Iron rich foods - need toboost iron levels but hate vegetables! Any tips?

[shoobaloo]

Iron count very low but hate green veg - well all veg really. What has loads of iron in that won't make me gag?

Get cast-iron pans and cook in them (ideally something slightly acidic -- apple sauce is a really good one).

I used to take ordinary multivits with iron and swallow with orange juice - it just kept my levels high enough.

(I tried pregaday once and was bunged up for a week )

Spatone in a glass of orange juice every morning... easy peasy... no taste no side effects

My GP gave me a prescription for spatone.

My Favourite 'I need iron recipe':

Smallish amount of beef
2 squares of very dark chocolate
Tin of tomatoes or baked beans
Green and red peppers
Broccoli
Hand full of spinach

Fry beef (non stick pan so no oil). Add broccoli and peppers, stir-fry style then add toms/beans and chocolate (makes sauce rich and creamy). Just before serving mix in spinach.

According to my research there is an enzyme in beef which makes iron much easier to absorb. So eating beef also helps absorb the iron in the other iron-rich foods. Vitamin C found in green veg and toms also helps.

I found myself craving this stew type thing during pregnancy...... and it helped my iron levels.

so can you get spatone on prescription from the GP then?

mossycow- that sounds grim!

i've had a low count aswell. been eating dried fruit muesli, more beef and lamb, and trying to get a few servings of spinach / sprouts / brocolli a week. Drinking more milk and eating more eggs aswell. Also taking Pregnacare with iron in it. Feeling loads better- i actually have colour in my cheeks now, and my headaches have gone!

If you are really low (ie anaemic), then go straight for iron tablets which your GP will prescribe. -It's brilliant to eat all the right foods which people have listed, but they just won't get your levels up quickly enough, and you don't want to get to the point of collapsing.
(By the way, not sure you need to know this, but unlike everyone else in this discussion the tablets give me the runs . -Didn't realise i was a freak...

Agatha Rose - me too - iron tablets certainly do not constipate me (quite useful in pregnancy actually ).

Nothing but iron tablets worked for me and all three pregnancies left me feeling dreadful at about 4 months. My iron wasn't that low as far as my count was concerned, but I could barely make it upstairs, had to lie down at the top and if I was travelling by tube in rush hour, had to squat on my haunches in the middle of rush hour foot traffic!!

I think I had ferrous sulphate. Floradix and huge quantities of red meat, apricots etc did nothing for me.

grim!?!

Its`delicious!

I used to have a big bowl of branflakes every morning and had really good iron count

Drink a glass of fresh orange with every meal. This will help you to absorb any iron in the food.

Agree with all points on this thread.

Watercress and rocket in your salads. Red meat. Spinach cooked in a stew where you won't notice it. Orange juice or vit C tablet after every meal. No tea or coffee after a meal though as this interfere's with the absorption of iron.

Eggs. Especially the yolk. I would make scrambled eggs with 2 whole eggs, and 2 additional egg yolks when DS1 had sever iron deficient aenemia.

also, if you like fruit: Blackcurrant, Redcurrant, (high in both iron and c vit), Nectarines, and to an extent strawberries.

Black pudding. Fry and sprinkle with sugar.

Raisins covered in dark chocolate.

Beef and Lamb are high in iron. Chicken, turkey, fish and pork are less iron rich.

Cut down on youghurts and milk as calcium prevents the uptake of iron, whereas vitamin c aids it. Drink orange juice or water with meals.

the one thing to bear in mind is that
Floradix releases the iron very slowly into our system...if you are already having a very low count of iron ONLY ferrous sulphate will quickly perk you up...

been there myself...

Ferrous sulphate tabs and cornflakes. And, drink orange juice to help with iron absorption and reduce your caffeine intake which prevents vit c aiding iron absorbption.