Need advice for low IRON

[DawnD]

I had bloodwork done at my annual checkup in April and it showed that my iron was low (10.2/ normal is 12.0-16.0). I took iron supplements and was supposed to go back in June for follow up but I didnt. I needed some paperwork filled out this month by my doc and she wouldnt sign it b/c I was a no-show for follow up. I repeated the the bloodwork and iron is still low but only by .4 points (11.6 this time).

What do any of you guys do to make sure your iron is up? I try to eat sesame seeds, cacao and other higher iron foods but that hasn't kept me up there.

Thanks in advance. ;)

[sport]

Low iron is not necessarily because your consumption. It could be an absorption issue. I have heard of someone that was low and went on a water fast and it went back to normal.

[Aleesha Sattva]

mine was super super super low... wanna know what i did? i added citrus to everything i ate that had greens in it. everything. i just popped a kumquat in my smoothies, squeezed some lime on my kale salad... made sure i always had both together and my iron levels are high now!

worked like a dream. ;) no supplements for me.

[sport]

Why do I keep forgetting that. Vit C helps to absorb iron.
I just went back to the kitchen to add an orange to my smoothie.

[DawnD]

I have been adding lemon to some smoothies but I will be more diligent to add it to all smoothies with greens AND salads too. Thanks for the tips!!!

[Aleesha Sattva]

your welcome dawn. my iron was so low my doctor said normally he'd give iron shots at my level... but because of all i did with my raw food diet, he wanted to give me the opportunity to do it with diet (he's super supportive)... so he suggested i add the citrus (citric acid) to my greens (or any food with iron in them) and that did the trick.

at that time, my daily iron was great (recovered from 6 months on raw live foods) but my residual was still dangerously low. so... within about 10 months (cause i didn't go back in 6 months for the test like he requested) my residual iron levels were super high.

my doctor didn't know about the raw food diet before i became raw and he tells me (i've been raw for over three years now) that he's never seen anyone regain their health and turn their life around (released 168 pounds) using food as their only medicine. he's super supportive because of what he's seen me do. after all... he knew how sick i was before raw!!!

[Bookish Lass]

Thanks for the info, Aleesha!

[Aleesha Sattva]

You are very very welcome!

[terry brown]

are you all talking about Ferritin levels?
(the iron the body stores)

[Aleesha Sattva]

perhaps. my dr just told me that my residual iron levels were super low (he showed me how low but i don't remember the numbers) and told me my daily iron levels were okay.