Anemic and Vegetarian, what should I eat? how can I start eating meat again?

My doctor just told me that I am anemic. At least, now, i know why I was tired all the time with no energy to work out. he asked me to buy a multivitamins Ferrose Sulfate ( spelling?) now, I need to know how to eat properly to help with the treatment.

1- It has been more than 13 years I haven't had red meat. I am willing to try. how do I pick lean meat that doesn't have tons of fat? turkey? or chicken? currently, I can eat fish ( halibut, tuna and salmon), is that enough?

is it necessary to switch to eating meat? I will do it if it will make me feel better and have energy again.

here is what I read on http://www.dietitian.com/iron.html

Iron in non-meat foods is called non-heme iron. Vegetarians should eat dark green leafy vegetables, broccoli, legumes, yeast leavened whole grain breads, iron-enriched pasta, rice and cereal and meat analogs which are high in iron. Unfortunately, the iron in these foods is not as absorbable as the iron in meat.

any comments?

Thanks

I don't eat red meat, but coming out of my vagetarianism I started with eggs, then fish, and graducally added in small amounts of chicken. Good luck :)

I am a pesctarian (sp) I eat seafood and no meat!  I have always had to take iron pills to control my anemia.  But then I would be hugging the toliet from taking them,  I started taking them at night right before I went to sleep... I no longer feel tired and I have lots of energy.... now I take a once a day energy multi-vitamin in the morning and then a iron pill at night.  I know how awful you can feel with the deficiancy... try taking the tablet and give it time:)

thanks. do you guys know when can I see some improvements if I take the supplements? like a month?? 

I was seriously anemic about 10 years ago.  My doctor had me taking the iron supplements with food, 3 times a day.  I made no change in my meat eating habits (I eat red meat about 2 times/week).  My blood work came back normal within 6 weeks.

That amount of iron caused a serious tendency to constipation.  I handled that by drinking lots of water (even more than usual) and having one portion of dried fruit every morning (doesn't have to be prunes if you don't like them, try dried figs, apricots, or whatever you do like.  Personally, I like prunes!).

thank you so much. I love prunes. they are just high in sugar. :( so I avoid them if I want to lose weight which I do. but Why dried fruits? can I eat fresh apricots, figs and prunes? I only see dried prunes and figs around.

do you think fiber will work ? But I have a stomach inflammation. I should reduce my fiber intake.

thanks again :)

although it may be easier to sort out the anemia by adding meat products, it is certainly not necessary and it wouldn't be a huge challenge through vegetarianism. Plently of vegetarians are perfectly healthy, maybe you could try the vegetarian forum? There may be people who went through this like you and found out what they needed to do to sort themselves out.

However, if you don't have any particular reason for being vegetarian, I guess there isn't much need to stay one?

If your diet is already high in fiber, the dried fruit may not be necessary -- you should ask your doctor.  At that time, my fiber was only around 15 grams/day, and I found the dried fruit easy to add into my diet without "bulking" up too much (dried apricots, for instance, have the same amount of fiber as a fresh one, but is a smaller volume.  Also, they are good in the winter when apricots come from a long ways away and aren't that good to boot.).  The water, however, is key!

BTW, that is a side advantage of logging my intake and making better food choices.  My daily fiber now averages above 30 grams per day.

You can have a healthy vegetarian diet & not be anaemic but you have to be very, very conscientious about your food intake if you have a tendency to be low on iron.  Non-meat, iron-rich foods include pulses (beans, lentils, chickpeas), dried apricots, dark green vegetables, whole eggs, fortified breakfast cereals, wholemeal bread, cashew nuts .... BUT... you need quite a lot of them and you need to combine them with plenty of  vitamin-C rich foods at the same time. 

 Same applies to the iron pills... drink them down with something like cranberry juice to get the maximum effect.  If you'd like to retry red meats choose things like lean beef fillet... a  3oz portion has about the same calories as a chicken breast.  The fat isn't an issue really.

In terms of the iron tablets, your doctor should have told you what the correct dose for you to take was depending on your blood count. Normally, you take Ferrous Sulphate 200mg three times a day if you are very anaemic, for about three months, but the dosage depends on how serious your anaemia is. You then have one a day preventatively if you keep relapsing.

If you have 25g of fibre a day you should not experience any abdominal discomfort.

Original Post by gi-jane:

You can have a healthy vegetarian diet & not be anaemic but you have to be very, very conscientious about your food intake if you have a tendency to be low on iron.  Non-meat, iron-rich foods include pulses (beans, lentils, chickpeas), dried apricots, dark green vegetables, whole eggs, fortified breakfast cereals, wholemeal bread, cashew nuts .... BUT... you need quite a lot of them and you need to combine them with plenty of  vitamin-C rich foods at the same time. 

 Same applies to the iron pills... drink them down with something like cranberry juice to get the maximum effect.  If you'd like to retry red meats choose things like lean beef fillet... a  3oz portion has about the same calories as a chicken breast.  The fat isn't an issue really.

 

 

 fortified breakfast cereal like what? do you know a good brand ? or are you just talking about grains like millet and buckwheat? 

so egg whites won't really help. I think the iron is in the yolks. right?

I suffered from anemia two years ago and when I started taking supplements, I had bad bloating and conspiation. A dietitian told me that there are two kinds of iron, one causes bloating and the other doesn't. do you have any ideas on that?

Original Post by nat1968:

In terms of the iron tablets, your doctor should have told you what the correct dose for you to take was depending on your blood count. Normally, you take Ferrous Sulphate 200mg three times a day if you are very anaemic, for about three months, but the dosage depends on how serious your anaemia is. You then have one a day preventatively if you keep relapsing.

If you have 25g of fibre a day you should not experience any abdominal discomfort.

 the doctor described 350 mg a day and didn't tell me how many times. He is not my primary care physician. I just had to see him because it was an emergency. that day, i was very tired that day and couldn't even stand. I needed to see a doctor in a hurry. I think i should call and ask. thanks for bringing that up.

I am just scared of constipation. I know it will happen.

you absolutely do not have to eat meat. I have been vegan for 5 years and have been tested for anemia every year, each test coming up negative.

I dont even take supplements - most cereals, breads, etc are vitamin fortified. Spinach and lentils are also great sources of iron - these should be a part of a balanced vegan diet anyway.

Im sorry to hear about your anemia, I would suggest taking the iron pill called Slow FE.  It  is a slow release tablet. Yes sometimes iron can cause constipation but generally that is with cheaper iron pills that your body may have a hard time absorbing. As some one else suggested swalling them with cranberry juice will help too b/c the vit. C will help with absorption.  You could use OJ too. Dont take with milk b/c the calcium inhibits absorption.  I would try that first before eating meat if you really dont want too. Good Luck!

so 200 - 350 mgs per day? 

I was just diagnosed anemic/iron deficient too. 

I was prescribed 80 mg tablets - Iron Sulfate... per day. Is that not enough?

I am going to take my multivitamin every day too. There is calcium and iron in it...I thought that calcium prevents absorbtion of iron? What is the point then?

Are you also Vitamin D Deficient? 

I am so glad that there is a reason for my symptoms...And they will hopefully go away.

I too am basically ovo-lacto vegetarian that eats seafood now and then. Though I am thinking of adding some fish oil supplements.

so 200 - 350 mgs per day? 

I was just diagnosed anemic/iron deficient too. 

I was prescribed 80 mg tablets - Iron Sulfate... per day. Is that not enough?

I am going to take my multivitamin every day too. There is calcium and iron in it...I thought that calcium prevents absorbtion of iron? What is the point then?

Are you also Vitamin D Deficient? 

I am so glad that there is a reason for my symptoms...And they will hopefully go away.

I too am basically ovo-lacto vegetarian that eats seafood now and then. Though I am thinking of adding some fish oil supplements.

thanks everyone. I appreciate the replies.

cel321, I will ask about this pill. but why slow release? I need an immediate and urgent amount of iron simply because I have energy crisis everyday by the end of the day and I end up skipping the gym. 

but I used to eat my cereals with milk. should I stop? just eat oats with water?

caloriewarrior, I am sorry to hear about your anemia.please follow what your doctor said. everyone is different, you know? maybe I just need more and you don't need more than 80mg. 

I am so glad too to know the reason for my symptoms too :) we will succeed.. we will overcome this. 

let us share a diet plan together. I am sure the cc community will help us with great ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the best snacks in our case.

by the way, talking about getting vitamin C with iron. does OJ have more vitamin C than the regular orange? I love eating oranges but it has been a long time since I had OJ. simply I am trying to avoid sugar.

Hi Safina1,

Anemia covers a very broad range of vitamin deficiencies (ex. a vitamin B6 or deficiency can cause microcytic or "small cell" anemia, while a vitamin B12 or folic acid deficiency can cause megaloblastic or "large cell" anemia) - make sure that your doctor has indicated that you are actually low on iron.

Assuming you have an iron deficiency:

The information that you have is fairly accurate. However, non-heme iron for an average omnivore makes up 85-90% of the iron in our diet, while heme iron ony makes up 10-15%. Heme iron, which comes from meat, fish, eggs, and poultry is absorbed more easily, while non-heme iron (found in plant foods and supplements) is absorbed less easily.

If you are vegetarian and NOT vegan, you may want to consider incorporating eggs into your diet. The daily recommended intake for iron is 8.1mg/d for women.

Other things you can do, other than adding more iron, is to eat foods that will help you to absorb iron from non-heme sources. For example, vitamin C (found in many fruits and vegetables) aids in the absorption of iron.

Foods that are high in fibre, manganese, calcium, phosphorus and zinc result in decreased absorption of iron. Lots of vitamins use the same uptake pathway as iron in the body, so you get this antagonistic effect where the "non-iron nutrient" gets uptaken over the iron. What you could also do is ensure that when eating foods with THESE nutrients (which you, undoubtedly need), don't consume your iron at the same time. For example eat foods that are high in vit c and iron in the morning, and move foods high in these other vitamins until later in the day.

Original Post by safina1:

 fortified breakfast cereal like what? do you know a good brand ? or are you just talking about grains like millet and buckwheat? 

so egg whites won't really help. I think the iron is in the yolks. right?

 I'd strongly recommend that you get more clued up on nutrition.  This website is a good place to start... http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/nutriti onessentials/vitaminsandminerals/ and the page I've linked you to gives you lots of good info on where to get the major vitamins and minerals.  If you click through to 'iron' you'll find you need 14.8mg a day (once your iron levels are back to normal).  So when it comes to a breakfast cereal, read the nutrition panel.  Take this All Bran. as an example.  If the panel says that a 31g serving contains 30%  (4.4mg) of your daily iron requirement then that's a good choice.  This is one time when a manufactured product has some advantages over an unprocessed one.

When it comes to eggs... you'll see that one large fresh whole egg contains 5% of your daily iron requirement, whereas one large fresh egg white contains 0%.  So yes, eat the whole eggs from now on.

OJ, which tends to be made from concentrate, often contains more sugar than oranges.  If you want to increase your vitamin C intake try to get a good range of OJ, cranberry juice, fresh citrus, kiwifruit, dark green veggies, sweet potatoes etc..... the better the variety you can get the better the nutrition.

The slow release just means that it will release throughout the entire day and not try to dissolve all at once for you to absorb.   It is gentler on your stomach. I took these while I was pregnant for my anemia.  I actually did not become constipated from these. They do make them in generic form which work just as well and can save you some money too. 

SEE this site http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?CA TID=100155&id=prod3608