Thalassemia Patients and Friends
Discussion Forums => Thalassemia Intermedia => Topic started by: namitha on October 22, 2006, 11:51:52 AM
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Hi all,
The following foods are relatively high in iron: red meat, chicken, pork, fortified breakfast cereal, bran, pumpkin seeds, blackstrap molasses, soybean nuts, spinach, red kidney beans, lima beans, prune juice, pretzels, rice, raisins, and prunes.
In fact, I add honey, dates and tofu to the list as well. We have enough iron as it were without adding in additional iron through foods.
Regards,
Namitha
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But the thing is, only when our HB is low will the body absorb iron from food. It is the body's natural response. If HB is high, there is no need for the body to absorb iron especially for high iron vegetable foods which contain non heme iron. Because vegetables contain oxalic acid which prevents the absorption of iron, there is not much need to worry about the body absorbing iron. It's the red meat that contains the heme iron which is readily absorbed by the body.
Am I wrong in this? Can anyone verify?
Thanks
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Yes, it is the heme iron found in meat, and in the highest concentrations in red meat, that is far more readily absorbed than the non-heme iron found in vegetable matter. It's foolish to avoid something like raisins if you're sitting down to a meal of red meat. The red meat will provide far more iron than the raisins.
And yes, the lower the Hb, the more that the gut absorbs iron. This is to provide iron for the overproduction of red blood cells that takes place when the Hb is low. This is why iron absorption is a bigger problem in non-transfused thal intermedias. Because of their generally lower Hb levels, the body will absorb far more iron than it needs. However, depending on where in the world they are, the Hb of majors may be allowed to drop to less than optimum levels, resulting in more iron being absorbed by the gut. It might be wise to avoid high heme iron foods when you know your Hb is low.
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Hi,
Andy and Eponine you are 100% right. The lower the Hb higher the absorption. Heme iron is non-water soluble so we need to be careful about that. This is something I can't stop telling all: drinking tea with meals helps slow down iron absorption be it green tea or weak tea. I love tea :biggrin
Regards,
Namitha
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Hey i do stay away from Cashewnuts the docs say they too contain a lot of iron. I avoid red meat but instead i have chicken and fish.
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Hi,
Way to go Sahil. You are doing right! Fish is really good for the heart too.
Regards,
Namitha
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Hi everyone!
Thanx!namitha,I did not know that soyabean nut also contains iron,I thought that they were rich with protienes From now on i'll be careful When eating it.And what about almonds do they also contain a lot of iron?
RIYA
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Hi Riya,
You can check out the mineral content of any food by visiting this site provided by Andy:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/)
According to the site the plain Almonds contain 4.30mg of Iron per 100g. You can check out the value of different types of Almonds such as roasted, salted etc.
Take care, Peace!
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Hi Guys,
We can try lots of different things to limit our oral intake of iron. Some people like to drink green tea with their food which has, in some studies, shown to slightly reduce iron absorption from the gut. Some people just limit the intake of high iron foods like red meat, green vegetables etc. But I have never really bothered with it, probably due to the fact that I love eating, especially meat. And offcourse iron absorption from the gut is very minimal compared to the ammount of iron in one unit of blood. The way I see it, we have too much to worry about anyway, so just eat whatever you want and enjoy it, BUT, you must stay on top of your chelation and keep that ferritin down!!
Wax.