Anemia and raw

[avolove]

Hello!
I'm hoping you all might be able to lend some insight. I am anemic, have been, on and off, for years. In the past, before going raw I tried different iron supplements but they caused such stomach irritation and W-I-C-K-E-D constipation, I eventually gave up. With raw I know to eat green leafys, almonds and seeds, but my question is how much? How much of these foods would someone with low iron stores need not only to fulfill my daily requirement but also build it up? I do not want to take supplements, ugh, but I know that I need something extra.
Any thoughts would be great!
Thanks :D

[oceanee]

I have had anemia myself but I must say drinking GS everyday has definitely made a difference. I can tell by how I feel but will have a blood test sometime this summer. I would just work up to drinking 2 quarts a day and see how you feel. Your body will just suck that iron in, receiving at such a cellular level.
Keep us posted on how you feel.
Oceanee

[VeggieMel]

What's GS?

[EZ rider]

Green Smoothie

[boxerfamily]

I have heard that citrus helps the absorbtion of iron into the body, so I would eat oranges with greens. Mmmm a spinach salad with oranges and walnuts sounds kind of yummy to me.

[Tetris15]

I used to be annemic before going raw. I'd try to eat more meat and eggs like my doctor told me but it didn't help at all. Since going raw my iron level just fixed itself. It only took about three months too. Greens and cacao are my favorite sources.

[rawstrength]

As mentioned before, greens and cacao have a lot of iron.
So does seaweed. Try adding some dried dulse flakes to your soups and salads. You can use it instead of salt.
Vitamin C boosts iron uptake, but you should be getting plenty of that on raw anyway, so I wouldn't worry to much about it.
My iron levels have always been perfect, through meat-eating times, vegan days and as a raw foodist. I blame it on the fact that I adore greens.

[subbacultcha]

Beets are also high in iron. You could juice them and put them in smoothies, it'll make it taste sweeter and turn bright pink!

[Nurse in the Raw]

Hello!
I'm hoping you all might be able to lend some insight. I am anemic, have been, on and off, for years. In the past, before going raw I tried different iron supplements but they caused such stomach irritation and W-I-C-K-E-D constipation, I eventually gave up. With raw I know to eat green leafys, almonds and seeds, but my question is how much? How much of these foods would someone with low iron stores need not only to fulfill my daily requirement but also build it up? I do not want to take supplements, ugh, but I know that I need something extra.
Any thoughts would be great!
Thanks :D

Unless you have iron overload, you can't build up iron. Your body uses it and then gets rid of what it does not need. If you are anemic, I recommend SlowFe. It is "time released" so you won't get constipated or have stomach irritation. Fitday.com is a good tool to use to determine which raw foods have the most iron. Also be sure to drink fresh squeezed orange juice or eat oranges with your high iron foods. It helps your body absorb the iron more readily. Vitamin C is a carrier to iron.

[RawDancer]

You should drink Nettle Leaf Tea. Nettle is an amazing herb. I had a friend who was anemic and tried everything and then she heard about Nettle tea and started drinking it and got better. Try drinking several cups a day, It has a slightly bitter taste but you can add honey or agave or whatever you want to make it taste better. Good luck!

[Anastasia Alston]

I used to be anemic - as in get-dizzy-&-fall-on-your-face anemic. I took iron supplements since 5th grade every single day or I'd have no energy & the dizzy spells would be back. Sometimes even with the iron pills I would get dizzy anyway. I never had bowel troubles due to iron supplementation, though. When I went raw, within days I couldn't stand the iron supplements, quit taking them & haven't needed them or any other supplement since. I didn't eat anything special to help with the iron issue, I just ate what I wanted or what my body asked for. I drank tons of green smoothies at one point, then my body couldn't stand them anymore, though I still ate a lot of greens. I am now drinking green juices - same principle as the green smoothies, just juices & no bananas or nuts. I also still eat a lot of greens; I crave them!

There are lots of iron rich foods besides greens, like beets! (I love them, too!) Experiment & see what your body tells you. :)

- Stasi, Pea Pod (Morab), Rosie Cotton & Binnabik (the Pibble Posse)

[avolove]

Thanks everyone! Very helpful information. I have added juiced beets and oranges to my GS... not only was it really tastey, the color was beautiful!! I'm going to see how this goes, give it a while of eating raw with added iron rich foods and vit C.
Thanks again!:)

[Goji]

I've been raw for a long time. I've had two blood tests in the last 8 years and both times my haemoglobin levels have been excellent and yet I don't purposefully think about eating iron-rich foods. I think raw food does provide you with high levels of absorbable iron. Any foods containing high levels of vitamin C will aid iron absorbtion, so eat vitamin c rich foods with your iron-rich ones. You may wish to try iron supplements from Biocare (sister company of Bioscience in the US), as they are very well tolerated and shouldn't give you any side-effects.

[Raw Angel Mom]

I suffer of this from most of my past life, until that i started to take angstrom size mineral (just google), and also the fact that i added more greens in my diet, totally cured me. This is reversable.

Best wishes