Anaemia!

Permabanned
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Manchester
Hi guys,

Went to the doctors with a few symptoms I was having, had a full blood test done, everything was fine apart from my Iron Levels. Apparently my iron levels were very low and therefore I'm anaemic.

I've been given some medication to help with this however I'm wondering what sort of things I should be eating in order to help this issue?

I was looking at a diet for anaemia but wasn't too sure if I wanted to take it that far. I really would like to know what extra food I should be adding to my meals.

Please note this isn't medical related so please don't lock!

Cheers
 

VoG

VoG

Soldato
Joined
20 Jan 2004
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Nottingham
Liver?

you know you shoulda posted this in sports arena, a lot of the folks in there really know there nutrition & dietary stuff. :)
 
Caporegime
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http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/iron.asp

What foods provide iron?
There are two forms of dietary iron: heme and nonheme. Heme iron is derived from hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that delivers oxygen to cells. Heme iron is found in animal foods that originally contained hemoglobin, such as red meats, fish, and poultry. Iron in plant foods such as lentils and beans is arranged in a chemical structure called nonheme iron [9]. This is the form of iron added to iron-enriched and iron-fortified foods. Heme iron is absorbed better than nonheme iron, but most dietary iron is nonheme iron [8]. A variety of heme and nonheme sources of iron are listed in Tables 1 and 2.
iron.png

*DV = Daily Value. DVs are reference numbers developed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help consumers determine if a food contains a lot or a little of a specific nutrient. The FDA requires all food labels to include the percent DV (%DV) for iron. The percent DV tells you what percent of the DV is provided in one serving. The DV for iron is 18 milligrams (mg). A food providing 5% of the DV or less is a low source while a food that provides 10-19% of the DV is a good source. A food that provides 20% or more of the DV is high in that nutrient. It is important to remember that foods that provide lower percentages of the DV also contribute to a healthful diet. For foods not listed in this table, please refer to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Database Web site: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
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Inverness
Liver, black pudding, spinach, raisins, oily fish.

Also drink OJ or keep up a good vitamin C intake as this helps your body absorb the iron in the other food :)
 
Soldato
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London
liver fried with spinich and onions, with some Bisto gravy and a dash of soya sauce on a bed of brown rice.

Much much nicer then it should be, nom
 
Caporegime
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Your doctor diagnosed you, and gave you iron tablets, but not a diet guide? Change doctors.


M

I've been trying to get referred to a dietician for my specially required diet on the NHS but no luck so far, it's no surpise he didn't get any diet guide going by my GP's lack of knowledge on the subject. Didn't even seem to know that fruit and bread is high in simple sugars.
 
Caporegime
Joined
8 Jan 2004
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31,994
Location
Rutland
Hi guys,

Went to the doctors with a few symptoms I was having, had a full blood test done, everything was fine apart from my Iron Levels. Apparently my iron levels were very low and therefore I'm anaemic.

I've been given some medication to help with this however I'm wondering what sort of things I should be eating in order to help this issue?

I was looking at a diet for anaemia but wasn't too sure if I wanted to take it that far. I really would like to know what extra food I should be adding to my meals.

Please note this isn't medical related so please don't lock!

Cheers

Are you veggie? You shouldn't be anaemic if you're not.
 
Man of Honour
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18 Oct 2002
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Vvardenfell
I've been trying to get referred to a dietician for my specially required diet on the NHS but no luck so far, it's no surpise he didn't get any diet guide going by my GP's lack of knowledge on the subject. Didn't even seem to know that fruit and bread is high in simple sugars.



Special diets are one thing, but iron deficiency is so common that most GP surgeries have handouts for it.



M
 
Caporegime
Joined
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29,913
Location
England
Only the beans and the fortified cereals have a decent amount in, and not many people can eat shedloads of that. Meat eaters will have a higher intake than vegetarians on average.

One bowl of breakfast cereal provides the entire daily intake. And 4 slices of bread is getting you 24% alone. As the NIH say most Iron is from non animal products. Meat eaters may have a higher daily intake but as long as you are getting 100% of RDA it doesn't matter.

http://journals.cambridge.org/actio...564&jid=PNS&volumeId=58&issueId=02&aid=795552

The nutritional adequacy of plant-based diets is discussed. Energy and protein intakes are similar
for plant-based diets compared with those containing meat. Fe and vitamin B12 are the nutrients
most likely to be found lacking in such diets. Bioactive substances present in foods of plant origin
significantly influence the bioavailability of minerals and requirements for vitamins. Wellbalanced
vegetarian diets are able to support normal growth and development. It is concluded that
meat is an optional rather than an essential constituent of human diets.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
4 Aug 2004
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Wigan
Your doctor diagnosed you, and gave you iron tablets, but not a diet guide? Change doctors.


M
Bit OTT, the GP has given the OP a diagnosis and cure - unless the OP asked for dietry help and got no advice, most doctors will not have an exhausive list off the top of their heads, and so would do exactly what the rest of us would do, ie google
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Jul 2008
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7,367
Hi guys,

Went to the doctors with a few symptoms I was having, had a full blood test done, everything was fine apart from my Iron Levels. Apparently my iron levels were very low and therefore I'm anaemic.

I've been given some medication to help with this however I'm wondering what sort of things I should be eating in order to help this issue?

I was looking at a diet for anaemia but wasn't too sure if I wanted to take it that far. I really would like to know what extra food I should be adding to my meals.

Please note this isn't medical related so please don't lock!

Cheers

I would speak to a professional, a nutritionist..... its not gonna cost you that much and they will give much better advice than someone who found something on google...

Its not like you will need to keep goign back to them, I htink a lady I know charges £70 for the first cons, which is pretty much all you would need... so I assume thats how much others would charge.
 
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