Yogis Pumping (Dietary) Iron

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My brother's girlfriend, Caitlin, plays soccer for Furman University (which is also where my brother, Patrick, goes to college). When I was home over the holidays, she received a call from her trainer about some blood tests that she had gotten done recently--due to the fact that her coaches and trainers noticed that her energy levels had been way down lately, and had become slightly worried about this. What they found from her blood tests is that she has become severely anemic, probably caused by her recent change to a gluten-free diet and the fact that she also doesn't eat a ton of meat (and is in college, so doesn't necessarily have the ability to cook healthy, iron-rich food for herself each night). After hearing this news and reflecting on my own energy levels and diet, I started wondering, am I getting enough iron? Are my yogi friends and students--many of whom are vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free--getting enough? So today, I wanted to discuss dietary iron and fill you in on what I've learned in my research on the subject...

If you have an iron deficiency, some of the symptoms can include tiredness or lack of energy, headaches, weakness, light-headedness, disturbed sleep, abdominal pain, low blood pressure when changing positions quickly, dry, brittle fingernails or hair, and many other, somewhat more obscure symptoms. As most websites will tell you, the best way to diagnose an iron deficiency is through a blood test done by your Doctor, but I also found that personally, a quick scan of the list of iron-rich foods and a quick scan of my diet made it pretty obvious whether or not I've been getting enough, and spoiler alert (!), I'm not. Although I am definitely not advocating self-diagnosis of anemia or iron deficiency, I am advocating taking a look at your own diet to ensure that you're getting enough of all of the necessary vitamins and minerals needed for overall peak physical health.

In terms of iron, here's the main thing that you need to know--there are many iron-rich foods that are not meat, but not all sources are as easy for the body to absorb as the iron that comes from meat. There are two kinds of iron, "HEME," which is found in meat, poultry, and fish, and "NON-HEME," which is found in fruits, veggies, beans, nuts, and grains--and which is much more difficult for the body to absorb. So what does this mean? It means that if you are vegetarian or vegan, you should at least be aware of NON-HEME iron sources, be sure you're eating a lot of them, and ensure that you're getting enough to absorb the allotted daily amount. How much should you be getting each day? 

Women: 
Non-vegetarian: 18 mg/day
Vegetarian or vegan: 33 mg/day
Post-menopausal women: 8 mg/day

Men:
Non-vegetarian: 8 mg/day
Vegetarian: 14mg/day

As you can see, ladies, we have quite a bit that we should be ingesting on a daily basis--especially for those who are veggies or vegans. As an example, 1 serving of lean, ground beef has 3.9 mg of iron, while one serving of raw broccoli has only 1 mg. It's very possible to get enough iron without eating meat, but it's important to know where to get it, and how best to do so. Here are a few ways to increase your absorption of iron (taken from this website):

1. When eating a NON-HEME food, consume it with a good source of vitamin C, like oranges, grapefruits, tomatoes, broccoli and/or strawberries.
2. Eat HEME and NON-HEME foods together (for those who aren't veg or vegan).
3. Cook your NON-HEME foods in an iron pot, such as a cast iron skillet.
4. Take a daily vitamin that includes iron, which can help to increase your overall iron intake/absorption.

Complicated, isn't it? I hope this doesn't worry anyone, as that isn't the point, but instead, I wanted to bring it up as a friendly reminder. I know it was a good reminder for me, and am hoping that monitoring my own iron levels will help me get a little extra energy in the coming (busy) weeks ;)

For a great list of both HEME and NON-HEME iron-rich foods, click here.

Here's to a healthy start to the week!

Namaste,
Mary Catherine