Iron Deficient

I had my bloods taken for an overall health check and test, as I felt my energy was quite low despite eating lots and exercising to get rid of the 'fatigue' feeling.

I got the results back and turns out I'm iron deficient. I have a follow up doctor's appointment next week, and will obiviously heed his advice as a professional and take any supplements needed.

However, I wondered if anyone had any experience or advice to give on this? I had a quick look and found this for foods high in iron:

http://www.weightlossforall.com/iron-rich-foo d.htm

I am a meat-eater although probably don't eat enough due to the high cost of good quality meat. I mainly eat chicken and mince (would eat steak every day if I could!)

I do love pate which is lucky so I will be eating more of that to boost my iron. However, it is also quite high fat. I don't like shell fish so really could only eat anchovies from the list of sea food.

Could anyone recommend foods rich in iron that don't have an overly high fat content, or if they are high in fat, recommend a way around this? Basically, a diet rich in iron that won't go against my lose weight and get regime?

You should aim to get 25-30% of your daily calories from fat.  Fat allows your body to absorb certain vitamins and it also makes meals more satisfying.  So don't be too worried about increasing your fat intake.

Edited to say... since you're clinically underweight you should be aiming to eat more fats in order to give yourself the 2500 cals a day you need to gain.

Best bet are the dark green vegetables like cabbage and broccoli.  Also things like beans, lentils and chickpeas are quite rich in iron and they're very low in fat.  Dried apricots are a less obvious source.  Wholemeal bread and other wholegrain foods are good.  Fortified breakfast cereals tend to have iron added. Whole eggs (it's the yolk that contains the iron) are a good choice and the small amount of fat they contain is fine as part of a healthy diet.  Pate is pork or chicken liver blended with equal amounts of butter so but you could enjoy small amounts of lamb liver braised in stock .... very rich in iron.  And why don't you seek out cheaper cuts of beef like oxtail, stewing steak and brisket?  They need long, slow cooking in a casserole to make them palatable but they taste superb when done.

Make sure you get plenty of vitamin C with your extra iron... this helps the body absorb it.  And reduce your caffeine intake from coffee and cola drinks as that has the reverse effect.

Good luck

hey i too have had problems iwth iron deficiency... even after taking double the recommended dose of iron supplements i was still deficient! however i would recommend lean meats like lamb, as well as baby spinach, and eggs. and yes as gi-jane said, increase your vitamin c intake... perhaps have an orange or kiwi fruit before or after dinner to aid absorption. good luck.

Thanks gi-jane and isabelle_!

I do think I get 25% of my calories from fat. I use a different website for my calorie counting and it gives an overall percentage graph each day of where your cals come from - I think I have the protein/fat/carbs ratio just right.

I think I am going to make a conscious decision to eat more foods with iron. When I first suspected I might be iron deficient (low energy, bad moods, very pale skin etc.) I rested on my laurels that I loved red meat. But now I'll ensure I have bran flakes most days, and eat some form of red meat and leafy green vegetable. When I came in from work I had pate on toast, and then chilli con carne with lean beef mince for dinner.

That's really interesting about the Vitamin C - I'll pick up some supplements of this tomorrow.

Thanks for sharing your side of it isabelle_, it is strange despite double the dose you're still deficient! What side effects did you first notice, and when you started taking the pills did you notice any change at all? I'm quite looking forward to sorting this out as recently my energy really has been so low, and keeps dipping (I think I turn to caffeine and chocolate to combat the low energy which leads to spikes and crashes) so having a stable amount of energy, and improved moods, will be most welcome!

hi all - I have been taking iron supplements after being diagnosed as iron deficient and last time i got my blood tests done i found that i wasn't deficient anymore. I am wondering if i should keep taking the tablets as I am not a huge meat eater or if I should stop? Are there any problems with me taking a daily supplement?

I'm afraid I can't help eringo2, as I haven't even been to the doctor to get my supplements let alone started taking them! I'd recommend going back to see your doctor about this, as maybe eventualy you can stop taking them but it may be too soon... although that's great news about not being deficient any more!

hi runjenrun - i got some more tablets on my way to work today as I think I should stick with them a bit longer and have been feeling a bit tired of late so hopefully this will give me a boost! :) Good luck!

I was also deficient so I started taking iron supplements and my iron has been normal since then. I stopped taking supplements around 1 year ago because I was logging all my food here and it was telling me how much iron I was getting so I found that I was eating more than 100% everyday. I talked with my doctor and we wanted to see if that would do without the supplements. I've been measuring my iron levels every 6 months and so far everything is going well. I recommend going to your doctor to get your values if you stop taking your iron supplements. BTW I don't eat much meat, but I eat a lot of cereal which is fortified with plenty of iron.