How do low iron levels effect your body?
What can you do to increase them?
Went to doctors for blood work because i started losing my period(due to fast discontinued use of birth control pills). She gave me the results and mentioned that i have low iron levels and I was shocked. I eat healthy and normal. I eat a lot of seafood, white meat, fruits and sometimes veggies(veggies aren't my favorite) and other foods daily. I'm not sure what i'm doing wrong. She said i'm not anemic, but i'm not that far so i seriously need some advice. Also could my tiredness be caused by this?
PS. I do not eat red meat or eat dairy(lactose intolerant)
so non of these. Thanks!
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Your body needs iron so it can make hemoglobin, a substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to body tissues. Brain activity, breathing, cellular respiration and every activity of the body depends on there being enough iron in the blood. When your iron levels are low you are basically starving your body and all its systems and organs of oxygen. Iron is available in two forms heme and nonheme. Heme forms of iron are found in meat and poultry and are absorbed quite easily by the body. Nonheme iron is found in vegetable and grains and is absorbed less readily. Since you do not eat meat, you'll have to go for the vegetables and grains. Do not self medicate with supplements, this is because iron overload is just as dangerous as iron deficiency.
Hope it helped!
Low Iron Effects
Even when dietary iron intake is adequate, a deficiency can result from insufficient iron absorption. The amount of iron absorbed is affected by the composition of the diet. In a diet containing meat, an individual can absorb up to 20% of the iron in the diet, but in a vegetarian diet, an individual can absorb only 5% to 10% of the available iron.
Try eating beans, spinach (cooked), if you like liver (most people don't, but this is a great source of iron).
The lack of iron could be the cause of your fatigue or tiredness. You may also begin to get dizzy, get short of breath with little activity, Just be really careful and look out for these signs, which can mean that you have the onset of Anemia, which can be reversible by taking iron pills prescribed by doctors.
Having low irons levels will make you very tired and listless. So yes it will cause your tiredness. Iron is found very heavily in red meats and dairy, two of the things that you do not eat. Make sure you have told your doctor about not eating these things and ask for a supplement or maybe a food guide to help increase iron intake.
Yes tiredness, fatigue and crankiness are signs of low iron levels.
Maybe your body is not absorbing the iron properly also you mention that you do not eat red meat.
I did not for a while and was diagnosed as anemic.
What my GP recommended was Ferrous Fumarate 200 mg tablets (Iron in purer state.
They did make a difference within 2 weeks.
She recommended me this type of iron; apparently some other types are not as good.
You can get them over the counter. Good luck !
two years ago hi had to have iron put in to my body by intravenously .Once a week for five weeks. At that time i had no symptoms of any kind.Only the blood test indicated that i had low iron. Right now i find out that i have low iron and i am extremely tired. if i stay in bed up until noon by two pm i'm ready to go back to sleep again.My appointment is with a blood specialist on monday.
Tiredness is the number one effect of low iron. You can take an iron supplement or multi vitamin, but make sure it is food based and not mineral based. Also, spinach, chard and lentils are packed with iron. So are sunflower seeds......
Another idea is to start taking a digestion aid on a daily basis such as Kambucha and oregano oil, the better your digestion works, the better your body can soak up and utilize vitamins and minerals we get from foods.
well as an anemic at one time due to my eating habits while at college, i learned that i was tired all the time and couldn't function properly though i could still function normally. it was hard to get motivated to do anything even get out of bed. i suggest taking a daily vitamin and trying to eat some iron rich foods. eating dairy wouldn't do anything so don't worry about that, and red meat never hurts anyone in moderation, but i don't think it helps very well with iron anyway.
Low iron can make you tired and you are also more prone to be cold. You could try a multi-vitamin with extra iron or even a prenatal vitamin to help increase the iron in your blood.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/
http://www.foodshighiniron.com/ This site is the foods that are high in iron.
Well, it would really help if you'd eat red meat. Yes, having low iron can make you feel very tired and rundown. Be careful not to get too much iron because it can constipate you.