Iron help

[denisedeland]

Does anyone know what greens you can get the most iron from? I have a severe anemia problem and my doctor has asked me to give up raw food.. Blaming it for my vitamin deficiencies.. I don't believe that.. But I do need to bring my levels up or I will end up back in the hospital..

Thanks..
Denise

[Goldsplinter]

theres a lot of foods that have a lot of iron.

Dunno which though. Someone will tell you.

[LightLover]

Does anyone know what greens you can get the most iron from? I have a severe anemia problem and my doctor has asked me to give up raw food.. Blaming it for my vitamin deficiencies.. I don't believe that.. But I do need to bring my levels up or I will end up back in the hospital..

Thanks..
Denise


www.nutritiondata.com

a good adress for all your nutrient-queries

also:

www.whfoods.com

ll

[vgloveforlife]

Seaweed is very rich in iron! My dulse has 15% iron in just 1 tbs.

This is a great site answering your question:

http://www.innvista.com/health/ailments/anemias/foodanem.htm

Why not add a little organic blackstrap molasses to your diet for the extra iron.

[exurb]

what a helpful post, splinter. then it also looks like her question got answered instead of showing no replies.

denise, here is a link to a chart of iron-containing foods. it is not a raw chart per se, but there are some ideas in there for you. also you can google, I have seen other charts and some are quite helpful. Beware some greens which also have oxalic acid in them and inhibits iron absorption. Spinach is in this category, and I think swiss chard and beet greens.

http://www.healthgoods.com/education/Nutrition_Information/Vitamins_and_Minerals/iron.htm

In addition to pumpkin seeds, I think sunflower seeds are also fairly high. Iron is a fairly basic element to get, you can even stir things in a rusty bowl or cast iron pot to get iron.

The other thing I would recommend you doing is look up foods that you eat or have on hand in the food database and see how much iron is in them. Then check the grams against what you're after in total. here's a food database

www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search

[eatyourbroccoli]

spinach.
chards.

pumpkin seeds. perfect season, too.
sunflower seeds.

hows your digestion? could something be inhibiting the absorption?

[Goldsplinter]

what a helpful post, splinter. then it also looks like her question got answered instead of showing no replies.

That made me laugh.

Though I wouldn't want to get some rust on my foods...

[vgloveforlife]

Don't forget to soak/sprout all your seeds to lower the oxalate content (which inhibits absorption of iron)

[eatyourbroccoli]

Don't forget to soak/sprout all your seeds to lower the oxalate content (which inhibits absorption of iron)oo..
yes. thanks vg :)

[Sharon in Colorado]

Though cooked, Blackstrap molasses has a high iron content. I think it would be better to use that than go back to all cooked food - wouldn't make sense anyway, as cooked people are often iron-deficient.

I believe figs are also good iron sources. You could try putting these things in a smoothie or mixing it in your morning raw oatmeal for flavoring.

Generally we should not worry about all of our nutrients, but there are instances like yours where there are symptoms and tests that show there is a deficiency.

I agree that your nutrient absorption likely has a hand in it, perhaps though on your journey to health if you use something with a high percentage of iron, either a food or natural supplement, you can get your levels back up and then the doctor will back off! :)

On the other hand, sometimes it doesn't matter just how much iron you ingest, because if your absorption is the issue, it's not going to get into your system the way it should. So there are these things to consider.

If you purposely up your iron intake with food sources and/or supplements and by the next blood test it does not show much of a difference, then surely it is an absorption problem, and you should just continue on down the raw path, perhaps with some clinical fasting or liquid cleanses to get your body properly healed.

[Revvell]

Get some unsulphered prunes, figs and black raisins. Soak them overnight. In the a.m. eat the fruit and drink the juice. Problem handled.

Revvell

[MagicalDaze]

If I'm remembering correctly, PARSLEY is very high, and it's yummy in green smoothies, with or without spinach. :)

[Revvell]

If I'm remembering correctly, PARSLEY is very high, and it's yummy in green smoothies, with or without spinach. :)

True that.

Revvell

[sport]

Nettles are good, especially if you have them during the month of May.

[sunflowery]

Dried beans and dark green leafy vegetables are especially good sources of iron, even better on a per calorie basis than meat. Iron absorption is increased markedly by eating foods containing vitamin C along with foods containing iron.

some charts here http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm

[adrienne]

yup, parsley is great, can blend up with granny smith apples (alissa's recipe) and then put through a strainer if you don't have a juicer. it is SO good. my 2 yr old LOVES it.
also, there is a really good food (i'm almost sure it is fruit and veg based)
based supplement from new chapter organics and they have a specific iron one. maybe that would help
good luck!

[rawnora]

Denise,
The healthiest thing you can do for yourself is not research and eat the foods which contain the most iron, but to fire your doctor. S/he does not have the information you're going to need to get over your anemia. Anemia is not caused by dietary deficiencies. Anemia is never resolved by eating more of a nutrient that is not deficient in the first place. It may be incidentally resolved if you eat some of the foods that have been mentioned on this thread, because many -- but not all -- of them are healthier than the foods which caused your anemia. Did you know that anemics who do extended supervised fasts typically recover from their disease taking in NO nutrients whatsoever? The problem is not deficiency, it is excess. Excessive waste in your system, caused by your previous food choices, which rendered your body unable to function properly, including utilizing the nutrients you're eating.

Any doctor that suggests that a person stop eating foods that will make him/her well and take pills is responsible for a lot of sickness. Do you want to be sicker? Follow his/her advice. If you want to be well, you'll need to look in another direction. I can help if you're interested.

Best wishes,
Nora
www.RawSchool.com
"I firmly believe that if the entire medical establishment were sunk to the bottom of the sea, it would be all the better for humankind and all the worse for the fishes" -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

[tinystrawberry]

jerusalem artichokes are 28% iron (in a cup)

[RawNut]

Dennniiiiiisssseeee...wheeeerrreeee arrrrreeee yoooouuuu???

Have any of the responses helped?

To everyone else, Denise has dealt with and overcome AML (acute myeloid leukemia.) She has not had any detox symptoms that I'm aware of since going raw. I read in "Raw Family" that no detox symptoms could be a sign that there is something majorly wrong in the body. She has tested negative for AML but keeps coming up severely anemic. (It should be noted Denise was anemic when I knew her and before that...17 years ago) Could it be that her body is putting all her resources to keeping the cancer at bay instead of detoxing and clearing up anything that might be creating an absorption problem?

I've been reading in "The China Study" that animal protein can turn cancer cells, or the precursors thereof, "on" while the absences of it turns cancer cells "off". I'm not a doctor and am hesitant to say this but...in my opinion, animal protein is the last thing she needs!

Has anyone heard of iron shots? Do they exist? Can she get those until she's in the free and clear? Sublingual iron??? Anyone??

Craig

[RawNut]

Denise,
The healthiest thing you can do for yourself is not research and eat the foods which contain the most iron, but to fire your doctor. S/he does not have the information you're going to need to get over your anemia. Anemia is not caused by dietary deficiencies. Anemia is never resolved by eating more of a nutrient that is not deficient in the first place. It may be incidentally resolved if you eat some of the foods that have been mentioned on this thread, because many -- but not all -- of them are healthier than the foods which caused your anemia. Did you know that anemics who do extended supervised fasts typically recover from their disease taking in NO nutrients whatsoever? The problem is not deficiency, it is excess. Excessive waste in your system, caused by your previous food choices, which rendered your body unable to function properly, including utilizing the nutrients you're eating.

Any doctor that suggests that a person stop eating foods that will make him/her well and take pills is responsible for a lot of sickness. Do you want to be sicker? Follow his/her advice. If you want to be well, you'll need to look in another direction. I can help if you're interested.

Best wishes,
Nora
www.RawSchool.com
"I firmly believe that if the entire medical establishment were sunk to the bottom of the sea, it would be all the better for humankind and all the worse for the fishes" -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

I think you hit the nail on the head! She'd been on chemo for quite a while. To me, now, that is like fighting a forest fire with gasoline! Chemo and radiation cause cancer. If you will, gasoline is to fire what animal protein (and chemo, radiation) is to cancer. Professionals just hope they burn the right trees instead of catching all the others on fire.

Craig

[rawnora]

"To me, now, that is like fighting a forest fire with gasoline!"

Yes, perfect analogy.

Nora
www.RawSchool.com

[misslinda]

The problem is not deficiency, it is excess. Excessive waste in your system, caused by your previous food choices, which rendered your body unable to function properly, including utilizing the nutrients you're eating.




THANK YOU NORA FOR POSTING THIS THOUGHT !!!!

You took the words right out of my mouth but you worded it so much more better..........there are so many threads about people believeing they are "deficient" in this or that when root cause as you say is what causes the inability to absorb the nutrients.

Thanks Again! :)

[LisaDS88]

Goji berries are supposed to have 15x more iron than spinach. Not to mention everything else they are good for.

[Revvell]

Has anyone heard of iron shots? Do they exist? Can she get those until she's in the free and clear? Sublingual iron??? Anyone??

Craig

There are iron pills which cause more problems than they solve. I would think any synthetic iron ~ no matter what form it's in ~ would as well.

Revvell

[PATH301]

Revvell,

There are iron pills which cause more problems than they solve. I would think any synthetic iron ~ no matter what form it's in ~ would as well. - this is true!

[persephonea]

There is a totally natural iron supplement here in the UK called Spatone - it is not a pill - just sachets of spring water from a specific spring in Wales that is naturally high in iron. The body is supposed to absorb it easily, and it doesn't have the side effects of other iron supplements I have tried.

Obviously getting all the nutrients we need through diet is important for the long term though.

I assume Denise's iron deficiency has been confirmed with a blood test? Anaemia is just a generic term to describe many different blood cell problems, including B12 deficiency. My Dad has pernicious anaemia and has regular B12 shots. I think in his case it's caused by his digestive system being unable to extract the B12 from the food he eats?

Anyway, I hope that Denise has found a solution to her anaemia, and is continuing to recover.

[bittersweet]

I think that beets are supposed to be really good for iron.
Wheatgrass is supposed to help build the blood up to.
I've read that eating vitamin c with iron-rich foods promotes the rion's absorption.
Maybe try salads of dark leafy greens with shredded beets and a soaked sunflower and/or pumpkin seed and citrus dressing.

[lil fairy z girl]

here are some foods with iron in them.

Spinach, Nettles, Sea Vegetables, Parsley, Mushrooms, Peas, Olives, Walnuts, Pumpkin Seeds, Cashew Nuts, Sunflower Seeds, Flaxseed, Sesame Seeds, Corn, Licorice, Avocado,

I got them from the book called The food doctor healing foods for mind and body.
The book is now online, there is a list of top 100 foods
click here (http://www.thefooddoctor.com/thebook/top100intro.php)




sal
~*~*~*

[exurb]

re: the concept of "synthetic iron," iron is an element on the periodic table. No such thing as synthetic iron.

[Revvell]

re: the concept of "synthetic iron," iron is an element on the periodic table. No such thing as synthetic iron.

But there are iron pills which one cannot digest. They are given to pregnant women and people in hospitals and they tend to cause constipation. IF they come in the form of a food source rather than isolated, and if the digestive system is functioning well, this can be absorbed and utilized.

Revvell

[denisedeland]

I'm not sure if anything has helped yet. I have been taking iron pills and at my last blood test they were not helping at all. In fact I had the blood draw at the lab in the hospital and not even 45 minutes later my doctors office was calling to tell me to go to the ER. I refused. They told me I need at least 4 units of blood. My doctor has said that there is a shot, but that it would have to be in an IV.. So I would have to either have a pick line or a central line inserted. I have been warned by a Hemotologist that I will need a blood transfussion if I can't bring it up. My doctor has said it so low that they have no idea how I am able to function. Normal hemoglobin is 12.0-12.5 mine is 6.0.. Half of what my body needs. Doc says if I don't get the transfussion I could die.. He said that my body won't have enough blood to pump and my heart will just stop. Please keep your fingers crossed.. I have to go tomorrow to the doctors and have it checked at 2pm. I might not come home.

Thanks for all your help..
Denise