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Iron deficiency anemia, a faithful companion of women – for life?
The last time I received medical feedback that I was still iron deficient was at a summer festival: even though I would have donated my blood for a day ticket, after an hour and a half of waiting in line and a quick blood test, it turned out that I could still not be a blood donor due to iron deficiency. I wasn’t surprised, since the topic came to the fore during all three pregnancies, and even from my teenage years I was afraid of a period of taking iron tablets, which I quickly ended with the decision that I would not live on tablets, but rather pay attention to a diet rich in iron.
That’s when the era of beetroot sandwiches began, which also didn’t last long (the red-soaked buns somehow always made me lose my appetite), then came spinach, which continues to this day: I’m happy to eat spinach food anywhere, anytime.
Being a fan of spinach alone did not fix my iron levels, but over the years, I have developed the belief that I am taking care of my iron supplementation. Then – as it should be – came the “kind warning” from life that I still have a lot to do with the subject: my daughter reached adolescence, and iron deficiency developed behind some scary symptoms. He’s also a fan of spinach.
What is iron deficiency?
I don’t want to joke about the topic, because the treatment of iron deficiency is much more complex than whether we like spinach or not. Although Popeye grew bulging muscles from her in the story, in real life the opposite happened to us: it was precisely the fact that my daughter became weaker and weaker that rang the alarm bells.
First, an intense workout caused him difficulty, then a hike up a steeper mountainside, then gym class at school, and finally climbing stairs. After a while, we noticed that he quickly got tired even from a walk, his heart was beating fast, he often felt dizzy and his head hurt. All of this increasingly influenced his everyday life – what used to be physically and mentally easy for him, became a challenge and even an obstacle that was difficult to jump over.
It’s as if something has gone wrong in a machine that was working well until then, which we call the body. The reason for the “malfunction” was already revealed at the first blood test: the amount of iron in his body had drastically decreased compared to the ideal value range.
That’s when I turned to our pediatrician, who patiently and very thoroughly explained the cause of my daughter’s ailments:
“Without adequate iron reserves, the house of cards of our well-being quickly collapses: we need iron for blood formation and for oxygen to reach the cells, and also for the normal functioning of the immune system, brain, skeletal muscles and heart muscle. Iron deficiency often goes hand in hand with a decrease in hemoglobin level, even though iron is bound to hemoglobin (i.e. the protein found in red blood cells) and transports oxygen.” I learned from him.
And at this point we come to anemia…
“Anemia, or anemia, is the condition when the amount of red blood cells or the amount of hemoglobin in them decreases – this is considered a popular disease today. Iron-deficiency anemia is caused specifically by the depletion of iron stores. From there, a straight path leads to fatigue, dizziness, and headaches, since the less hemoglobin cannot transport as much oxygen as is needed. It is the same background of pallor, which is also a typical, visible sign of the problem” the pediatrician continued.
That these are symptoms that practically all of us experience even regularly?
This is exactly why iron deficiency anemia is cunning: if we do not suffer from an accident, surgery or a disease involving a large loss of blood, then it develops almost unnoticed.
The body is somewhat able to adapt to the slow change: it compensates for a while, the physical symptoms do not appear immediately, but only after a while, and even then gradually – so you can catch the signs of lack of sleep, overwork, stress and the sky for a long time. to everything in the world that is part of our lives.
By the time a person realizes that it is not spring fatigue that has defeated him, and it becomes obvious that this kind of exhaustion can no longer be relieved in a weekend, by then, unfortunately, that particular warehouse may be so empty that it may take at least three, but even six months to uploading. Until then, the dizziness, the “fog in the head”, the suffocation from a few steps will remain.
Iron-deficiency anemia is an inherent feature of periods of rapid growth
When I wasn’t worried that my daughter might have something more serious, I often thought about how much I actually understand and feel what she’s going through – and at the same time, I don’t.
I had to admit to myself that even though I have had these symptoms since my teenage years, they were only to a much lesser extent, just to the point where I was able to sweep them under the rug. How much I could have improved my quality of life if, in addition to making the spinach pie, I paid a little more attention to iron supplementation!
My daughter’s body was ringing the alarm bells so loudly that it was impossible to ignore it – in fact, for a while it seemed almost unbelievable that iron deficiency was primarily responsible for all these problems. So much so that after she fainted, she was kept in the hospital for several days for examination, and when everything was found to be fine in the cardiological and neurological examinations, she was released on the fifth day with the casual phrase that “teenage girls know this”.
But it is also common in expectant mothers during pregnancy, as the developing fetus also uses the mother’s iron reserves, and it can also appear in babies between three and six months of age. For this reason, it may be important to start supplement feeding from the age of six months, even for babies who otherwise suck a lot and skillfully; the iron content of breast milk is low, moreover, breastfeeding mothers themselves are often iron deficient.
Another such period of our lives, when the rate of growth is particularly fast, is adolescence. Menstruation in girls adds to this with a big shovel: the monthly blood loss can also contribute to the decrease in the hemoglobin value. Especially if the bleeding is heavy and comes irregularly, even at shorter intervals.
Not all girls will automatically become anemic due to menstruation, but it is in the deck – and will remain in adulthood. Iron-deficiency anemia can also be caused by some malabsorption disorder, such as celiac disease or inflammatory bowel disease, or simply by low iron intake if we don’t eat enough iron-rich foods. Conversely, the latter may be the most obvious solution to iron deficiency: fortunately, iron loss can be compensated for by paying attention to nutrition.
Iron supplement without prickly pear
When I first heard about the “healing effect” of prickly pear, I thought it was just a bad joke. Unfortunately, it turned out that it was not at all: for a long time it was considered a well-known remedy for the treatment of iron deficiency. The spiked apple was left to rest overnight, and the next day the spikes were pulled out of the iron-enriched fruit and fed to the pale child.
I asked our pediatrician about this, and he said he hadn’t heard of any research that looked at how much iron is dissolved from a nail overnight into an apple, but he confirmed that this home practice really existed, but that the iron products that appear in pharmacies and drugstores are now completely pushed out.
He also said that although it seems easy to take an iron pill that can be bought anywhere, the long-term and effective solution lies in nutrition.
Animal-derived iron has a different structure than iron found in plants
And the human body is much better able to utilize the former. Numerically, it looks like only three to five percent of vegetable iron is absorbed in our body, and fifteen percent of animal iron (which is also quite a small amount, but still at least three times as much).
I admit, I was still shocked by the fact that I’m not a vegetarian, I just don’t eat meat every day. Of course, iron can be replaced without meat, but we tried to use iron-rich foods on all fronts based on the advice of our pediatrician.
Most of the animal-derived iron is found in liver (led by pork and foie gras), as well as in lamb and shellfish – these two towering over other meats.
The least is found in chicken breast, with duck, goose and veal in the middle.
Fortunately, egg yolk also goes well with iron – finally something we’ve been eating a lot of!
There is a significant amount of plant-derived iron in pistachios, poppies, and natural cocoa, but almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts are also worth munching on as iron intake.
There is an outstanding amount of iron in strawberries and rose hips, and among mushrooms, dried boletus.
Among legumes, lentils, beans and peas contain iron, among vegetables spinach (as if I already mentioned this…) and Swiss chard, sorrel and asparagus contain less.
In the cereal team, millet and oatmeal win the prize. Last but not least, I have to mention herbs: tea made from nettle or raspberry leaves can be a great source of iron to start the day.
It is important that vitamin C helps the absorption of iron, so there is no harm in adding another one to the list above. For example, it is a good idea to eat a salad with meat, but the absorption of vegetable iron, which is more difficult to use, can also be delayed with vitamin C, of course in a more natural form.
The absolute winner stands at the intersection of the two sets: the rosehip. It doesn’t hurt to make ourselves aware that artificially produced iron products cannot replace foods rich in iron and vitamin C, they only add something extra to the supplement – we call them diet for a reasonaccessoriesto.
Since many people are affected by iron deficiency anemia, everyone has their own tips on how to treat it – I have experienced, heard and digested this in recent months. But it is definitely important to seek expert advice on the subject if you become involved.
That’s all I could fit into this article; what was left out, write it in the comments!
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Heda Veronika
