Iron deficiency anemia: which iron-rich foods to favor?

Anemia corresponds to a hemoglobin level in the blood substandard. There is no single anemia, but several anemias. This guide supports iron deficiency nutrition, i.e. microcytic anemia (hypochromic and aregenerative).

Iron is irreplaceable for red blood cells since it is directly involved in erythropoiesis: the process of formation of red blood cells. Red blood cells are constantly created in the bone marrow. After mobilization of iron reserves, the cycles necessary for the formation of a red blood cell become abnormal. The red blood cells are smaller and less loaded with hemoglobin. In short, they become defective.

In the case of iron deficiency anemia, it may be a nutritional iron deficiency (insufficient intake), associated or not with bleeding (e.g. heavy periods), or even with a lack of absorption. Depending on the stage of anemia, medical treatment will be necessary. However, it is important to know the different food sources of iron to optimize your intake and prevent the risk of deficiency.

The body is unable to produce iron. Only food meets our needs. In case of iron deficiency anemia, we focus on foods rich in bioavailable iron. There are three types of iron with different bioavailability to the body. To improve iron absorption, culinary practices and food combinations overcome absorption difficulties.

In summary, an anti-anemic diet emphasizes:

• THE ferric iron (Fe²⁺) heme : its absorption is excellent. It comes from foods containing blood, that is to say fish and meat.

• THE ferric iron (Fe²⁺): its absorption is acceptable. This form of iron is found in animal foods, but is not in contact with the blood, such as dairy products and eggs.

• THE ferrous iron (Fe³⁺) associated with vitamin C : the absorption of ferrous iron is poor. All plants provide this type of iron. Supplementing ferrous iron with vitamin C increases its bioavailability, as vitamin C reduces ferrous iron to ferric iron.

• Neutralization of iron antinutritional factors (or antinutrients): sprouting, cooking, soaking or fermenting plants destroys antinutrients. Iron antinutrients are tannins, phytates, lectins and oxalic acid: they form inaccessible complexes in contact with iron.

The foods to favor are not necessarily the richest in iron. These are foods which have a significant intake of iron, whose absorption is satisfactory and whose quantities traditionally consumed are sufficient. For example, aromatic herbs contain more iron than meats. However, the absorption of iron from aromatic herbs is poor, and we consume a maximum of 2 g of aromatic herbs per day.

Black pudding is an offal very rich in iron due to the incorporation of blood in its preparation. This is ferric heme iron, the highly absorbed iron. Consuming 1 black pudding provides approximately 28 mg of iron, or 2.5 times more than the recommended daily intake. Alongside iron, we also find a lot of copper. THE copper strengthens the hematopoietic action of iron, that is to say it promotes the use of iron to form red blood cells.

We recommend you to introduce a meal with black pudding once every week.

Butcher's meat corresponds to a classification of meat according to zoological groups. We find beef, pork, mutton, goat, etc. All of these meats are a source of ferric heme iron (approximately 3 mg of iron per 100 g), whose absorption is excellent. Just like black pudding, butcher's meats are also vectors of copper. Copper participates in the transport of iron in the body. A property that facilitates the use of iron to make red blood cells.

We recommend you :

• 500 g of butcher's meat per week. This quantity corresponds to 4-5 servings of meat.

• to vary the meats: beef, mutton, pork, goat, etc.

Shellfish are surprisingly rich in iron. Ferric in nature and associated with heme (constituting red blood cells), the iron in seafood is well assimilated. Mollusks still have twice as much iron as crustaceans: 5 mg of iron compared to 2 mg of iron per 100 g; they will therefore be preferred.

We recommend you :

• two seafood meals per week.

• molluscs such as periwinkles, scallops, mussels, oysters, cephalopods (squid, squid and octopus), etc.

• shellfish such as shrimp, florets, lobsters, lobsters, crabs, langoustines, crabs, etc.

Plants do not have to be ashamed of their iron content. Dried algae, legumes, seeds and even spirulina are concentrates of ferrous iron. To improve the absorption of this iron, it is essential to couple it with vitamin C.

We recommend you :

• minimum two legume-based meals per week. Dried vegetables are lentils, beans, chickpeas, split peas, flageolet beans, red and white beans, pintos, etc. A portion of dried vegetable (60 g) provides around 5 mg of iron.

• to introduce dried seaweed into your eating habits. Consumable seaweeds are dulse, nori, sea lettuce, kombu, royal kombu, wakame, etc. 5 g of dried seaweed gives approximately 1 mg of iron.

• a handful of seeds per day, or about 15 g, which represents 1.5 mg of iron.

• to vary the seeds: chia, hemp, sunflower, squash, flax, sesame, poppy, rapeseed, etc.

• to introduce cures of superfoods rich in iron, such as spirulina, turmeric or cocoa powder. To be combined with superfood cures rich in vitamin C, such as camu-camu oracerola.

• five raw fruits and vegetables per day, for vitamin C intake.

• Cook the plants : Although certain plants provide a lot of iron, they are also vectors of antinutritional iron factors: tannin, lectin and oxalic acid. Cooking destroys all three antinutrients. We therefore prefer cooked fruits and vegetables as well as roasted nuts and seeds to correct anemia.

• Germinate the seeds : Seeds contribute to iron requirements. However, they contain an anti-nutritional factor called phytic acid (or phytate). Phytic acid is destroyed by germination. In case of anemia, it is wise to favor sprouted seeds to improve iron intake.

• Opt for fermentation : Fermentation destroys tannins and phytic acid. These two anti-nutritional factors are found in fruits, vegetables, cereals, etc. It is necessary to favor sourdough bread and lacto-fermented vegetables to improve iron absorption.

• Soak pulses and whole grains: Pre-soaking dried vegetables and cereals is essential to stock up on iron. This step diffuses all the iron antinutrients into the soaking water.

Control the consumption of green tea, coffee or red wine: these three drinks are rich in tannins. For avoid the action of tannins on the absorption of iron, it is essential to limit consumption (e.g.: 1 liter of tea maximum per day) or'remove meals. As for wine, alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health, consume in moderation: maximum two standard glasses per day, and not every day.

Note that cocoa and black tea contain tannins. However, during their manufacturing processes, they necessarily go through a fermentation stage. Consequently, their harm on iron absorption is minimal.

THE myth the most widespread in nutrition, which spreads over several generations, concerns spinach. We've all heard it before: "to stock up on iron, you have to eat spinach." Surely one of the first fake news in nutrition: the iron concentration of spinach is not that extraordinary: 100 g of fresh spinach provides a little more than 3 mg of iron. This intake is ridiculous compared to the 22 mg of black pudding or the 7 mg of lentils.

It is following multiple careless errors that this belief takes root. In 1870, researcher Emil von Wolff analyzed the nutritional value of spinach. The latter would have observed 2.7 mg of iron for spinach, but transcribed 27 mg. You see the error coming: the comma shifted and there you have the spinach accredited with a content ten times higher than what it actually has. A few years later, it was a second researcher who confirmed the fallacious reputation of spinach. Indeed, Gustav von Bunger attributes the nutritional content of dehydrated spinach to fresh spinach. Dehydration concentrates nutrients by removing water from food. To top it all off, the Popeye comic strip was born at the beginning of the 20th century. In the books, Popeye consumes spinach to gain strength. Easy, but effective, nothing more is needed to confirm this false belief in the eyes of readers.

In short, spinach does not have an exceptional iron content, but they remain more than interesting for many other reasons: vitamin K, vitamin B9, beta-carotene, manganese, calcium, vitamin E, etc.