Desperately need to boost my iron levels, I need meal ideas?

[Alicetheinvisible]

Found out last week my hb levels are 8.9 (wondered why i feel so rough) I can't take iron pills as they make me very sick so i am on Spatone twice a day. I am having my bloods redone on wednesday so desperately trying to eat as well as i can to boost iron levels before then, and because i feel so crap too.

I am 29weeks pg too which is mostly the reason i suspect.

So, for breakfast i have been having shreddies, spatone and fresh oj (with bits in)

Had homemade beefburgers last night with salad and fruity relish.

Really struggling to remember what is good and what is not.

So please, high iron meal ideas please

cut back on dairy a bit. dairy inhibits iron absorption, so you need to make sure you take any iron-rich foods by themselves, or with something high in vit c to aid absorption

other things high in iron include:
dark green leafy veg
lentils and chickpeas
dried apricots
blackstrap molasses

Steak and other red meats, spinach and other leafy green veg.

I believe chocolate has iron in it too, the perfect excuse.

I was found to have extremely high iron levels when I got tested which surprised me. I'm a vegetarian and expected it to be a bit low. Apparently it's because iron is more easily absorbable in plant based foods. Who knew?

Try eat lots of spinach, chickpeas/hummus, broccoli, baked beans and muesli.
Having orange juice with your meal also boosts the absorption rate.

Thanks

Will get Dh to pick up some dry apricots later. Just had a cereal bar as iron wise probably the best thing in my cupboards

Ooh, i like hummous, and i can have beans on toast for lunch. Is there a list anywhere does anyone know?

yep have a look here

Lovely thank you

Looks like lunch could be poached egg, ham and beans

Together?

Erm, hate peanut butter

DH is getting me some apricots and hummous on his way back from work.

Just marking my place as just found out my hb levels are 7. Not sure what that means, but I guess as 8.9 is low, then 7 is really quite low! Luckily I'm taking the iron tablets without any trouble, but would like to get my levels up as quickly as possible. (Am also 21 weeks pregnant)

Black pudding has the highest level of heme iron for obvious reasons; organic blackstrap molasses (not regular molasses)are very very high as well, stir a tablespoonful in your porridge, yum!

sanfair, I beg to differ.
Heme iron is the most readily absorbed form of iron, and it?s found in shellfish, red meat, poultry, and fish
Nonheme iron is found in plant foods, as well as in eggs, milk, and meat.
Compared with heme iron, it?s less easily absorbed by the body.

Moreover, sources of nonheme iron often contain phytates, which bind to iron and carry it through the digestive tract unabsorbed.

As a result, the foods with high iron content aren?t necessarily the best sources of iron. By weight, soybeans have roughly twice the iron of beef. But only about 7% of the iron in soybeans is absorbed. Spinach is also high in iron, but less than 2% of the iron in cooked spinach is absorbed (Scrimshaw 1991).

Vitamin C may be a particularly powerful iron absorption enhancer. One study reported that adding just 63 mg of vitamin C to a meal rich in nonheme iron yielded a 2.9-fold increase in iron absorption (Fidler et al 2009).

Meat can also make a big difference. Experiments suggest that adding 50 to 85 grams of meat to a meal results in a 1.5- to 4-fold increase in iron absorption (Baech 2003; Baynes and Bothwell 1990; Cook et al 1976; Engle-Stone et al 2005; Navas-Carretero 2008).

Beef may more effective than other meats. In one experiment, beef protein enhanced iron absorption 80% better than did chicken protein (Hurrell et al 2006).

Wow! Thanks

SAF - i agree wrt c&o crisps and hummous

Porridge oats are good, so porridge or Bircher Muesli with molasses a good start, teamed with some orange juice or fresh fruit

Meat: steak/burgers/kebabs/chops/sausages

Greens: Spinach and ricotta pastas and ravioli, Steamed spring greens/broccoli/cabbage

Eggs: omelettes/scrambled/poached

Interestingly by the second time I'd got pregnant I had had an organic box for nearly two years and my iron levels were "incredibly high" according to my doctor. The only thing that had really changed was me regularly eating the fresh box contents as opposed to 'normal' veg.

I recently discovered a healthy chocolate and oat snack, which is fab for iron too...

Avoid tea too.

The tanins in tea reduce iron absorption. That's why it's such a bad idea to give little children tea as they need all the iron they can get to grow..

What Rollmops said.... The iron you get from meat and fish is much more readily available to your body than from plants. This is why veggies are sometimes prone to anaemia.

Somewhere on the 'spatone' website it says you can take 3 sachets a day in the last trimester of pregnancy. Or you could have a serving of floradix (available from holland and barrett)

It also says avoid drinking tea for an hour either side of taking your spatone.

Pear dipped in hummous is blimmin' delicious and the vit C in the pear must help the iron absorption too.