Eradicating Iron Deficiency Anemia

You feel tired and weak. Your skin is pale. Your hands and feet feel cold. You feel dizzy. You could have iron deficiency anemia.

Anemia is when your body doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells. There are more than 400 types of anemia. One of the more prevalent kinds of anemia is caused by iron deficiency. Iron obtained from diet is transported to the bone marrow, where it is incorporated into the red blood cells.

Iron deficiency is caused in healthy people by poor dietary intake. Iron needs can range from 10-50 milligrams per day. The typical American diet has only 6-8 milligrams of daily iron. In addition to food, it is thought that using cast-iron cookware may add some iron to the diet.

Iron deficiency anemia is estimated to affect 2 billion people worldwide. Some common symptoms of iron deficiency anemia may include weakness or fatigue, dizziness, cold hands and feet, headache, poor mental concentration, and shortness of breath. Pale skin, lips, gums, and nail beds can indicate a more severe anemia.

Very severe anemia can lead to heart palpitations, sweatiness, and heart failure. Untreated iron deficiency anemia can cause serious health problems. Having too little oxygen in the body can damage organs. With anemia, the heart must work harder to make up for the lack of red blood cells or hemoglobin.  

Adult iron deficiency may happen if there are digestive disorders that prevent iron from being absorbed. It can also happen simply if there is not enough iron in your diet. Some medications and dietary supplements can have an adverse effect on iron levels. People taking medications or supplements on a regular basis should discuss their iron status with their healthcare providers. People over the age of 50 need about 10 mg of iron each day to stay healthy.

Female athletes can be at a higher risk for iron deficiency, as can male and female endurance or marathon runners. The type of impact done in running can cause increased red blood cell breakdown. The kidneys remove these broken blood cells from the body, resulting in anemia. This can often be solved with a few days rest with adequate diet and hydration.

Children need to absorb an average of 1 mg of iron per day for proper growth and development. Since children only absorb about 10 percent of the iron they eat, most children need to obtain 8-10 milligrams per day of iron. This need continues through adolescence, as growth-spurts and physical maturation require a lot of iron.

Healthy infants who are exclusively breastfed usually do not need iron supplements until they are 4-6 months old. After 6 months, breastfed infants should receive extra iron from iron-fortified infant cereals. Healthy, formula fed infants are usually given an iron-fortified infant formula from birth. After 4-6 months of age, iron-fortified infant cereals provide a good additional source of iron. Infants and children with iron deficiency anemia may have delayed physical development and cognitive issues.

Pregnant women often develop anemia. To help prevent this, women in child-bearing years should eat a diet sufficient in iron-rich foods. The recommended daily allowance of iron before pregnancy is 18 milligrams or two good dietary sources of iron daily. During pregnancy, dietary iron should increase to three or four servings every day. Iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy may increase the risk of a premature birth, having a low weight baby, and postpartum depression. Some studies also show an increased risk of infant death immediately before or after birth.

Dietary iron has two main forms: heme and nonheme. Plants and iron-fortified foods contain only nonheme iron. Animal protein, such as meat, seafood, and poultry contain heme and nonheme iron. Heme iron is more easily absorbed by the body. People who do not choose to eat animal protein need to include more servings of iron-containing plant foods to ensure adequate intake.

Meat, fish, and poultry are excellent sources of dietary iron. Iron is also present in eggs, green leafy vegetables, nuts, peas, beans, some soy products and whole-grain bread. Since plant-based iron isn’t easily absorbed, larger portions are required to obtain sufficient iron. See if you can increase your intake of dark, green veggies such as kale, collards, mustard, and beet greens along with spinach. Dried fruit, dried peas, nuts, enriched breads and cereal, and blackstrap molasses can help as well.

Vitamin C assists the body when it comes to absorbing iron. Cast-iron cookware does actually contain dietary iron. To release the iron, plan to include vitamin C containing ingredients, such as pineapple or orange juice, when sauteing greens in a cast-iron pan or adding tomatoes to beans simmering away in a cast iron pot.

When including iron-containing plant foods on the menu, consider combining them with strawberries, kiwi fruit, peppers and chilies, oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and their juices, tomatoes, mangos or papayas, and many green vegetables. Iron containing plant foods include lentils, black-eyed peas, soybeans, green or red cabbage, bok choy, raisins and prunes, mustard, collard, kale or beet greens, black beans, watermelon, garbanzo beans, seitan, tempeh, and iron-enriched cereals and grain products.

Managing dietary iron resources is within our reach. Include iron-rich foods in your daily menu planning for a healthy, active life.