Foods and Iron

Had the same problem and did research. There are two types of iron: Heme and Non-heme irons. Heme irons are more readily absorbed. Examples: beef, shrimp, turkey, clams, mussels, oysters and assorted livers. Non-heme sources can be enhanced when a heme iron or a helper is consumed in the same meal. Non-heme examples: beans, baked potato with skin, enriched breakfast cereals, pumpkin seeds and canned asparagus. Some of the helpers are orange juice, cantalope, strawberries, broccoli, tomato or tomato juice and red or green peppers. Just mix and match to your daughter's tastes and try tricks if she gets picky like making your own spreads with a mix of things she will and won't eat to go on her favorite crackers, bread or even home made pizza. Sneak what you have to and she'll be healthier in no time. As far as red meat and dairy...never heard or read that one. The absorption inhibitors were coffee, tea, spinach, chard, sweet potato, whole grains, bran and soy products. No mention of dairy. Maybe that is digestion related advice to keep her from getting constipated. That can be solved by adding juice. Good luck.

K.

Hi B.,
I hadn't heard the red meat/dairy thing, interesting, I will have to look that up! I have no worries because my son eats a lot of lean red meat/ground turkey. I think that is the best way if you are not vegetarian. Beans and other legumes are really good too. What I wanted to share is the yo baby yogurt my 2 year old still likes to eat. There are a bunch of flavors, but only one pack (green) has cereal added to it. this cereal ups the iron content by 45%. I think the two flavors are apple and mixed berry. so there you have high iron and calcium. This will be really good for your 6 month old as well!

google, google, google. Always challenge and ask the doctor to explain why....Low iron is not good but too much can throw a child into Type 2 diabetes. Iron HAS to be monitored.

When I was 11 I was taken off certain foods for a condition I had and I had another condition appear because of it and then they took me off calcium....why? becuase it was their way to band-aid a problem. I now have full blown osteoperosis pre-menopausal. That's not supposed to happen. My point is learn as much as you can from people who know. Your child may be getting enough iron, just not absorbing it. That's a totally different issue. I am not a doctor but I have studied and I am in the wellness field and help people with issues like this. I don't know everything but I have a good working knowledge about how the body works and at what point to start searching.

If you would like to call me feel free, ###-###-#### or email me at ____@____.com you just want to talk about what kinds of questions to ask your doctor, feel free to call me. I hope this helped!

My daughter suffers from low iron and the only thing that has worked with her is adding infant cereal to everything. We really only add it to her milk and juice. Just one scoop in each cup and that is 45% of the iron that a child needs for the day. We also give her lots of cereal for snacks and breakfast. We give her a low fat milk and a low sugar cereal. Most cereals contain at least 45-50% of the iron a child needs per day. Since doing this with our daughter.... she has only had low iron one time and that was because she got a really bad virius and couldn't eat or drink without puking. Hope this helps!

Baby foods with spinach in them would be ideal, if you avoid too much red meat. Calcium interferes with iron absorbtion. So feed foods high in iron with water or juice.