boosting iron levels

[uk elephant]

Just had a chat with my doc about the latest blood tests. Apparently my iron levels are at the very low end of normal which could explain my persistent fatigue. But he was hesitant to prescribe supplement tablets and suggested increasing dietary iron first as a more long term solution. So now I need to know, what food should I eat more of? I generally eat a pretty varied diet and I'm not vegetarian. But I do not like liver (except liver pate which I do eat regularly). I picked up a bag of spinach at the grocery store today to have for lunches. Any other suggestions for good sources of iron?

[redrhodie]

I understand that cooking in cast iron pots boosts your iron levels.

[deeaimond]

Just had a chat with my doc about the latest blood tests. Apparently my iron levels are at the very low end of normal which could explain my persistent fatigue. But he was hesitant to prescribe supplement tablets and suggested increasing dietary iron first as a more long term solution. So now I need to know, what food should I eat more of? I generally eat a pretty varied diet and I'm not vegetarian. But I do not like liver (except liver pate which I do eat regularly). I picked up a bag of spinach at the grocery store today to have for lunches. Any other suggestions for good sources of iron?

happened to me before. I think to take darker green vegetables such as kale, broccoli as opposed to cabbage and cauliflower. Also more liver and darker meats such as beef?

but honestly, i found it easier to take a small iron tablet along with more iron rich foods when i was feeling a little fatigued, i'd be right as rain in 2 days, then i'll stop... till when i next feel too tired. usually after my menses. There is only so much liver and red meat one can eat. Liver is very fattening too...

[witeowl]

Nothing like a nice, juicy steak, I say. I have to have one at least once a month... if you get my drift.

[tulip]

Iron pills have messed with my stomach in the past, although I have not tried them in decades. Maybe they've improved.

In addition to lots of dark green leafy veggies (I make spinach lasagne in my crock pot using frozen spinach if fresh is not available), I keep a supply of beef in my freezer and try to have some at least once a week. Some people don't think that's very healthy for the planet or for people, but it's what works for me. BTW, I get my beef directly from a local farm. It's grass fed, yadda yadda yadda.

[ny biker]

Iron from vegetables is not absorbed as well as iron from meat, but having something with lots of vitamin c like citrus fruits/juice or tomatoes along with the vegetables improves the absorption.

[uk elephant]

I'll stock up on some good beef next time I go shopping. BF will be very happy with more steak dinners. I'll try to incorporate more leafy greens too. Any good recipies to suggest?

[alpinerabbit]

I think I read you'd have to eat a cow to really boost iron levels.


How about an iron shot? Pills you have to take forever to have an effect.

[Wahine]

I'll stock up on some good beef next time I go shopping. BF will be very happy with more steak dinners. I'll try to incorporate more leafy greens too. Any good recipies to suggest?

I love stir frying spinach in a cast iron pan with olive oil and garlic until wilted and adding in some diced tomato at the end, just long enough to heat them up and soften them a bit. It helps you get a lot of spinach into you easily.

[Grog]

I have an iron radar. I have discovered over the years that a lot of the foods I love and crave have lots of iron in them. My iron level has never been low... (I discovered a few years back that the gene of hemochromatosis runs in my family. Those who develop the disease just keep accumulating iron beyond healthy levels and "poison" themselves. Thankfully I don't have the disease, but this probably explains why I love iron-rich foods so much.)

According to the Wikipedia "iron" article, here is a pretty good list of my culinary tastes:

Good sources of dietary iron include red meat, fish, poultry, lentils, beans, leaf vegetables, tofu, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, fortified bread, and fortified breakfast cereals. Iron in low amounts is found in molasses, teff and farina. Iron in meat (haem iron) is more easily absorbed than iron in vegetables,[26] but heme/hemoglobin from red meat has effects which may increase the likelihood of colorectal cancer.[27][28]

(I love molasses. On buckwheat crepes. Two excellent sources of iron.)

I would like to add: oysters, clams, blood sausage (in the red meat category), eggs, whole wheat products (such as Shreddies, mmmm!), other soy products, all the good stuff.

[KnottedYet]

You and I are in the same boat. (or at least, a very similar boat. Can we choose the boat? I'd like a luxury sailboat with a full staff ready to fulfill my every whim...)

Anyway, I've been cooking in cast iron forever. I've eaten all the high iron goodies I can find. Finally I'm faced with taking iron pills. They have brought me up to low-almost-normal-but-not-quite-normal-yet.

At the moment I'm on 325 mg ferrous sulfate and 500 mg vitamin C taken together every night with dinner. I've had no stomach trouble at all. (of course, I'm taking them along with all the other celiacker malabsorbed vits, but they aren't bothering me either so I'm assuming everything is ok with the iron)

If diet and cast iron don't bring you up to speed, I'd try the vit C and iron combination.

[shootingstar]

Meanwhile I keep on forgetting to take prescribed iron supplements...

I doubt I will be ingesting more beef/pork just to get iron in. And smell of liver to prepare at home, actually now makes me abit nauseous..though as a child I did eat and enjoy liver. (Mother steamed liver slices in abit soy sauce, minced ginger root and wine/sherry in a dish)

[bacarver]

I have 1/2 teaspoon OJ concentrate (yep, straight out of the cardboard carton) with a small handful of frosted wheat cereal (90% iron content) plus a daily vitamin containing iron plus oatmeal mixed with a little cream of wheat.
This works for me. I used to get turned away at the blood drive. Hasn't been a problem since I started my better living through food chemistry experiment.
Barb

[uk elephant]

ooo....and excuse to go shopping for cooking stuff! I'll go hunting for a cast iron pot on Saturday. Will be ideal for making wintery stews now that the summer weather is just about over for this year. Beef stew simmered slowly in a cast iron pot should help, with lots of dark green leafy things thrown in. I do like black pudding (blood sausage), but I prefer the Norwegian variety. I will have to research the various butchers to find one I like. I started my iron rich diet today for lunch: spinach salad with egg, crackers with liver pate, glass of juice.

[tulip]

My mother used to give me a spoonful of molasses every day. My dentist didn't like that, but I suppose it kept my iron up.