I used to be anemic and I had few problems with my health. I felt tired all the time, I was very, very pale, I couldn't focus, I was most of the time in bad mood. But I didn't pay attention to that, because I thought it was just a phase. Until one day I ended up in ER. And I must say that wasn't nice experience. I really got scared. And that is when I decided I must do something regarding my health.
The doctor told me I had anemia. Luckily it wasn't too bad and I had to change my diet and start taking some pills and vitamins. So I did. I hate pills, and whenever I have a chance to avoid them, I do that. Every day my mother made me eat raisins, all bunch of raisins. They are great for blood and anemia.
What is anemia? Anemia is a deficiency of iron in blood. This is a very common but somewhat neglected disease. It requires proactive treatment in order to avoid more serious consequences for your health. One of the most effective and safest therapy for the treatment of anemia is to use "drugs" in nature. That means there are a lot of foods around us that can help in restoring our blood and health in general. I will give you some tips on how to do that.
- Photo credit: rpongsaj / Foter.com / CC BY Who gets anemia?
Women mostly have anemia
Anemia is common among women, and is especially high among pregnant women and women woth more abundant menstruation. Also women who are on some rigorous diet can get anemia, because they don't consume sufficient amounts of iron in the body. Anemia can also be caused by poor absorption of nutrients. Cause of poor absorption can be hypochloridia (lack of stomach acid) - a condition in which the acidity of stomach acid is insufficient and nutritional elements of food can’t degrade enough in order for small intestine to absorb.
There are also other causes of anemia such as various internal bleedings (ulcer, hernia), hemorhoids, tumors of digestive tract, pooor absorption of iron (celiac disease, Crohn's disease), anemia due to increased or accelerated degradation of erythrocytes - a consequence of disturbances in the red blood cells or outside them.
This disease doesn't always have clear symptoms. It starts very slowly, inconspicuously you start to feel weak. Often the symptoms are manifested only when the reserves of iron are completely expended. Then it comes to the appearance of weakness, dizziness, rapid or irregular heartbeat, rapid fatigue, you look very pale, breaking nails, hair loss, loss of appetite, headaches, bleeding from the nose and gums .
It is very important to do regular blood control, in order to detect disease in time.
- Iron supplies
- How to better absorb iron
- Daily iron requirements vary and depend on the age, sex, and reserves in the body. It is believed that children and women of reproductive age should bring about 15 milligrams of iron a day, while man’s need for these minerals is reduced to about eight milligrams. In pregnant women the daily needs for iron increase to about 30 milligrams.
It is believed that the iron from meat is easier to absorb, but that doesn't mean that vegetarians will have iron deficiency. They use supplements of iron if they don't get it enough from the food they eat. It is very important the health of internal organs (liver, digestive tract), because of the a better absorption. The research has shown that people who don't eat meat don't have higher probability of iron deficiency compared to non-vegetarians.
Here are some tips on how to improve absorping of iron:
- Eat raw vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin C with a meal that contains iron.
- Vitamin C significantly improves assimilation of iron in the body
- Milk products and other foods rich in calcium, eat separately from foods rich in iron, because calcium disrupts iron assimilation
- Use of fresh juices before meal also increases the body's ability to absorb more quantity of iron
- Avoid the use of caffeinated beverages (coffee, black and green tea), especially after eating
- It was noted that the preparation of food in containers made of cast iron slightly enriched foods with iron
- Smoking should be avoided in the case of anemia, because it encourages its development.
Food rich in iron
This element which is so important for human body can be found in:
Legumes (beans, peas, lentils, soy)
Nuts (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts)
Potatoes
Whole grain cereals
Cocoa
Eggs
Pumpkin seeds
Meat
Fish
Garlic
Nettles
Honey, pollen, royal jelly, honeydew (forest honey)
Dandelion – leaf, root
Beets
Blackberry
Pomegranate
Wormwood.
Iron in our body, among other things, serves to form red blood cells, essential for transporting oxygen to the cells in the body. If there isn’t enough iron, but the amount that you have is well deployed, anemia won’t start. It is necessary to do additional tests if the blood test isn’t improving even after taking three months dose of supplements and improved eating. If you get anemia it is very important for you to know that you mustn’t immediately reach out to iron supplements because too much of iron can be toxic and can cause a lot of problems.
As with other products, it is best to gradually take iron in small doses, so iron-rich foods is recommended to eat more frequently, in small quantities. So, try to eat daily meat or fish, nuts and grains, vegetables rich in vitamin C and iron, and fruits. That would be called a proper diet.
Apart from meat, shells are also rich in iron, as well as egg yolk. Iron can also be found in chard and spinach, beets, broccoli, chicory which is extremely rich in iron, legumes – beans, lentils, chickpeas, beans, nuts – especially almonds which are not only rich in iron but in proteins too, integrated products and grains, prunes and apricots.
All these ingredients combine with foods that are rich in vitamin C. So when you eat spinach, eat it with meat or fish fillet which you will pour with lemon juice and sprinkle with parsley. Instead of vinegar, use lemon for salads. Eat plenty of tomatoes and potatoes. The most important fact is that foods rich in iron (though themselves contain calcium) aren’t consumed with those rich in calcium because it reduces the absorption, so despite the increased consumption, there will be no effect. So, with the listed ingredients do not consume milk or milk products which contain a lot of calcium.
Anemia and pregnancy
Demands for iron in pregnancy are much higher
Anemia with pregnant women causes the same effects as in the rest
population, only it develops much faster, making them much sensitive to blood
loss during childbirth. In pregnancy demands for iron are much higher.
Therefore, pregnant women often become anemic. The mother needs to increase the production of red blood cells, because the placenta and
fetus must be supplied with iron, which
are obtained only from her. To make more
red blood cells for the baby,
the mother’s body starts to produce more red
blood cells and plasma. It is
calculated that the blood volume increases
50% during pregnancy, although the quantity of plasma is disproportionately higher. This causes dilution
of blood, leading to decreased hemoglobin
(the red pigment in red blood
cells responsible for
transferring oxygen to all the
cells of the body), between 25
and 30 weeks of
pregnancy. Anemia is more common
in women who have had a greater number of pregnancies and those who carry twins or
triplets.
And, as always, it is better prevented than treated. What to do in order to prevent anemia during pregnancy? First, if you have anemia, take care of it before pregnancy. Food rich in iron is the most important in prevention and treatment. Your diet must be various, rich in vitamin C and iron, and also rich in folic acid. Good nutrition before pregnancy helps to create reserves of iron. A healthy and balanced diet during pregnancy provides an adequate level of iron and other important nutrients necessary for the health of mother and baby.
WARNING
I must warn you about one myth that concerns taking one
glass of red wine a day. Wine contains iron, but it also contains tannin a
substance that actually hinders the absorption of iron. If you want to make
good use of the iron from the food, it is best that after eating you drink a
glass of lemonade or citrus juice cocktail, or eat kiwi.
