Low iron levels

[Adam]

What kinda stuff is good for iron deficiency?

I get blood tests done every few months and, despite taking iron tablets for quite a while before, my iron levels are still pretty low

What will help with that?

I am vegetarian btw

[Semicolon]

Do you still hate vegetables? Eat vegetables.

[TheoK]

Iron pills. Or red meat

['Butterflies']

Fruit.

List of Fruits With Good Iron Content

•Acerola fruit
•Abiyuch fruit
•Apples
•Apricots
•Avocado
•Blackcurrant
•Bananas
•Boysenberries
•Breadfruit
•Cantaloupes
•Carissa
•Casaba Melon
•Cherries
•Elderberries
•Fig fruit
•Gooseberries
•Grapefruit
•Grapes
•Guava
•Jackfruit
•Kiwifruit
•Litchis
•Loganberries
•Mangoes
•Mulberries
•Natal-plum
•Papaya
•Passion fruit
•Peaches
•Pears
•Pineapples
•Plantains
•Plums
•Pomegranates
•Prickly pears
•Raspberries
•Rhubarb
•Tamarinds

I really love pineapple and kiwi.

BTW, its best to eat fresh fruit. The tinned stuff isnt as good for you.

[Adam]

Ah I've been eating fruit quite a bit. On that list though, only apples and raspberries

Semi I hate vegetables. I can try and eat spinach though maybe. That's good for iron isnt it?

['Butterflies']

You may want to keep in mind that some foods actually interfere with iron absorption. These include phytates and fibers in whole grain cereals and nuts, calcium and phosphorus in milk, the chemical EDTA in food additives, and tannic acid that appears in tea, coffee, nuts, and some fruits and vegetables. You might want to avoid eating these foods with iron rich foods if you’re trying to increase the iron your body absorbs.

http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/fruit-sources-iron

[Semicolon]

Ah I've been eating fruit quite a bit. On that list though, only apples and raspberries

Semi I hate vegetables. I can try and eat spinach though maybe. That's good for iron isnt it?

So I hear. There's no Popeye in the UK, is there?

Look for a way to eat vegetables that you find palatable. You've already eliminated one food group by being a vegetarian, so you can't afford to lose much more.

[Adam]

Haha yeah Ive seen popeye. Ok I will try spinach and possibly something else

I know broccoli is good but I just can't fucking stand it. The taste stays even after youve swallowed it too.

and butterflies, that isn't good. One of the bet things about my diet now is that I eat muesli with fruit and nuts in it every monring

But if I just have that in the morning, and avoid it the rest of the day, it's ok righT? It will only interfere with absorption if I'm eating it together wth the iron stuff yeah? Is that correct?

So say I have my muesli breakfast at 7am, how long will that affect iron absorption? When should I eat vegetables for example? Lunch? Or wait til evening.

Goddamiit this healthy eating shit is WAY more complicated than it looked back when I started trying

[Beardy McFuckface]

Looking up about it, apparently you'll have a harder time absorbing iron from vegetables than from meat.

[TheoK]

Looking up about it, apparently you'll have a harder time absorbing iron from vegetables than from meat.

Sure thing. There is no better "natural" iron source than red meat.

[Beardy McFuckface]

Depends, really. I don't eat a whole lot of red meat yet I have fairly high amounts of iron in my body.

[TheoK]

You must be a true Roman, Adam! Eat lots of pork meat!

['Butterflies']

and butterflies, that isn't good. One of the bet things about my diet now is that I eat muesli with fruit and nuts in it every monring

But if I just have that in the morning, and avoid it the rest of the day, it's ok righT? It will only interfere with absorption if I'm eating it together wth the iron stuff yeah? Is that correct?

So say I have my muesli breakfast at 7am, how long will that affect iron absorption? When should I eat vegetables for example? Lunch? Or wait til evening.

I dont know. TBH, I didnt even know about that until I found it on the internet. I take it that it means you'll be fine by lunch.

My advice is to snack on fruit with high iron throughout the day. Any time you feel a little bit hungry or thirsty, go and eat a bit of fruit with high iron.
If you still have low iron levels after that, then you probably would need to speak to your doctor, and maybe get medication.

[Adam]

I thought by now my levels would be ok, but I got my latest blood results yertday and they were still low

The results are fucking confusing to understand though, so maybe it's not as bad

It's not REALLY bad anyway. And even when they put me on the iron meds, they werent really strong ones

I will see when I next go to the hospital. Will ask them about it there

And that's kinda annoying about it being harder thru veg. I eat veg raw though, so maybe that will make up for it. Fucking hell.

Anyway I've never eaten red meat. Even before I went vegetarian, I was pretty much a no-meat person anyway, just the occasional chicken (and gelatine sweets ) so my going vegetarian hasn't really changed anything

tbh I'm more bothered by my inability to build up muscle. I'm still skinny as fuck.

[lutra]

Thyme. No vegetable or herb is richer in iron content than thyme.

Maybe, like I do, for instance, buy the stuff dried, all supermarkets sell it, and add it to your tea. 

No kid ya. Wishing to up your iron intake.. think of the simple herb named thyme.