Keep Away Anemia with Healthy, and Not Just Tasty, Foods

Often when we eat to please our taste buds, we forget that food is for health too. If we just go on eating tasty foods that lack in nutrition, there is a risk of falling prey to many diseases. Anemia is such a disease caused by poor diet. What’s hazardous about anemia is that it’s not realized till found in a blood test. Iron deficiency is the commonest deficiency in the United States. It can be prevented and treated by diets high in dark leafy vegetables like spinach, lettuce, kale and radish, red meat, dry fruits and nuts and iron-fortified cereals and grains.

What is Anemia?

Anemia is characterized by red blood cells in lower than normal level in the blood. Because of the lower RBC level, the person can experience fatigue, weakness, headaches and many such symptoms. If remain untreated, it can cause further serious problems.

Deficiency of iron leads to incapability of your body to make enough RBCs or production of RBCs of smaller size than normal. This causes iron deficiency anemia. This is the anemia caused because of not getting sufficient iron from the food you eat.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that iron deficiency is the top nutritional disorder in the world. According to research, around 80% of world’s population doesn’t have adequate iron in their bodies. The research also indicates that around 30% of people suffer from anemia because of prolonged iron deficiency.

 

Foods Rich in Iron

 

Foods rich in iron include:

• Meat such as chicken, lamb, beef and pork
• Leafy greens such as spinach
• Seafood such as oysters, sardines, clamps and shrimp
• Beans such as soybeans
• Tofu
• Seeds of pumpkin and squash
• Eggs
• Iron-fortified cereals and grains

It should be remembered that vitamin C helps in the absorption of iron and so, your diet should contain foods rich in this vitamin too. These include:

• Citrus fruits like lemon, oranges, strawberries, grapefruit, pineapple, guava, mangoes, papaya and melons
• Leafy greens such as spinach
• Red and green bell peppers
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Brussels sprouts

As vegetarians and vegans are not getting enough and easily absorbable iron obtained from red meat, they should eat more leafy vegetables like spinach, radish etc, beans, dried fruits, tofu and other dark vegetables.

For those who love snacking rather than eating a whole meal should visit oganikk.com/journal where they will get Artisanal Spinach Superchips that are high in iron and protein, low in carb, devoid of GMO and gluten, organic, vegan and above all, extremely tasty!

So, make it a point to eat tasty foods but those which are healthy too to keep your iron score perfect!