Iron deficiency in my 5 year old- please help

[firefaery]

Are you certain it's his iron that is low? There are many kids of anemia. IF it is iron, I'd wonder if he was not absorbing it properly, especially given the history of leaky gut.

Something you can look into are cell salts and he'd be a great candidate. They are the 12 inorganic materials necessary for life function and they assist in assimilation and digestion. I would look at bioplasma for him which is a combo of all 12. You can also look at ferrum phos (iron) on it's own. These are extremely helpful for kids and the elderly (those with the weakest digestion.)

Other than that make certain he's getting enough salt. Good salt. I would also say that herbal infusions are easy to make and can be used as the base for smoothies. Alfalfa, nettles and yellow dock may be a good place to start. Liquid chlorophyll is a great option as well.

Many doctors who work with kiddos with damaged guts do recommend meat ( and with good reason if you understand the biochemistry of what's happening ) but that doesn't mean it needs to happen. As long as you are diligent and watch the child...base your decisions on what's happening with them. Our bodies all function differently and it's important to remember that. Conversion can be an issue for them, as can processing. I'm not saying feed meat by a longshot. I'm just saying be open to what's going to be in your child's best interest at all times.

Foods that are high in iron are blackstrap molasses, apricots, dates, cherries, leafy greens etc. The dark circles under the eyes in my experience have quite a bit to do with mineral stores. That's why you often see them in "allergy kids." A leaky gut/candida/parasites/bacterial imbalances etc. all lead to difficulty in absorption and then, a deficiency in certain nutrients.

And just as a shout out....natural iron should not ever cause constipation. Synthetic iron almost always will.

I would also make sure the vitamin A and D as well as zinc stores are sufficient for your kiddo. Do you know the cause of the leaky gut?

[VZ2010]

Leaky gut and parasites go together. I know that sounds gross but that's a fact that you can confirm on line. If your son is still having problems, a $25 bottle of vermifuge and some coconut might do wonders for him. Coconut is a natural vermifuge and is also very tasty. I make coconut pancakes that are delish. Get unsweetened unsulfured coconut at Health food stores (also often at Asian stores). Mix the coconut with an egg, add some honey or stevia (or both) mix it and fry it in coconut oil. Delish. For variation and another great taste, add some unsweetened Hershey's Special Dark Powdered Baking Coco to the coconut mix. If you do not give your son eggs, you can try mixing the pancake with coconut flour, add a bit of coconut milk to make a sticky paste, then add the coconut flakes, stevia and honey, and fry it in the coconut oil. Give him one every day for a couple weeks. Kids put dirty hand in their mouth and nose and can pick up parasites like that, or from pets, or from produce that has a little dirt on it.

Better than the coconut though is a vermifuge called ParaClean. It's available on line. There are different products with a simlilar name but get the paraclean one. It's in a black and white bottle. It is NOT a drug. It's herbs--black walnut hulls, cloves, and wormwood. Here is a link. (I am not affiliated with this company--I used this product and it's amazing). You should take it too Mom. Take it as directed. If there is no dosage mentioned for children, ask the company who distributes it.

http://www.paraclean.com/overseas.htm


Again, I know it sounds bizarre, but I offered the info because I would hate to see a little boy suffering with all that. Here are some links for you to explore on this topic:

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=...p&fr=yfp-t-892


To your son's health.
God bless.
Vicky

Hi Everyone,

I posted awhile back about my son who was diagnosed with leaky gut syndrome and we are midway through our 3rd month of a very stringent elimination/rotation diet. He eats almost completely vegan and high raw and following the blood results from the doc for his allergies, I'd say 80% or more of his symptoms are completely gone. :) Very cool. Of course, I have to really be ontop of his diet and feed him certain foods on certain days, etc. We aren't out of the woods yet, but his nausea, vomiting, dry itchy eyes, and ezcema etc. are almost completely gone.

The only symptoms that are really concerning me at this point is that he is very pale and he has circles under his eyes. The bloodwork said he was low on iron and I have been giving him iron supplements weekly (powdered). He eats some fish which has iron, and spinach, broccoli, lots of dates...I'm wondering if I should switch to a liquid iron and if so, does anyone know of any good brand? Or other foods that are high in iron? His doctor is not pro-vegan, and really would like me to give him a burger once a week. Any advice?

As far as the circles under the eyes go, I once read that that was a sign of the kidneys not functioning well. I also know people who are veggie deficient that have those. The latter is definitely NOT the problem. He eats more fresh, dark leafy greens and other veggies than any kid I know! He is a great eater...I'm wondering what that could possibly mean? I've asked his doctor several times, but haven't gotten a clear answer. Any thoughts would be great.

[mary-anne]

i was really anemic person from my childtime.
the doctor sad to me that iron deficiency which i was reading about a lot is the most common blood disorder and it is caused by lack of iron.
Without a sufficient amount of iron the body can not produce enough hemoglobin.
I tried to use something that will help my body to produce more hemoglobin.
Almost all life of battle with anemia and it seems now i stoped to be anemic, my last researches was good.
All people who have same problem keep trying, never give up!

[Traceyraw]

It takes 2-3 months of taking iron to see the difference. Since I started juicing my greens I no longer have that problem.. Good luck for the little guy that is too much for a child to go through.

[Charybdisjim]

So there are main 3 dietary components within your control which go into total nutrient absorption. The direct nutrient content of the food is serves to inform the rough upper end limit of absorption and bioavailibility and there are also absorption enhancers and various anti-nutritional compounds. You've clearly done a very commendable job of of addressing absorption enhancers and total iron intake. While this is often sufficient to overcome any concerns of iron deficiency for those choosing raw food diets, for some individuals it can become helpful or even necessary to reduce the presence of anti-nutritional compounds.

Cooked food and meat might be the "easiest" way to provide that - but you do still have other options so that the burger now and then probably wasn't the greatest suggestion on his part. You can produce meals which are similarly high in iron and vitamin C content but significantly lower in levels of things like oxalic acid. Natural-fermentation pickling is a great way to do this. Pickled broccoli for example (I use stems for this) shows a reduction upwards of 70% of the levels of anti-nutritional compounds, introduces active cultures, and adds lactic acid (a good iron absorption enhancer). It has also been demonstrated to provide more absorbed iron per serving than un-pickled broccoli.


Pickling your own broccoli or other appropriate vegetables (if he develops a taste for it)

Some basic info on the possible advantages of including some pickled versions of high-iron veggies:
http://www.realpickles.com/health.html
Of course be aware that pickle site is meant to promote a product, but it does provide a decent summary of the potential reasons to consider making your own naturally fermented pickles and including as a small portion of a diet. As with any site that provides health advice which just happens to be their own product, consider that the the idea they're selling might be great but is probably just a little less fantastic than they make it out to be.

Carrots:

One thing worth mentioning is that recent studies have found that moderately increasing vitamin A intake (by moderate, I mean eating a carrot as a snack every day or two) can drastically improve hemoglobin levels in people with a deficiency. This was particularly interesting because they found that it wasn't an issue of vitamin A deficiency and that those who benefited (about 1/4 to 1/2 of deficiency cases studied) from slightly increasing vitamin A intake didn't necessarily have low intakes to begin with. I mention this last because it seems to only be applicable to a particular subsection of anemia cases and while it has been demonstrated to help some younger patients, the vast majority of instances were Women over 40. But hey if carrots work then that's a lot easier than making your own pickles.