Yesterday I had to have blood drawn for my yearly CBC check up. So of course they take 2 big viles. I also started my period yesterday and it's a heavier one (sorry TMI). While I did not have to fast for the blood draw because I'm breastfeeding I ended up not getting lunch until super late because they didn't see me until over an hour after my apt time. Add drive time, getting there early, then drive time to get something to eat (a big ol hamburger) it was a good 6 hours since I had breakfast! Of course my little one was nursing during this time too. By the time we had dinner I barely picked at it because I wasn't very hungry (only because I was so wiped!). I tried to eat something but wasn't totally successful.
This morning I feel like a train ran me over! I can not take multivitamins or supplements so I'm looking for good iron rich or other vitamin rich foods I can eat to try to put myself back together again. I hate steak or most red meats, really only liking hamburgers and I don't think the family will want those a second day in a row. I have so much I have to get done today I just can't drag like this.
Any suggestions? Thanks!!
Added:Those websites are amazing! Thanks! I found a few things in the kitchen on the list and snacking on those. I am working on upping my liquid intake. I broke down and ate some of those Jelly Belly "Sports Beans" which have vitamin Bs and electrolites. They're sort of like drinking Gatorade without all the extra stuff that upset my stomach.
I hate the smell of liver so even though I know it's a wonderful source of nutrients it makes me gag when I'm even sitting next to someone with it (my dad likes it and will sometimes order it from restaurants and I can't sit anywhere near him). Allergic to mushrooms. But there are some other great things I do eat that I can work with.
Have to keep going today or I'll never have everything done for our huge activities this weekend.
I wanted to say thank you for all the ideas nad websites. I was able to find things that really helped pick me back up. Got the long list of stuff done that I had to and was able to enjoy the weekend without feeling so dead. You guys are great!!
Nice big spinach salad? Spinach is full of iron right?! You can toss in some craisins (or raisins), goat cheese, mushrooms, bacon, and candied pecans then mix it with a nice vinagrette of some kind! Yum!
You got some good food recommendations, but I wanted to add that you should cook as much as possible in a cast iron pan. Your food will absorb extra iron from the pan, which is very good for you!
I agree with the spinach! Cook raw spinach with some scrambled eggs, black beans and wrap in a tortilla for a to go meal for breakfast. You can also substitute turkey or ground beef for a taco dinner.
This might sound gross, but I love strawberry, pineapple and spinach smoothies. I use frozen spinach and pineapple with fresh strawberries. Love it.
Mix to taste and add protein powder if you wish.
Liver has the most iron...cook up some chicken livers and make a pate to eat on crackers. Make your family meatloaf and ground beef tacos. Eat a big bunch of spinach with every meal too - in the meatloaf, as a side steamed, as a salad, on a sandwich. I hope you feel better soon.
Any dark leafy greens.
Hi Katrina,
Your best sources of heme iron, which absorbs readily, comes from eating meat, poultry, and fish, so you can get almost the same iron content from eating fish, chicken, and turkey if you don't care for red meat. Beans and dark green leafy vegetables and quinoa also have a very high iron content, but it comes in the form of non-heme iron, so it's not absorbed by the body as readily as heme iron. But, you can really improve iron absorption of any kind by taking in a dose of vitamin C with the iron. You can get this in the form of citris fruits, berries, cherries, mangoes, papaya, pineapple, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, etc.
For a quick pick-me-up after a blood draw, take a bag of trailmix made up of 1/2 cup of cashews, almonds, raisins, mixed with a couple tablespoons of dried berries or tropical fruits. The nuts and raisins have a decent iron content (about 3 mg) and the fruits contain the vitamin C needed for absorption and sugar in an unrefined, healthy form (fructose).
Or even better, go for a middle-eastern treat of roasted chickpeas (garbanzo beans), which pack a whopping 8 mg of iron into 1/4 cup (that's about 1/4 of the USDA recommend dose for nonmenopausal women). You can make these from canned or dried chickpeas seasoned liberally with whatever you like (we like a mix of cayenne and chipotle peppers with sumac, which is a middle eastern lemony tasting herb). Cook spread out in a single layer in a shallow pan for 40mins in a 450 degree oven (I use a big jelly roll pan). Shake the pan occassionally to prevent burning, and keep an eye on them for the last 5 mins of cooking, so they don't burn.
Check out this website for a really good discussion of heme vs. non-heme iron and the iron content of select vegetable-based foods:
The old fashioned Geritol liquid, spinach and other dark green veggies, get an iron frying pan and use it to cook in, calves liver . Sorry you are feeling so low.
The other S.
Lots of veggies have good iron content, but the form available in meats is easier for your body to absorb. Here's a nice overview of foods high in iron: http://www.redcrossblood.org/learn-about-blood/health-and.... You might also consider doing much of your cooking in a cast-iron pan, if you have one. They leach a little extra iron into your meals.
But lack of iron isn't the only factor when energy is flagging. Vitamin B12 is essential in the building of red blood cells, which use the iron to carry energy to your cells. So it will help to be sure you're getting adequate B12 (and the whole range of vitamins, of course). Again, beef and seafood are prime sources. How about expanding your meat menu with tasty and nourishing dishes like pot roast, stew, or stir-fries?
You can also take tiny B12 tablets that dissolve in your mouth – not too likely to cause you upset. They give some folks a quick energy lift.
If you ate so little yesterday, that could be a big reason that you're running low today, especially since you're breast feeding. You could probably boost your blood sugar a bit with regular small snacks throughout the day.
I'm Popeye the sailor man!
Popeye the sailor man!
I'm strong to the finich,
'Cause I eats my spinach.
I'm Popeye the sailor man!
Okay, so hopefully you get my hint - spinach is very high in iron. Along with other dark leafy greans like swiss chard. Unfortunately, my blog is down right now that has the recipe I want to share, but here is the recipe that we adapted ours from and is quite yummy:
INGREDIENTS
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 lb orecchiette (Italian pasta, half sphere-like)(You can use penne pasta as a substitute)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed (large)
1 1/2 lbs swiss chard or broccoli Liscia (this is not broccoli, it's a dark leafy green that is harder to find than swiss chard)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage, cooked & crumbled
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, freshly grated
DIRECTIONS
Cook the orecchiette in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente; drain well. Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat the oil. Add the garlic and cook over moderately high heat until golden. Slice diagonally the stem and floret of the broccoli raab and coarsely chop and add the broccoli raab greens. Add the broccoli raab, crushed red pepper and salt; cover and steam for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the hot chicken stock, sausage and butter and cook over high heat until the sauce reduces slightly, about 3 minutes. Add the orecchiette to the skillet and toss gently. Sprinkle half the Parmigiano on top and toss again. Serve immediately, sprinkled with the remaining cheese.
Oh, oatmeal and beans (kidney, pinto, black, etc.) are all high in iron as well.
Consider making some liver and onions. Soak the liver in milk to take out the bitterness, cook up some onions and bacon, coat the liver in flour seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper and shake off the excess, then toss the liver in with the onions and bacon and cook. Serve with some green leafy veggies, spinach would be good.
Foods that are rich in iron:
Red meat
Egg yolks
Dark, leafy greens like spinach, collards
Dried fruit like prunes and raisins
Iron-enriched cereals and grains (check the labels, Malt-o-Meal contains 60% of the RDA for adults of iron, Cream of Wheat nearly 50%.)
Mollusks like oysters, clams, and scallops
Turkey or chicken giblets
Beans, lentils, chick peas and soybeans
Liver, as mentioned
Artichokes
And, if you eat iron-rich foods along with foods that provide plenty of vitamin C, your body can better absorb the iron, which is typically the problem with getting enough iron.
Spinach cooked or raw.
Morel mushrooms
chicken livers
sausage
On average you lose about a tablespoon of blood through your period a month.
It looks like more because of other fluids, but it's not as much as it seems.
A few vials for blood test isn't much either.
If you've ever donated blood (where they take a pint (2 cups)), you feel a bit tired for a few days and by then you've compensated.
Keep up your fluids.
I think some chicken broth/soup is good for practically everything.
French onion soup (with the beef broth) might be good too.
Tomato sauce cooked in a cast iron skillet absorbs the most amount of iron from the skillet. So, you could do spaghetti and get the iron from the meat, sauce and serve some spinach and strawberries and spinach on the side.
Peter Pan peanut butter has a PB called PB with Creamy...strange name, I know, but it has added iron. It could be a good snack in a sandwich or dip apples in it (yum!)
