Blackstrap moleasses.

Liver. Red meat. Spinach but cooked is better.

There is no solid link between dietary cholesterol consumption and only correlation between elevated cholesterol and heart disease. In addition, cholesterol is a big part of the bodies repair mechanism for the circulatory system, so you may be seeing a reverse effect.

Eat meat. Preferably grass-fed meat, but eat meat. Yum....

Also think about your food combinations. If I remember correctly, it helps absorbtion if you eat vitamin c rich foods with iron rich foods, and you should avoid eating calcium rich foods at the the same time as your iron foods.

Try to eat red meat more frequently and maybe consider supplements. Spinach is high in iron so I add baby spinach to my salads most days. DH and I are both anemic so we're constantly stocking our house with iron rich foods. DH loves this organic beef jerky which I think is disgusting but it is meat on the go...

OP, Iron tablets made me insanely constipated, but I love the Spatone water and it was nicer on my tummy. Check them out

http://www.amazon.com/Spatone-Pur-Absorb-Iron-28-Count/dp/B005FA7U3K

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious, why are you reluctant to take supplements?

I was going to ask the same question. Supplements have been really helpful for me.

OP here -- I actually didn't realize that there were OTC iron supplements; I am trying to avoiding getting to the point where the dr. prescribes something that I find hard to take due to side effects etc. I'd like to see if I can improve based on just food and maybe an occasional OTC supplement and then see how the blood work looks.

Liver. Spinach.

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious, why are you reluctant to take supplements?

I was going to ask the same question. Supplements have been really helpful for me.

I'm curious, why are you reluctant to take supplements?

I've always been anemic. Eat red meat at least once a week. Other foods with iron: potatoes, bananas, peanuts, spinach. Good luck.

Have you tried Vitron C? It has vitamin C which assists in the absorption. I have been anemic(iron &b12) for six years. This is the only med which has helped the iron issue.

Also, cooking in a cast iron skillet helps up your levels.

Chicken has a lot of iron. Doesn't have to be red meat.

I had low iron toward end of pregnancy, and it has remained something I've needed to watch out for since having the baby. I am a meat eater, but we tend not to eat it regularly. In the beginning I increased my uptake of eggs by eating them at breakfast or chopped in a nicoise salad; but I added tofu to my diet (good in soups, in spring rolls, and it is great when fried and stuffed with pork - I found a great recipe for that, and am hooked), and swapped out other snacks for edemame (trader joe's sells frozen ones that you just have to thaw to eat) and nuts (almonds are a great source of iron; I drank more almond milk, and started adding nuts to my morning cereal and salads, as well).

Anyone have low iron that they have raised through food relatively quickly? I’m not anemic but pretty close as the dr. mentioned my iron stores have gotten really low. I’d like to nip this in the bud before I have to start taking supplements. Anyone had any success with this? I know there are lots of foods that have iron but it seems like you have to consume them in such a great quantity. I am fine eating raisins, dates, spinach etc. but realistically, I’m not about to eat a cup of it every day. I am not vegetarian and try to eat 1-2 servings of red meat a month; do I need to increase that and won’t that have a cholesterol effect?

I’ve heard coffee and tea impedes absorption. I drink 1 cup of hot tea and usually 1 Snapple a day. Do I need to cut those out altogether?

I seem to be hearing things like - I ate 2 dates a day for x months and it helped my iron, so I am just looking for tips on what has worked well for others, as I think lots of women have this issue at various times.

I have to admit my diet is pretty poor right now -- I’m one of those people who doesn’t eat well when I’m stressed because I feel no hunger, which is what has been going on for months due to life stress, and then I compensate with coffee/tea to keep myself going. Obviously this needs to stop.