6 Ways To Treat Anemia With The Right Diet

Anemia is defined as the deficiency of iron in the blood. It is important to be treated for anemia otherwise gross negligence can even lead to dead. Anemia is treated depending on how serious the condition is. The type and cause of anemia also play important factors during the time of treatment. The main aim of the treatment for anemia is to boost the supply of oxygen in the blood stream. This can be done only by increasing the red blood cell count or what is medically known as the hemoglobin level.

Hemoglobin is a protein rich in iron that is found in the red blood cells. Hemoglobin is the carrier of oxygen in the body. The most effective way of treating anemia is through making changes in the daily diet. Your doctor will advise you to increase your intake of vitamin and iron in your diet. Supplements for the same are also prescribed. But it’s always best to treat anemia via the natural method of implementing effective changes in the diet.

Treat Anemia With The Right Diet

Treat Anemia With Iron

Iron is an important nutrient required by the body to produce hemoglobin. Iron is found mainly in green leafy vegetables and meats. However, a study has revealed that the body is better able to absorb iron from non-vegetarian foods like beef and liver. Chicken, pork, turkey, fish and shellfish are also rich sources of iron. Vegetables and foods that are high in iron content are spinach, dried fruits especially raisins, prunes and apricots, tofu, peas, white and red lentils, kidney beans, soybean and chickpeas.

Prune juice is also a good source of iron and two glasses of prune juice in a day are enough to take care of your daily requirement for iron. Some products like breads and cereals are especially formulated to contain high amounts of iron to kick start your day with healthy quantity of iron. Before you buy any food product you must check the Nutritional Facts given on the packaging to check the amount of iron that is there in the food. The amount given will mostly be in percentage that will tell you the overall quantity of iron your body requires every day.

Premature babies and babies who are breastfed are sometimes put on iron supplements if they are born anemic or become anemic even though they are being fed mother’s milk. If your doctor prescribes you iron supplements to combat anemia then never overdose yourself on the mineral as it can be detrimental to your health. When you start taking an iron-rich diet you must take multivitamin supplements to allow the body to absorb the minerals better.

Treat Anemia With Vitamin B12

Severe deficiency of vitamin B12 often causes pernicious anemia. Anemia of this kind can be treated only by increasing the intake of foods rich in vitamin B12. Vitamin B 12 is commonly found in red meats including fish, chicken, lamb, beef and liver.

Dairy products like yogurt, cottage cheese and milk and animal products like eggs also contain good amounts of vitamin B 12. Some manufacturers of breakfast cereals add Vitamin B 12 to their food product in order to prevent anemia in children and working people. there are other manufactured foods as well that are especially laced with vitamin B 12 to take care of its deficiency in young people.

Treat Anemia With Folic Acid

Folic acid, also called folate, is a type of vitamin B that is very common in various foods. Folate is required by the body to produce new cells in the body and also to keep the cells healthy and in a functional condition. Folic acid is highly recommended for pregnant women especially during the first trimester. It not only prevents the mother-to-be from falling sick but also promotes the brain development in the fetus.

Folic acid is found in foods like spinach, broccoli, zucchini, kidney beans, black-eyed beans, beef, eggs, liver and in breads, pastas and rice treated with folic acid. Fruits like bananas, oranges and grapefruits are recommended to tide over folic acid deficiency. Drinking a glass of orange juice or grapefruit juice every day contributes to some percentage of folic acid quantity required every day by the body.

Treat Anemia With Vitamin C

Doctors usually prescribe vitamin C supplements along with iron supplements. The reason is that vitamin C helps better absorption of iron by the body. Citrus fruits like oranges, grapes, sweet lime, lemon, grapefruits and tangerines are rich sources of vitamin C. Fruits such as kiwi fruits, cantaloupes and strawberries also have vitamin C in them though not in as much quantity as do the citrus fruits.

Some vegetables like tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, potatoes, bell peppers, broccoli, and green leafy vegetables like spinach and green turnips also contain vitamin C. to give your body the required daily dose of vitamin C you should always eat fresh fruits and vegetables rather than canned ones. A word of advice: if you are on medication then check with your local chemist or your doctor whether you could eat grapefruits and drink grapefruits juice. The juice can have adverse effects on the health when taken along with certain medications.

Treat Anemia With Brewer’s Yeast

Brewer’s yeast contains high quantities of B group of vitamins. Including Brewer’s yeast in your daily diet will give you sufficient amounts of folic acid commonly referred to as Vitamin B 12. The good news is that even vegetarian’s can include the vegetarian variety of Brewer’s yeast in their diet and get their daily dose of folic acid. Add brewer’s yeast to protein shakes and other nutritional drinks where it mixes well with other nutrition as well.

Treat Anemia With Curry Powder

Curry powder has good percentage of iron in it. However, you need to be sure of the amount of iron present in the quantity of curry powder that you use. For this reason using curry powder for treating anemia can be tricky. Usually there is 50-60 mg of iron in every 100 gm of curry powder so use the spice according to the daily dose of iron required by your body.