Page 2 | Help me put together a smoothie for vegetarian DD (protein/ iron help)

ComfortandHappiness · 2024-09-29T17:46:59+00:00

I know this the vegan section, but thought it could be a good place to ask. She's had a blood test and is low in iron and creatine. B vitamins are normal, but low. She's really stubborn and it’s taken me ages to get her to have the blood test in the first place (15, nearly 16). She has a daily smoothie for protein (whey). I feel we could be adding more in. Money is difficult. We can afford a variety of food, but probably not enough of each item to make enough of a difference.

Howmanyusernames123 · 29/09/2024 22:17

ComfortandHappiness · 29/09/2024 21:56

If only it were that simple.

I have asked about being referred (eating services) but the dr doesn’t think it’s necessary. He said she couldn’t be getting enough protein without meat, which is why I made the (wrong) connection between protein and the creatinine (it was lower than the 'normal' range given).

I feed a healthy diet, clearly it’s not good enough. She absolutely won’t eat meat or fish. I am worried about her heading towards eating problems if I try to get her to eat more (veg is fibrous and filling).

She has two eggs per day, beans/ tofu/pea protein daily. She eats cheese. We have a variety of veg in and she eats everything but mushrooms. My assumption is she’s not getting the correct quantity. I can’t afford to buy more and definitely can’t force her to eat greater quantities. I figured a smoothie might help with this. She doesn’t like peanut butter, but maybe adding a little to a smoothie will be better.

Her b vitamins are fine, her haemoglobin (sp?) is fine, but on the low side. Her iron is too low.

Dr's appointments where there’s time to talk is like hen's teeth.

Edited

well the dr is wrong. It is perfectly possible to get enough protein without meat.

what she’s eating sounds fine. I don’t see why you think her diet isn’t good enough when the only issue is a slightly low iron.

Low iron could be period related as much as dietary intake. Sometimes it’s just hard as a female to absorb as much as you lose - a supplement should sort it.

what does your dd think? Is she on board with all these changes you’re making? Does she have any input into her diet?

itwasnevermine · 29/09/2024 22:23

If she's taking supplements and it's staying low then she needs to make a choice for her health and start eating meat.

Breastreduction6 · 30/09/2024 10:17

ComfortandHappiness · 29/09/2024 21:56

If only it were that simple.

I have asked about being referred (eating services) but the dr doesn’t think it’s necessary. He said she couldn’t be getting enough protein without meat, which is why I made the (wrong) connection between protein and the creatinine (it was lower than the 'normal' range given).

I feed a healthy diet, clearly it’s not good enough. She absolutely won’t eat meat or fish. I am worried about her heading towards eating problems if I try to get her to eat more (veg is fibrous and filling).

She has two eggs per day, beans/ tofu/pea protein daily. She eats cheese. We have a variety of veg in and she eats everything but mushrooms. My assumption is she’s not getting the correct quantity. I can’t afford to buy more and definitely can’t force her to eat greater quantities. I figured a smoothie might help with this. She doesn’t like peanut butter, but maybe adding a little to a smoothie will be better.

Her b vitamins are fine, her haemoglobin (sp?) is fine, but on the low side. Her iron is too low.

Dr's appointments where there’s time to talk is like hen's teeth.

Edited

Honestly OP her diet sounds fine if she’s eating beans and tofu every day.

Take on the suggestions above for increasing iron, but that’s all you need to do.

Breastreduction6 · 30/09/2024 10:23

itwasnevermine · 29/09/2024 22:23

If she's taking supplements and it's staying low then she needs to make a choice for her health and start eating meat.

I am a vegetarian, my iron was low in pregnancy. I did not start eating meat, I just made small changes. For me, it was a very high quality supplement and a diet tweak.

There are populations who don’t eat meat or fish at all and are healthy and fine! (Buddhists, and some parts of India like the Gujarat.)

In fact, when looking at people who live in the “blue zones” (the pockets of populations who live the longest) one of the outcomes from those studies suggest eating a plant based diet.

You can get enough iron without meat.

But OP, you must speak to your doctor about these results. One of my children had a blood test and I thought his iron was low, because it was in red, but it turned out to be normal for his age range or something like that. You could always share the result here and someone might be able to comment with more expertise.