Nutrition for Low Iron

An increased number of people today are being diagnosed with anemia, or low iron levels. Symptoms of anemia include extreme fatigue, irregular heartbeat, and cognitive problems. By restoring digestion and building nutrition for low iron, iron levels can greatly improve.

“Low iron stores or iron deficiency anemia is tied to a host of symptoms, including fatigue, pallor, irregular heartbeat and cognitive issues or “brain fog”.

More and more frequently I am hearing from people that they have been told by their doctor they have low iron levels or anemia and have been instructed to take a supplement. Although iron supplements can be useful for building iron stores and reversing deficiencies, often times the underlying cause of anemia isn’t identified and corrected

There are many causes of low iron, from low dietary intake, to blood loss to malabsorption issues. In otherwise healthy adults, low iron levels are often tied to digestion. For many of us, particularly if you eat animal proteins for dietary iron, the solution is not necessarily more iron but making better use of the iron that you are eating.

If you have been told you have anemia or low iron I recommend you start with restoring digestion and improving absorption of dietary iron with these strategies:

Chew your food. This basic first step of digestion is often overlooked in our fast paced world. Chewing food helps physically break it down (your mother may have told you, “Your stomach doesn’t have teeth!”) and starts the production of saliva and digestive juices required to break down your food. You need to chew food thoroughly for optimum digestion and absorption of nutrients, including iron.”