Blood test showed low iron

[Ravenna]

Hello everyone!

first of all thank you for all your posts, they help me a lot (struggling to go Raw). English is not my first language, so, please, be patient with me.

And the question is: How can we raise iron? It is for my husband, 60 y.o. The level is 44. Supposed to be more than 45. In the explanation of blood test results it is written that low levels of iron are very dangerous and it is also very dangerous to overcorrect. I do not know what supplements to take and in what quantities. The doctor says not to do anything.

If somebody had such a problem and corrected it, please, share your experience. Thank you!

[Revvell]

Supplements are not the way to go.... food is. I've found greens, and dried, unsulphured fruit such as seedless raisins, figs, prunes, etc. Soak over night, eat the fruit; drink the water/juice in the morning. Also, just google something like "Foods that contain iron"...

[Ravenna]

Thanks for answering!

I forgot to say that we drink lots of green smoothies every day and would never think that we could be deficient in nutrients. We use mostly chard, kale, spinach for greens. And we eat almost the same food, only me eating more raw and him less raw. But my iron is OK, my husbands is not. I'm wondering if food is enough to correct it.

[streetsurfer]

Heard something over the media yesterday about consuming foods with vitamin C when supplementing or eating things with iron. Vitamin C is supposed to help you absorb or assimilate the iron I guess.

[PansyLo]

^ He could just need a little more than you due to his bodys needs or the way he absorbs it. Everybody is different.

A very slight iron deficiency is not dangerous. I have been Anemic (very low iron) on and off for most of my life. It will only make you tired and give you headaches until it's fixed. It will probably resolve itself very easily just by a slight increase of certain foods.

Foods high in iron:

Dried herbs
Cacaro
Pumpkin seeds
Sesame seeds or tahini
Sun dried tomato
Sunflower seeds
Dried apricots
Dark leafy greens

Also vitamin C is needed to absorb iron so make sure he's getting plenty of that too.

Good luck!

[Ravenna]

Thanks! I guess we just have to really push those iron-rich foods.

[Raw Angel Mom]

GOJI BERRIES. SO SO SO RICH IN IRON and it has the vitamine C for the iron absorption.

If someone is low in B12, they will be low in iron too. You may want to check this out.

I was anemic from my early child hood up to adult. Not anymore, yeah....Plant food is great

[aviatrix79]

Get your husband to have 1 tablespoon of organic unsulphered blackstrap molasses a day for a while and then reduce it to 1 teaspoon a day when his iron goes up. It's a good source of iron, magnesium, calcium and potasium. It's also pretty high in sodium, I think about 200g per tbsp from memory, so get him to cut down on salt when he takes it. Spiralina is also a good source of iron. You mentioned your husband is only partly raw. Do you mean he eats raw and non raw vegan food or does he have animal sources too. If he's vegan, get him to add lemon juice to his greens and if he's non-vegan, have some greens with his non-vegan foods because having heme iron together with nonheme iron increases iron absorption by about 6 times (I think from memory) than if eaten separately. I'm not suggesting he eat non-vegan but if he's doing it anyway then he should eat the greens with it. I wouldn't ignore it as iron deficiency can lead to many other serious illnesses if it gets too low.

ETA: Just got my bottle of BSM that I take here and there. Here is the nutritional data on my bottle:

Per metric tablespoon:

Energy: 240kj
Protein: 0.75g
Fat: 0g
Carbohydrates: 15g
Surgars: 15g
Sodium: 200mg
Calcium: 280mg
Magnesium: 120mg
Iron: 10mg
Potassium 560mg

Pretty good isn't it? Cheers :)

[Ravenna]

aviatrix79, thanks for your suggestions. No, my husband is not even vegan. It is me who is trying to start on raw, just trying for now (and struggling because of constant hunger). I give him some things to try and sometimes he likes it, though he is not convinced so I have to do it slowly. Also, we are drinking green smoothies every day, 1 quart each, so, I guess I'm considering him partly raw (which is probably to strong to say).

But I will do as you say: BSM and eating normal foods with greens plus maybe spirulina. Thank you very much!

And luckily, I know where to get coji berries, Raw Angel Mom, thank you for sharing your knowledge!

[aviatrix79]

Ravenna, you're welcome. Hope his iron levels increase soon :)

[michigan roman]

where ive read about it the weed / herb stinging nettle is super high in iron , plus has vitamin c . ands been used by herbalist to treat anemia for ages

[aviatrix79]

where ive read about it the weed / herb stinging nettle is super high in iron , plus has vitamin c . ands been used by herbalist to treat anemia for ages

Not really Roman. A cup of stinging nettle has less than 2mg of iron. If you want to get your iron from a herb, plain old parsley has about 20mg in 100g. It's also cheap, it's available everywhere and it's nice in tabouli. It's also high in Vitamin C, especially if you eat the stems.

http://www.ironrichfood.org/iron-content-of-stinging-nettles-blanched-northern-plains-indians/
http://www.ironrichfood.org/iron-parsley-dried/

[Amitabha]

Low iron can be caused by there is a loss of blood. Anemia is common in young women with plenty of menstruation.
There may also be loss of blood from the intestine, caused for example by allergy to certain foods, etc ... or diseases.
There may also be loss of blood in the stomach, ulcer, etc ...

I have now b12 anemia and iron anemia and my doctor has done a test to look for blood in my feces.


Sorry, I can not write good English, I hope you have understood.

[Living Food]

Not really Roman. A cup of stinging nettle has less than 2mg of iron. If you want to get your iron from a herb, plain old parsley has about 20mg in 100g. It's also cheap, it's available everywhere and it's nice in tabouli. It's also high in Vitamin C, especially if you eat the stems.

http://www.ironrichfood.org/iron-con...lains-indians/
http://www.ironrichfood.org/iron-parsley-dried/

Aviatrix, you're comparing regular nettles to dried parsley - seeing as greens are almost entirely water by weight, stinging nettle would have more iron then parsley if they are in the same state (both fresh/both dried). Also, stinging nettle is one of the best treatments for anemia there is - levels of iron alone are not as important as how well that iron is absorbed. I don't know how it works so well, but I have personally used stinging nettle juice to treat many people with anemia, and they have all had iron levels enter healthy ranges within days.


Heard something over the media yesterday about consuming foods with vitamin C when supplementing or eating things with iron. Vitamin C is supposed to help you absorb or assimilate the iron I guess.

Iron is best absorbed in an acidic environment, and vitamin C is acidic; therefore, it aids in iron digestion. Taking a tablespoon of ACV with your iron would also help.

Spirulina and chlorella are both great sources of iron, and blackstrap molasses is a good source of many vitamins and minerals. Greens are great because they not only contain lots of iron, but, even more important, lots of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the best blood-builder known to man. Wheatgrass juice may very well be the second-best source of chlorophyll known (chlorella is the best).

[aviatrix79]

Aviatrix, you're comparing regular nettles to dried parsley - seeing as greens are almost entirely water by weight, stinging nettle would have more iron then parsley if they are in the same state (both fresh/both dried). Also, stinging nettle is one of the best treatments for anemia there is - levels of iron alone are not as important as how well that iron is absorbed. I don't know how it works so well, but I have personally used stinging nettle juice to treat many people with anemia, and they have all had iron levels enter healthy ranges within days.

Hi Living Food, yeah I was in a hurry at the time and couldn't find raw parsley on that site. I researched this before but couldn't remember the exact numbers of raw. However I looked for it through google and found it on that site and raw parsley still has more than double the amount of iron than stinging nettle.

http://www.ironrichfood.org/iron-content-of-parsley-raw/
http://www.ironrichfood.org/iron-content-of-stinging-nettles-blanched-northern-plains-indians/

Stinging Nettle has 1.6mg of iron per 100 grams. There's 89 grams in a cup, therefore there is just 1.424 grams of iron in a cup (1.6/100x89)
Raw Parsley has 6.1mg of iron per 100 grams. There's 60 grams in a cup, therefore there is 3.66 grams of iron in a cup (6.1/100x60)

Iron in raw parsley is easily absorbed (and stored) because raw parsley is rich in vitamin C and has more of it than an orange (especially in the stems).

Now if one eats a big serve of tabouli, they'll get plenty of iron, especially if they have it with quinoa. Parsley's also easy to source... my backyard is full of it, and it's cheap to buy. Stinging nettle isn't as readily available (not here anyway) and has to bought at a health food shop. I've been very anemic twice, once when I first went raw many years ago and had no idea what I was doing and three years ago when I suffered from malabsorption due to severe gastritis. Both times I used parsley (and other things ofcourse) to get my levels back up, both in my blood and stored iron.

[aviatrix79]

And while I'm on the subject of parsley, I just found this little piece on a word doc that I wrote and published (don't ask me where I forget lol) many years ago. It's interesting and probably useful info to raw foodies so I'll paste it here.


Fresh, raw parsley is one of the most underrated, nutrient-dense herbs that many take for granted. Packed with vitamins, minerals and enzymes, parsley has been used for centuries for it's medicinal purposes and unfortunately, today, many raw parsley sprigs are left uneaten on the dinner plate.
The health benefits of raw parsley includes:
- Blood purifier: it cleanses the blood,strengthens veins and arterial walls and promotes the growth of healthy red blood cells. It's antioxidant properties fights damage caused by free radicals.
- Immunity: Fights bacterial, fungal and viral infections.
- Breath freshener: cures bad breath by eliminating common bacteria the lives in your gums.
- Strong teeth and bones: The combination of calcium and fluorine (not fluoride) creates a hard surface on teeth and bones.
- Digestion: supports the liver, kidneys and adrenal glands. It stimultes the spleen therefore promoting digestion of food, absorption of nutrients and elimination of toxins. Eliminates gastrointestinal negative bacteria and improves intestinal flora.
- assists in maintaining a healthy weight.

Nutritional value:
High in vitamin C, vitamin A, Iron, beta carotene, vitamin B12, chlorophyll, calcium, essential oils, proteins, flavonoids, phosphorus, manganese, inositol, sulphur, vitamin K, more vitamin C than citrus fruits and has just about all other known nutrients.

[Living Food]

The "culinary herbs" are extraordinarily nutritious, as are weeds. Ordinary leafy greens pale in comparison to them.

On the subject of providing useful info, another great herb is oregano (over 200,000 ORAC - highest rating known - and anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and great for killing parasites). If you're lucky enough to have access to wild oregano you should definitely take advantage of it.

One more thing - its always better to grow these yourself or find them in the wild, because they pick up so many nutrients and modern farm soil is so depleted of virtually all of them. Plants can't pick up nutrients that aren't there. Freshness is also a factor.

[aviatrix79]

That's true, I grow so much myself. Currently I have swiss chards, spinach, choy sum, onions, garlic,(garlic shoots are great in salads), parsley, sage, coriander, dill, chillies (3 types), limes, lemons, kefir lime leaf, oregano, mint, thyme, basil (italian and thai), lemongrass (also a good source of iron), ginger, turmeric root, galangal. I was even growing goji berries but it got ruined in a hail storm. I grew some from dried goji berries by soaking them, removing the seeds while wet, then drying them again... very easy to grow!