Iron deficiency gang, rise up! But not too fast.
Iron is a mineral that the body needs for growth and development.
It is essential for many biochemical functions in the body during every stage of life and required to make some hormones.
“Without enough iron, your body can't produce enough of a substance in red blood cells that enables them to carry oxygen (hemoglobin). As a result, iron deficiency anemia may leave you tired and short of breath.” - 3
Iron Comes in two different forms:
• Heme / easier to absorb
(usually coming from meat, poultry and fish)
Best Sources: beef; pork; chicken; veal; fish such as halibut, haddock, perch, salmon, or tuna; shellfish such as clams, oysters, and mussels
• Non-heme / generally harder to absorb
(mainly found in plants)
Best Sources: fortified cereals; rice; wheat and oats; dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale; dried fruits like raisins and apricots; beans like lentils and soybeans.
You can absorb more non-heme iron from foods by eating them at the same time as foods with heme iron or foods high in vitamin C.
Sources of Non-heme Iron:
Fortified breakfast cereals
🫘 Beans or Lentils
Dark chocolate (at least 45%)
Spinach
Potato with skin
Nuts, seeds 🎃
Enriched rice or bread
Groups at risk for Iron Deficiency:
Pregnant women—during pregnancy a woman produces much greater amounts of red blood cells for the fetus, increasing the need for additional dietary or supplemental iron.
Menstruating women—women who experience heavy bleeding during menstruation (lasting longer than 7 days or soaking through tampons or pads once every hour) can develop IDA.
Children—infants and children have high iron needs due to their rapid growth.
Elderly—older ages are associated with a higher risk of poor nutrition and chronic inflammatory diseases that can lead to anemia. [1]
Vegetarians—those who eat a diet without heme iron from meats, fish, and poultry may develop IDA if they do not include adequate non-heme iron foods in the diet. Because non-heme iron is not well-absorbed, either greater quantities of these foods my be required or careful attention is needed in how they are eaten to improve absorption (consuming with vitamin C-rich foods while avoiding eating with calcium-rich foods, calcium supplements, or tea).
Endurance athletes—running can cause trace amounts of gastrointestinal bleeding and a condition called “foot-strike” hemolysis that breaks down red blood cells at a faster rate. Female endurance athletes who are also menstruating are at greatest risk for IDA. [4]
People with chronic kidney failure on dialysis—the kidneys make a hormone called erythropoietin (EPO) that signals the body to make red blood cells. Kidney failure reduces the production of EPO and therefore blood cells.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/iron/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3967179/#:~:text=Heme%20iron%2C%20which%20is%20present,form%20of%20heme%20%5B2%5D.
Our dietician Suzie Cromwell has a lot to say about getting iron into your diet.
Book a session with her to learn more. And remember to drink coffee or tea after meals. Drinking them with meals may decrease
iron absorption.
Try these iron-rich snack and meal ideas:
• Have a glass of orange or grapefruit juice with your cereal at breakfast.
• Add raisins or other dried fruit to cereal, yogurt or in your favorite cookie/
muffin recipe.
• Make a spinach salad with oranges or grapefruit or strawberries.
• Stir fry broccoli, peppers, snow peas with meats, poultry, fish or seafood.
• Have spaghetti with tomato meat sauce rather than cream sauce.
• Add cooked dried beans, peas or lentils to soups, stews or casseroles or eat them as a side dish with meats or poultry.
Our Naturopath Dr. Landon spoke with us about how he treats low iron and he did a comparison for us on IV versus Supplements.
If you are interested in discussing your iron levels with one of our Naturopaths you will need to get blood work done prior. Testing for CBC, iron, Ferritin, Iron saturation and Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC).
Depending on your results, he will determine whether or not you need an IV or you can simply use oral iron supplementation and dietary approaches.
From Chinese Medicine it is referenced as a blood deficiency.
And it brings a lot of leads to insommnia, heart palpitations, anxieties, dreams and disturbance to sleep.
They prescribe herbs, eating warm nourishing foods, bone broth, anything red which helps to nourish the blood.
Dr. Dom says to think beets, salmon, red beans, red meat and bone broth.
All right gang, let's raise our Iron Levels.
What do you call Matthew Broderick after he takes his Iron deficiency pills?
Ferrous Bueller