Help please regarding Iron deficiency?

[AmberLeaf]

After some recent blood tests, my DS [DX of ASD] had, he is on the cusp of being Iron deficient.

He has the lowest acceptable level of Iron so is not yet Iron deficient, I really want to get his levels up though before it becomes an issue.

He has a slightly limited diet though not as limited as some I have read about.

He will eat some vegetables, but doesnt eat much meat at all due to texture issues.

I have been giving him spinach as much as possible which luckily he isnt averse to!

I try to give him Iron rich foods but due to his limited diet its difficult, I try to introduce new foods but this can be problematic.

I have been giving him [and my other DCs] multivits, the chalky chewable ones but he doesnt like them and i often find them spat out somewhere!

Can anyone recommend a multivit that has a high Iron content, preferably one of those jelly/soft chewy types? we have had success with these types but the ones I found werent particularly high in Iron.

Ive tried several but they are so expensive and I dont want to waste any more money!

Thanks

I would say including red meat in his diet would be better than vits, I don't mean a steak, but caserole etc.

I have tried all kinds of ways of serving him red meat, caserolled till its as tender as anything.....he stil wont eat it! he'll eat the gravy from it with some potato etc but not the meat.

The only way he'll eat red meat is if its minced, he would happily eat shop bought burgers every day but thats not going to happen!

I often make my own burgers or meatballs with a tomatoey sauce is a fav too.

Im thinking this isnt enough though as his levels are still low?

I dont want to give him processed meat too often as theres so much crap in it alongside the meat.

He will eat liver [the softer chicken livers]

He doesnt eat nuts at all.

Floradix is a sweetish liquid supplement that contains iron. Would he drink that?
As for food, are any of these likely to go down?

-red meat (mince is fine, liver great if he will eat it)
-pulses (lentils/beans)
-dried apricots/pumpkin seeds
-green leafy veg (spinach, broccoli)
-fortified breakfast cereals (check packet)

Top tip for iron absorption take vitamin C with iron rich foods (either as a supplement, or as part of the meal, or as a cup of orange juice.

HTH

Thanks BarbarianMum [and nightcat! forgot to say thanks before.]

I read that vit C helps with Iron absorption, he has fresh orange juice most days [a little carton straight after school]

Tinned baked beans are one of his staples, im sure it says on the tin they are iron rich but id be prepared to make my own with some lentils thrown in too if that would be better, I could do a big batch and freeze portions quite easily.

I will have a look for the Floradix.

Thanks.

Can't believe I left out the best one!

Cocoa/dark chocolate.

Which is the only reason I eat it, of course.

Oooh! thats a good one!

You can try fixing it with the gaps diet. You can't supplement it forever and most iron supplements cause constipatons :(

was also going to suggest iron-fortified cereals. my DS will eat these but eats little red meat or veg, and his iron level was fine when tested, which I can only attribute to the cereals.

Spatone is a natural iron enriched spa water, it comes in sachets which you put in fruit juice so no nasty taste. You buy it from boots in boxes of 28 and have one a day and it gradually builds your iron levels up without and side effects, you may be able to smuggle it into his drinks without him noticing as it is tasteless.

DS1 is on iron now. I did do research and it seemed to me that it is as important to feed your DC foods which increase the absorption as it is the iron rich foods. DS1 fails because I couldn't get any of the above into him.

My three have Spatone in their breakfast drink every morning and have never been anaemic despite being vegetarian since birth.

Ds1 is 9 and has AS. He is generally very sensitive to food textures, but doesn't mind it.

As Rosie said, it doesn't taste of anything really, although there is a slight metallic after-tang, iykwim. Mine have it in their fruit juice though and then not only can they not taste it at all, the are getting the vitamin c to absorb it at the same time.

It doesn't cause constipation either - which is a huge plus for us as ds2 has had bowel problems in the past.

They sell it in Tesco and most high street health shops and chemists.

I take Floradix myself, it is very sweet, but a bit of an acquired taste.

We do add raisins and dried organic apricots to their breakfast as well, but struggle to get good quality iron food sources into ds1 sometimes. He will eat the odd poached or boiled egg, but hates other eggy things with a passion. He has very recently started to eat a small amount of red lentils if I put them in a soup or stew and just in the last week or so has found he can cope with eating a couple of almonds, but everything else is purely plant based, spinach, kale, broccoli etc and he can't eat any of the fortified cereals because he's gluten free.

If he isn't anaemic with his diet, I can only assume Spatone must be pretty good stuff.

Thyme (the herb) is the highest thing you can got for iron apparently. You could sprinkle it on his food or cook with it.
H&B do a thing but I forgot the name. i'm told it's much better than iron tablets as they don't absorb too well.
My eldest has just finished taking a long course of iron tablets as he was anaemic. My eldest also gets anaemia. think its a family thing cos my mum is too.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

Thats interesting about Thyme, ive got a big bunch of it in my kitchen so will definitely try that tomorrow.