Iron deficiency in the body: how to replenish

Iron deficiency can occur:

• During pregnancy or lactation

• With heavy menstruation

• Due to intense physical activity

• With excessive addiction to aspirin

Often, anemia accompanies chronic ailments (hemorrhoids, esophageal ulcers, hernia, bowel cancer, diverticulosis), but iron intake in these cases can only harm. Therefore, before starting treatment, it is important to make sure that there is a diagnosis. How to do it:

1. Assess your condition. The most important symptom of iron deficiency is muscle weakness, which is often attributed to chronic fatigue. Nervous about trifles and sleep poorly? These are all alarms.

2. Pay attention to skin, hair and nails. Excessive breakage and loss of hair, split nails, pale yellow skin tone, as well as a burning sensation of the tongue (as if it had been scalded) and taste perversion should also alert you.

3. Check your calendar. Has your menstrual cycle shifted towards decreasing or the discharge has become more abundant? Normally, during menstruation, we lose an average of 30-50 ml of blood or 15-20 mg of iron monthly. Accordingly, with heavy menstruation, losses increase.

4. Review your diet. Have you been overdoing it by cutting out high-calorie meats from your diet? Alas, but vegetable and milk diet does not contribute to the accumulation of iron in the body. Its consumption also increases with increased physical exertion, for example, when playing sports.

5. Think back to your colds. And at the same time, than were treated for them. Uncontrolled medication often lowers iron stores. Almost all antibiotics and sulfa drugs can lead to so-called “drug” anemia. And frequent infections indicate reduced immunity – it may very well be that the same iron deficiency is to blame.

If the answers to most of the above questions are in the affirmative, it is necessary to take tests.

We clarify the diagnosis

First of all, you need a clinical blood test. If you smoke, be sure to tell your doctor. The fact is that in smokers, the hemoglobin level is always normal. It rises to compensate for the oxygen deprivation caused by nicotine. In this case, you should not rely on the results of a conventional clinical analysis, but it is imperative to carry out a comprehensive examination.

If a CBC showed low hemoglobin, a complete study of iron metabolism should be carried out. After all, drugs can only help in case of true iron deficiency anemia. If there are chronic diseases, taking iron will only aggravate them.

Comprehensive analyzes can be done in all major biochemical laboratories and hematology centers.

Replenishing iron deficiency

If the tests show a problem, the doctor will write a prescription. There are many iron-containing preparations, for example, Ferretab, Materna, Heferol, Ferronal, Ferrofolgamma and others. When using them, you should pay attention to the fact that:

• Iron supplements are better absorbed when taken in the afternoon

• If you are prescribed calcium and magnesium in addition to iron, take them in the morning and iron at night.

• Coffee and tea drunk immediately before or after iron intake interfere with its absorption

• Avoid drinking milk, bread, eggs, or dairy products within two hours of taking iron supplements. They can slow down the absorption of iron

• Orange juice, rich in vitamin C, or a small amount of dry white wine, on the contrary, promotes the active absorption of this substance.

• Iron supplements are best taken not with meals, but in between meals. But if taking the drug leads to an upset stomach, take it with food.

• Iron in capsules is absorbed more slowly, and therefore more efficiently

• If you miss your next appointment, take the drug as soon as you remember. But don’t take double doses. The first signs of an overdose: diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, stomach pain or cramping. In case of such symptoms, consult a doctor immediately.

Diet for prevention

Maintain hemoglobin at the proper level heme bivalent iron, which is found in animal products. Iron from meat is absorbed on average five times better than from vegetables. Ferric iron from plant foods (beans, soybeans, parsley, peas, spinach, dried apricots, prunes, pomegranate, raisins, rice, buckwheat, bread) must first be converted into bivalent iron before being absorbed. However, in the presence of certain diseases, for example, with a low acidity of the stomach, iron from plant products is not retained in the body at all. Therefore, the best prevention of anemia is to consume meat products daily, at least once a day. Leaver, red meat, oysters, fish, veal liver are very rich in this important mineral. For example, 100 g of calf liver contains 14 mg of iron, while the average daily intake of iron is 10 mg for men and 15-18 mg for women.