Iron-rich foods

I had always managed to keep up with my workouts, even during and after my pregnancy, but
last month I felt a low energy sluggishness that had me cutting my gym time in half. After a trip
to the doctor I was stunned to find out I had low iron! Though iron is an important vitamin for
everyone, it is crucial to women throughout their lives. From puberty with the beginning of
menstruation, through the childbearing years, pregnancy, nursing, and into menopause iron is a
vital nutrient to keep women at their healthiest and best. Many women suffer from an iron
deficiency called anemia without ever realizing what they are experiencing. Signs of iron
deficient anemia include: feeling weak and tired for no reason, experiencing a slower energy in
your daily life, having trouble maintaining a normal body temperature (many women with
anemia are very cold, but this is not always the case), an increase of colds and other illnesses due
to a decrease of immune function, and glossitis (an inflamed tongue). If you’ve noticed any of
these symptoms recently it might be a good idea to try adding more iron into your diet. Those
most at risk for an iron deficiency are pregnant women, pre term and low birth weight babies,
infants and toddlers, teenage girls, women of childbearing years, people undergoing dialysis for
renal failure, and those with certain gastrointestinal disorders than cause them to not absorb iron
normally.
What’s the best way to add iron into your diet? Well, certainly the easiest is to start taking an
iron supplement. Many multi-vitamins have iron added (all prenatal vitamins do) and you can
also get a stronger iron supplement from your doctor. But many iron supplements can have side
effects that are unwanted such as constipation. Another way is to add more iron rich foods into
your diet. Meat and fish are great sources of iron; you can try chicken livers, oysters, beef, clams,
turkey, chicken, tuna, and even shrimp. But many of these foods can also be high in cholesterol
and off limits to vegetarians. Great non animal sources of iron include beans, oatmeal, spinach,
grits, raisins, whole-wheat bread, molasses, and tofu.