I'm PERSISTENTLY low in iron. I keep getting rejected from donating blood because my iron is low. I take a supplement for it and its in my multi, but i'm still low. Granted, I don't eat a lot of red meat... (ok, hardly any at all), but could something else be wrong with me?

I am a menstruating woman, so I know that can affect me, but I am supplementing but still low. Any ideas?

I eat the things they tell you to eat to get more iron, like spinach and beans... is there anything else high in iron (besides red meat)? I have heard that iron in foods is more easily absorbed compared to that in supplements.

then, that aside, what cut of meat is best to get iron in? my problem is that I buy a steak at the grocery store and then just dont cook it! it sits in my freezer and gets hard as a rock and then when i defrost it it just looks so unappetizing that i toss it. Any good ideas here? I have a foreman grill, so...?

Chicken Liver. Six ounces. Three times a week.

This will take care of your iron problems.

I've never had a problem with my iron, but then again, I've always eaten a lot of red meat and liver even before low-carbing.

Trust me, liver WILL help.

How do you prepare liver? Honestly, the idea of eating chicken liver or any sort of liver REALLY freaks me out. I think my mom tried to make me eat liver as a child and it was SICK! i'll check out the foodnetwork website though, I bet alton brown has figured out how to do it such that it is delicious.

Why not just take an iron tablet?

I do, even though I'm supplementing with iron in both a separate pill as well as in my multi vitamin, I'm still consistently low.

Iron supplements aren't usually as bioavialable as heme iron in red meats and organ meats. (At least that is my understanding) Plus I think they can cause an upset stomach. (This happened when some friends of mine took them)

I prepare liver like this:

Chop up some onion and mushrooms, sautee those in butter and some salt. After those are cooked, drop some fresh chicken livers in for about 7-10 minutes, covered.

I love it. I have it 3x per week.

Try cooking with cast iron skillets, it worked for me.

get a complete blood workup from a dr - s/he'll evaluate all the parameters, your iron stores, etc. - at least then you'll know if it is something simple or something that warrants additional attention.

Do you eat wheat? Sometimes gluten intolerance/celiac can cause a problem with the villi in the intestines, and we don't absorb certain vitamins or minerals, iron deficient anemia can be a symptom.......

Has your doctor told you this or are you getting this information stictly from when you try to donate blood? If it's the latter, I would make an appointment with your doctor so he/she can run blood tests to find out why your iron is "persistantly" low. If your doctor told you this and hasn't followed through with bloodwork, I would find another doctor. There could be underlying medical conditions which is causing your iron levels to drop. Especially being as your are taking an iron pill besides getting the iron in your multi and foods you eat.

Keep us posted.

Patty

Yeah, it could indicate a source of low level bleeding, like a GI tract issue. Lots of celiacs have low iron because they a) don't absorb it well b) they've got low levels of bleeding in their intestines all the time.

If I were you, I'd really press the doctor to follow up on it.

I'm with you on the liver problem; the only way I can tolerate it is liverwurst and I have no clue how much real liver, or iron, is actually in that product. I would hesitate to eat commercial chicken livers myself unless the chickens are raised organically. The liver is a detox organ so everything that crossed that chicken's path is going to be concentrated in its liver. I live too near too many chickens to want to eat that.

+1 on see your doctor. There could be a lot of things going on that aren't discernable from your post, including excessively heavy menstrual periods, intestinal problems, and who knows else. If you can, write out a history of your experience with the Red Cross and anything else you can think of that might be relevant (any change in mentruation over the same time period?).

I'm guessing you have some emotional issue with red meat, which is fine. Don't fight it--I can't eat fish myself, and wouldn't dream of insulting my soul by forcing fish down my throat. I lost that fight as a child enough times for one life. There are plenty of other ways to get iron besides eating something that one finds disgusting, for any reason.

For an interesting dose of backstory, get Sex, Time and Power out of the library. By Leonard Shlain. Talks about how the human female has the highest need for iron of all mammals, and how that need has driven civilization as we know it.

Good luck.

I'll talk to my doctor about it on monday when i go see her. she's a fabulous doctor. when i first went to her about a year ago, she started me on iron tablets to help with it, when my iron got in the normal range, she told me to back off on them. maybe i just need a higher level more consistently. I'll talk to her about it.

i did get my hematocrit up to 'good' levels a bit ago, but apparently they've fallen again. also, donating blood requires a higher hematocrit than what doctor's consider to be 'anemic' so i bet she'll say i'm fine. really i just want to get my hematocrit up just enough so i can donate.

i guess it could be gut issues of some variety, but i'm feeling really well with what i've been eating lately and i've been tested for celiacs. i never got the enterolab testing done for it, but maybe i'll look into that as well.

also, i don't really have a problem with red meat. i just don't really know how to cook it without it tasting awful. also, it seems you have to buy expensive cuts in order to make it tasty. i'm just awful. i go to the meat counter and just stare at everything. it all has weird names and i don't know what is good! skirt steak vs sirloin vs whatever the hell else there is! i ask my mom every time i go as well and she tells me what to get that is easy to cook and cheapish and i promptly forget. doesn't help that hubby was vegetarian and still won't really eat meat.

i'll talk to my doc about it on monday, but i don't really think its a big problem.

I never got tested for gluten intolerance, and I did one of the hugely expensive and not-covered by BCBS allergy tests and it did NOT show gluten sensitivity. However, as long as I don't eat wheat products, I don't have acid reflux. Given that I was in so much pain I almost ran a stop sign once into a semi, it seems like a small trade-off.