!

Edit: Also...no pills. I never took multivitamins or supplements or powders or anything like that.

ElizabethRoad · February 2012

I have always had issues with iron (up and down). About a year ago, I went to donate blood and it was just low enough they had to reject me.

If you're just borderline for them to reject you, you still have a normal level. Their requirements are somewhat higher than what you need to be healthy. (Because they wouldn't want to take your blood if you're at the bare minimum.)

ElizabethRoad · February 2012

If you're trying to lose weight but have iron deficiency, the deck is stacked against you. People with low iron get weird-*kitten* cravings, like Argo starch, baking powder, red clay, ice, paper, baby powder, etc. They can also get cravings for normal foods in abnormal quantities, especially Pepsi for some reason.

If your hemoglobin is 8 and you're drinking 2 liters of Pepsi a day, you don't have enough calories left over to get your basic nutrients.

So you're saying it's hard to lose weight if you have low iron, based solely on the idea that some people with low iron crave Pepsi? OK then!

On another note, Pepsi has undertones that taste like dirt to me. Makes sense to me that if you're craving dirt you'd crave Pepsi.

IvoryParchment · February 2012

I didn't realize so many people hadn't heard of this.

I have occasion to talk to a lot of iron deficient people on my job, and I hear about the Pepsi thing when I ask about caffeine intake. I've heard about iced tea a lot, too. It's never coca cola or ginger ale. And no, I've never managed to talk any of them into switching to diet. It has to be that one thing they crave. It's weird.

Eating ice is so common that people don't even think they're doing anything strange. At least they don't fill up on empty calories and eat even less iron than they would normally.

I hadn't heard about acrylic stuffing before, though. I never stop learning. It's funny how each person has one thing they crave, and will find all the other sound just as bizarre to them as to someone who doesn't have pica.

There's a bunch of articles on the internet about people with pica due to low iron. This one looked at several hundred people whose iron deficiencies were so bad they needed to get their iron by IV, and nearly half had pica too, mostly for ice:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2326/10/9

There's interesting historical information in the article.

Hippocrates wrote that "a craving to eat earth" was associated with "corruption of the blood." In the early 15th C, de Cervantes reported a history in which "women that by caprice eat soil, plaster, coal and other disgusting substances." Physicians of the 19th C reported that persons with chlorosis (predominantly women) had "various forms of pica or morbid appetite, as for pickles, magnesia, cinders, &c," or "capricious appetite"

MiLadyDre · February 2014

OK this helps explain some of the weird cravings I get. There are times when i just have to have a Pepsi! I dont drink two liters or anything like that, but I definitely want a can of pepsi over anything else.

Also, I've found that taking the mega doses of Iron supplements makes me HUNGRY!! I've tried reading up on this but everything i've read, from the experts, has said its a myth but everything i've read from people who ACTUALLY take these suppliments tends to agree with me. They make you EAT! I have found a relief from this though. I've found the slow release iron suppliments do not cause the cravings nearly as much as the regular suppliments. I have to take mega doses of iron and I'm trying to lose weight. It was a battle between my iron suppliments and my will to lose a lot of the time. But the slow release have pushed the will to lose weight into the forefront. Although I still find myself craving a pepsi now and then.

Thank you for this article. I had an "AH HA" moment from it.

msbrownbeauty87 · February 2014

i am as well iron deficent and have found two supplements that have helped me enormously ss tonic and hema-plex.

J72FIT · February 2014

I've never heard that before, sounds a little far-fetched to me.

I have an iron deficiency and I don't crave anything weird like that. In fact I don't crave anything.

This is me as well...

iron deficient?

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