Meals for anaemia

[eandz13]

Eventually been diagnosed with anaemia (been borderline for a while) and on top of vitamins I want to enhance my diet with iron, folic acid and b12. I've googled meals, but it's mainly coming up with just individual foods, and if I'm bad at one thing is concocting a meal that I'm not familiar with
I'll add I don't like pork or organ meat, and tuna is the only sea food I can tolerate, I'm good with chicken, beef etc! (Meat is the only thing I'm fussy with, though, I'll eat anything else at all)
Any meal ideas are very much appreciated

How about a delicious iron-rich steak with plenty of spinach as a side, other veggies and frites / jacket potato?

Beef stir fry www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/sizzling-steak-stir-fry/
Spinach and lentil dahl www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spinach-sweet-potato-lentil-dhal
Chilli con carne www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chilli-con-carne-recipe
Beef goulash www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/beef-goulash
Tuna and broccoli salad www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/tuna-broccoli-tomatoes-and-chickpeas/
Tuna burgers www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/the-best-tuna-burger/
Three bean tomato and spinach stew www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/healthy/three-bean-tomato-and-spinach-stew/
Vitamin C helps iron absorption, whilst calcium has the opposite effect.

I don't have a meal suggestion I'm afraid but when I was iron deficient the doctor told me if I was going to eat steak to have a glass of orange juice at the same time because vitamin C helps the body absorb iron.

Educate yourself on haem and non haem iron sources

Chicken thigh is better than breast in terms of iron levels - and never have tea when eating iron rich foods

Dietary iron is found in two basic forms. Either as haem iron (from animal sources) or non-haem iron (from plant sources). Haem iron is the most bioavailable form of iron. However, the predominant form of iron in all diets is non-haem iron, found in cereals, vegetables, pulses, beans, nuts and fruit. Absorption of non-haem iron is affected by various factors in food. Phytate (in cereals and pulses), fibre, tannins (in tea) and calcium can all bind non-haem iron in the intestine, which reduces absorption. However, vitamin C, present in fruit and vegetables, aids the absorption of non-haem iron when eaten at the same time, as does meat.

Liver, red meat, pulses, nuts, eggs, dried fruits, poultry, fish, whole grains and dark green leafy vegetables are all sources of iron. Since the 1950s in the UK, all wheat flours (other than wholemeal) have been fortified with iron and many breakfast cereals are also fortified with iron and so contribute to iron intake, However, the nature of these foods imposes limitations on the type of iron that can be used as a fortificant and so low bioavailability may be an issue

For some reason it won't let me tag but Nancyhicks and Ricekrispie I love every one of those suggestions I'll add them to my list! Thank you

I've stocked up on orange juice for every meal, it's going to be a struggle to not just have a cup of tea like I usually do.

Blondie that's really informative I appreciate it! I am confused about the cereal and milk thing, I've read to get iron fortified cereal which I have but I have it with milk (calcium) preventing absorption so I'm kind of skipping it coz I'm not sure what to do with that

Does anybody have an idea when symptoms might improve? I can deal with the tiredness, it's the dyspnea and shortness of breath that's driving me mad (they ruled out any other lung/heart issues I'm otherwise healthy, I didn't realise anaemia could affect breathing so much or I'd have tried to sort my iron levels out much sooner!)

Dried apricots are also a source of iron, I have make this chicken and apricot casserole a few times and it's really simple and tasty. You can make a big batch and freeze it too.

Hope you feel better soon. I have been anaemic in the past and found the liquid iron like floradix much easier to tolerate than the ferrous sulphate tablets.

Spinach soup - you can keep it in the fridge and eat as a snack. And my recipe is so easy....

gently fry some chopped onions until soft and translucent. Add a bag of spinach and 1-2 cups of frozen peas. Add about 2 cups stock and stir around while the spinach wilts. Once spinach wilted, add enough stock to almost cover veg. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Cool slightly then blend with some salt, a squeeze of lemon and some grated nutmeg.

Serve with a large spoon of greek yoghurt in the bowl (store in fridge/freezer without the yoghurt).

You can also use frozen spinach in which case get the spinach melted then top up the stock as needed.

I practically lived on this when I was pregnant with DS in first trimester.

Oh, and if I recall correctly, chickpeas are a good source of iron and can be added to a LOT of things - we put them in stews mostly and the odd salad. Obviously dips etc work well too.

I too was anaemic years ago- despite eating meat. I agree with blondie that its not just what you eat, but what you eat with it. Dont have tea/coffee/red wine with iron rich foods like steak/chicken. Vit C helps absorb it, and peppers are actually higher in Vit C than oranges, so anything with meat and peppers is good. I used to hate offal meat too. I learnt that calves liver isn't as strong as pig, and having it with bacon, onion and gravy helped. Still not a fan of kidneys though.

Yes, spinach does contain iron, but no where near the amount the popeye would make you think! (something to do with a scientist putting a decimal point in the wrong place).

Spirulina and some other algae can be very high in iron. If a seafood salad from a japanese isnt your thing, you can get supplements in tablet form.

It takes 3mths for red blood cells to replicate, so you wont be feeling better for weeks- its not an instant fix. I noticed my nails had a line when they started to grow out thicker and stronger. I hadnt even noticed they had got so thin!

Defiantly read up about haem and non- haem iron sources. There are also cookbooks specifically for recovering anaemics (ebay/amazon).