Extremely low on Iron

[DutchGirlGoneRAW]

Okay so both my dad and I have started eat raw about 2 months ago and now we are both extremely low iron. I don't want to take supplements and neither does he. What can we eat to raise our iron? The other thing is my dad's iron is so low that it could cause heart problems. If you guys could help that would be Great :)

[sport]

Do you have any access to wild nettles. They are very good and can be juiced or added to a smoothie.
Kale is good.
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=38372

[sport]

I use cronometer to check my nutrients on a daily basis and I always have away more iron than I need (sodium is the only mineral that I have a problem with).
I have checked today so far and even though I have only had 74% of my calories I have had 92% of my iron.
Honeydew melon alone gave me 27% of what I needed for the day

[RawKnitster]

A heaping Tablespoon of Vitamineral Green has 150% the RDA of iron. Alissa sells it in her store. I have a spoonful every day, either added to a green smoothie or a superfood elixer (a smoothie with herbs . For a quickie meal before dashing out the door, I blend a spoonful of VG with an orange and a cup of water. Having citrus/Vit C with iron helps the body utilize the iron.

[Shels]

Nutritional yeast is supposed to be great for this. Plus, it so so yummy and cheese-like. If you don't want to bother making crackers or sauces, you can just sprinkle some on salad/soup.

[Heatherh7147]

You can use fitday.com to log what you eat daily and see your deficiencies. I, too, am low in iron so I have researched foods highest that I can eat raw. Here are my favorite: Raw cacao, kale, leafy greens, AFA Blue Green Algae, spirulina, the herb chickweed, dandylion greens. Also know that coffee can inhibit iron absorption, and copper must be present in the body for iron to be absorbed.

[Eva]

Do you do >>GREEN SMOOTHIES<< with hard-core greens like dandelion greens, nettles, kale or similar?! Drink at LEAST 1 liter DAILY to (I hope!) see an improvement quickly.

I went from anemic to not even close to it. Now I can give blood without even thinking about it because my iron levels are SO healthy!

Wishing you the best of luck!

[sport]

Nettles are at their best for iron in May (at least in my part of the world). When I was little it was a tradition to make nettle soup on the 1st of May for this reason.
This year I intend to go nettle harvesting during the first week in May and freeze them at their best.

[Raw Rabbit]

I am low in iron too. The doctors suggested dark meat or dark leafy vegetables. I hate meat and I love my greens since I began to learn about raw. Days when I consumed a green smoothie I could instantly feel a difference, I didn't feel lethargic or nearly as cold. I am always cold and finally know why after getting my blood taken a few weeks ago! I totally forgot about how green smoothies make me feel, I'm gonna make one bright and early tomorrow morning to sip on througout the day. I hope I helped, you probably already figured out what is best for you, but so many people have responded to me I just had to return the favor. Best of luck!

[devil's angel]

spinach and raisins are an excellent source of iron ... u should do the green smoothie with an orange spinach a handful of raisins and any of the other suggesstions u have read on here . good luck .

[Galaxy]

i think cherries are a great source of iron as well and oh so delicious!

[Dent de Lion]

I've heard you need to eat lots of vitamin C at the same time you have iron.

[sport]

I've heard you need to eat lots of vitamin C at the same time you have iron.

You will find that there is lots of vit C in foods that contain Iron.
200grms of spinach gives me 68% of my needed iron and 75% of my vit C.

[Raw Yogini]

Yes, it's important to have vitamin C with your iron. That's why green smoothies are so awesome. You get your iron from the leafy greens, then the vitamin C from the fruit. Perfect combo. Hope you are doing better.

[Arky]

Plenty of good suggestions already in this thread. I just wanted to add that beets are known to be helpful in building the blood, as is wheatgrass juice (if you look back through traditional naturopathy literature, anything rich in chlorophyll is considered to be beneficial for building the blood, and although it may seem counter-intuitive, rectifying low iron isn't considered to be purely about consuming only those foods which are specifically high in iron, very useful though they are, of course, in this situation).

Although I have my reservations about Kervran's hypotheses (and his book, 'Biological Transmutations', is an exceedingly dry and challenging read), I still concede that he may have been onto something, in the sense that certain enzyme systems in animal physiology (humans are animals ;) ) may well be, via molecular mechanisms as yet unidentified, capable of 'transmuting' certain mineral elements from one type to another. I retain an open mind about it. Certainly, it is fascinating that many classical naturopathic doctors (Dr Bernard Jensen particularly springs to mind) succeeded in healing anaemic patients largely through the use of chlorophyll, which is, as far as I understand it, a magnesium-based compound, not an iron-based one. Interesting.