Causes and Symptoms of Iron Deficiency Anemia and Diet Plan to Fight with

According to the World Health Organization’s study, iron-deficiency anemia is one of the most common health problems all across the world, specifically; this health problem is prevalent in developing countries. There are more than 400 types of anemia present, among them, the most common types are sickle cell anemia, Aplastic anemia, hemolytic anemia, vitamin deficiency anemia, and iron deficiency anemia. As far as iron-deficiency anemia is concerned, this health issue is caused by a deficiency of iron that happens when the body lacks the ability to store iron needed for the production of normal red blood cells (RBC) (Desalegn, Mossie & Gedefaw, 2014). Due to the inefficiency of iron to support RBC production, the rest of the body gets deprived of the amount of oxygen required. When the body has sufficient iron as per requirement, the rest of the iron travels to the cells and stores in the form of ferritin complexes, mostly involving the cells of bone marrow and liver. Since iron is considered as an essential component of the hemoglobin, it is important for the production of red blood. When iron is not enough to be used by the body, the body starts using stored iron ferritin (Govus, Garvican-Lewis, Abbiss, Peeling & Gore, 2015) producing red blood cells normally, when this stored iron is also depleted due to the excessive usage by the body, blood formation starts to deplete, eventually leading to iron deficiency anemia.

Most of the people don’t realize that they are suffering from this condition even when they experience symptoms for years. Moreover, the women of childbearing age generally suffer from iron-deficiency anemia; the most common cause of this condition in these women is the heavy menstruation or pregnancy. Sometimes, medical conditions such as stomach ulcers, polyps in the colon or intestine can cause internal bleeding to happen ultimately cause iron deficiency anemia (Coad & Pedley, 2014). Furthermore, certain medical surgeries can affect the normal ability of the intestine to absorb the iron; celiac disease or surgery such as gastric bypass can limit the absorption of iron, even when your diet involves a large amount of iron intake, they become the reason for iron deficiency (Freeman, 2015). People with iron-deficiency anemia may experience fatigue, leg cramps on climbing stair, poor performance, light-headed, headaches, dizziness, shortness of breath and fast or irregular heartbeats (Judd & Antaki, 2014).

Foods to Fight Iron-deficiency Anemia

In order to fight and beat iron-deficiency anemia, you need to be attentive and extra-ordinary careful in terms of diet. Here I want to share highly nutritious foods to fight against Iron-deficiency Anemia.

Dark Leafy Green Vegetables

Dark leafy green vegetables are highly recommended diet by the dietitian to fight iron-deficiency anemia. Spinach is one of the important sources of iron, and Spinach is high in oxalates. This is a compound that helps in prevention for the absorption of nonheme iron. Likewise, Kale is also a dark leafy Green vegetable, and it is also an effective source of iron and high in oxalates.

Vitamin C Rich Citrus Fruits

Vitamin C is an effective source for the absorption of iron in your stomach. If you eat dark leafy green along with vitamin C citrus fruits such as oranges, strawberries, grapefruits, will help you easily recover deficiency of iron. Furthermore, vitamin C citrus fruits help in boosting the immune system which is necessary to fight with diseases and health problems. As a result, a combination of dark green leafy vegetables can help in fighting iron-deficiency anemia.

Red Meat

People who are suffering because of iron-deficiency anemia, they must intake red meat daily such as, beef, mutton, and others. However, as I mentioned earlier that for the absorption of iron vitamin C is necessary, thereby, in order to maximize your iron absorption vitamin C citrus fruits and consume beef or mutton as well, so that you will easily able to recover from iron-deficiency anemia.

Nuts and Seeds

According to dietitians, numerous nuts and seeds are high sources of iron. Specifically, some nuts and seeds can help you in fighting iron-deficiency anemia such as almonds, cashews, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and more. You can eat these nuts and seeds in breakfast to improve your productivity for the whole day. Furthermore, the addition of these nuts and seeds in your diet will help not only to recover from iron-deficiency anemia, but it is also a healthy diet for your mental health.  

  

References

Bruinvels, G., Burden, R., Brown, N., Richards, T., & Pedlar, C. (2016). The prevalence and impact of heavy menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia) in elite and non-elite athletes. PLOS ONE, 11(2), e0149881. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0149881.

Coad, J., & Pedley, K. (2014). Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia in women. Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation, 74(sup244), 82-89. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/00365513.2014.936694

Desalegn, A., Mossie, A., & Gedefaw, L. (2014). Nutritional iron deficiency anemia: Magnitude and its predictors among school-age children, southwest ethiopia: Acommunity based cross-sectional study. Plos ONE, 9(12), e114059. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114059

 Freeman, H. (2015). Iron deficiency anemia in celiac disease. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 21(31), 9233. http://dx.doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v21.i31.9233

Govus, A., Garvican-Lewis, L., Abbiss, C., Peeling, P., & Gore, C. (2015). Pre-altitude serum ferritin levels and daily oral iron supplement dose mediate iron parameter and hemoglobin mass responses to altitude exposure. PLOS ONE, 10(8), e0135120. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135120

Judd, S., & Antaki, F. (2014). A Rare Finding on Evaluation for Iron Deficiency Anemia. Gastroenterology, 146(1), e8-e9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2013.08.003