Very low ferritin level - how to increase iron reserves??

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm new here and am almost raw for five months. (A few things I

thought were raw but aren't holding me back)

 

I have very low ferritin level - 23

 

I am challenged to increase it. My Naturopath recommends blackstrap

molasses, but it's not raw and it's too sweet.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Kaylen

[Guest guest]

Kaylen,

Twenty years ago I worked for Dr Leo Bolles in Bellevue. I saw some great

sucess for low iron with NESS #17. I just googled to see if NESS ENZYMES are

still around and they are.

http://www.enzymesinc.com/ness/formula-17-immune-support.html

 

Then I googled Yellow dock and found this:

Yellow dock is famous because of its ability to increase the amount of iron

that is accessible to the blood system. It is also noted because of its ability

to purify the blood. In Eclectic medicine it was much used in this way in many

skin disorders. It is an excellent agent to cleanse the lymphatic system.

Therefore the main uses are when the body is run down and has lost its ability

to properly remove toxins.

http://www.blueboyherbs.com/Yellow%20Dock.htm

 

Terri

 

 

kaylen2 <rainspirit wrote:

Hello everyone,

 

I'm new here and am almost raw for five months. (A few things I

thought were raw but aren't holding me back)

 

I have very low ferritin level - 23

 

I am challenged to increase it. My Naturopath recommends blackstrap

molasses, but it's not raw and it's too sweet.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Kaylen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ahhh...imagining that irresistible " new car " smell?

Check outnew cars at Autos.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Terri, I'll look into it. I think the iron supplement I'm taking

has yellow dock. It's getting the iron into from food me that's the problem,

too.

Kaylen

 

-------------- Original message ----------------------

Terri Zappone <terrizs

> Kaylen,

> Twenty years ago I worked for Dr Leo Bolles in Bellevue. I saw some great

> sucess for low iron with NESS #17. I just googled to see if NESS ENZYMES are

> still around and they are.

> http://www.enzymesinc.com/ness/formula-17-immune-support.html

>

> Then I googled Yellow dock and found this:

> Yellow dock is famous because of its ability to increase the amount of iron

> that is accessible to the blood system. It is also noted because of its

ability

> to purify the blood. In Eclectic medicine it was much used in this way in many

> skin disorders. It is an excellent agent to cleanse the lymphatic system.

> Therefore the main uses are when the body is run down and has lost its ability

> to properly remove toxins.

> http://www.blueboyherbs.com/Yellow%20Dock.htm

>

> Terri

>

>

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Kaylen,

 

Congrats on going raw, and for recognizing bad advice when you get it.

 

Firstly, diagnosing mineral deficiency is more art than science. The standards

by which deficiencies are deemed to exist are not reliable. The level of iron

found in the bloodstream of an average, asymptomatic, SAD-eating individual is

presumed to be " normal " but the fact is that most people in our culture eat

foods that contain an abundance of mostly unusable, inorganic minerals from

cooked meats and other unhealthful fare, inordinate quantities of which end up

in their bloodstreams. Even though this is obviously not healthy, it is

perceived to be " normal " . In reality, we really don't know what truly normal

mineral levels are for a healthy human being. Medical professionals will tell

you otherwise, but they are as wrong as your naturopath is for telling you to

eat something as thoroughly unhealthful as molasses.

 

Further, if it's true that you really are deficient, it is most likely an issue

of assimilation, not intake. That means you can eat all the iron and/or iron

supplements you want, and the underlying problem (not iron deficiency, but the

inability of your body to utilize the iron you eat) won't go away. If you're

expressing symptoms that are being attributed to iron deficiency, they may or

may not actually have anything to do with your iron levels. If they do, it's

only because all the problems you're experiencing are related to the same root

cause -- toxicosis (saturation of the body with poisons and morbid wastes). In

changing your diet, you have begun to resolve the problem. If you keep making

improvements, your body's ability to use the nutrients you eat will normalize un

time. Fasting will allow this to happen even quicker, if that's a possibility

for you.

 

If you're eating a reasonably healthful raw diet, it is also the case that

you're probably getting plenty of iron in your diet. Note the following charts

showing iron RDAs for people of various ages. Then, look below to find a chart

showing the iron content of some healthful foods. It's probably not necessary,

but if you feel the need to increase the levels of iron in your diet, these are

the foods that can do that. Personally, I think it's just better to eat the

foods you like. The charts below that show the iron and other minerals that

would be derived from a typical day's intake on a raw, plant-based vegan diet.

In addition, I've pasted some info about mineral deficiencies and molasses below

that. The source is the Life Science Course that I sell on my website.

 

Continued good luck on your raw journey.

 

Nora ... www.RawSchool.com

 

 

 

Iron RDAs:

 

Children (1-3 years) 15 milligrams

Children (4-10 years) 10 milligrams

Males (11-18) 18 milligrams

Males, Adult 10 milligrams

Females (11-50 years) 18 milligrams

Females (51 and over) 10 milligrams

 

 

Food Sources: The following are good sources of organic iron:

 

Sesame seeds Figs

Peaches Green vegetable leaves

Apricots Lettuce

Raisins Mung bean sprouts

Walnuts Broccoli

Almonds Berries

Dates Cherries

 

 

 

Examples of Mineral Contents of Meals

A typical summer menu:

 

Meal Food

Breakfast Watermelon

Lunch Bibb lettuce

Yellow squash

Sunflower seeds

Dinner Cherries

Nectarines

Bananas

 

 

Mineral content of five essential minerals in the above meal:

 

CALCIUM 400 milligrams

IRON 18.2 milligrams

MAGNESIUM 16 milligrams

PHOSPHOROUS 1150 milligrams

IODINE .245 milligrams

 

 

A typical fall/winter menu:

 

Meal Food

Breakfast Oranges

Grapefruit

Lunch Lettuce

Asparagus

Chard

Almonds

Dinner Persimmons

Apples

Grapes

 

 

Mineral content of five essential minerals in the above meal:

 

CALCIUM 600 milligrams

IRON 18.9 milligrams

MAGNESIUM 458 milligrams

PHOSPHOROUS 800 milligrams

IODINE .235 milligrams

 

 

 

 

Thoughts on mineral deficiencies:

 

" Although an improper diet is usually viewed as the main cause of a mineral

deficiency, it is also important to realize that a mineral deficiency can occur

even when there is an excess of minerals in the diet. Although the minerals may

be present, the body, for some reason or other, is unable to digest and

assimilate them. In this case, a metabolic deficiency occurs.

 

For example, in cases of pernicious anemia, which is often viewed as a serious

iron deficiency, there is often an excessive amount of iron-containing pigment

in all the organs. Post-mortem diagnosis of several anemic patients showed that

there was enough iron stored in the spleen to correct the deficiency in the

body. The mineral was present, it just was not being metabolized.

 

Also, in cases with fasting anemic patients, it has been discovered that their

number of red blood cells improve and iron is utilized more efficiently while on

a fast. It is interesting to note that this occurs when the patient is not

receiving any iron at all in his diet. The fasting condition enables the

patients to metabolize the iron already stored within their system. "

 

And, regarding molasses:

 

" Dr. Rudolph Ballentine says that, " Since it is a concentrated residue, molasses

contains significant quantities of minerals such as iron, a fair amount of

calcium and generous quantities of trace elements such as zinc, copper, and

chromium. "

 

Just because these minerals can be detected in molasses does not mean that they

are in a form that can utilized by the body. In fact, these minerals are mostly

resulting from the residues from the lime, cattle bones, soil, and other

residues left after being boiled for many hours at high temperatures. Most are

inorganic and totally unusable to the human body. Even if there were any

organic minerals left, they would be rendered useless after the boiling and

chemical treatment. "

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Nora,

 

Thank you for your comments. I regularly eat several of the foods listed.

 

The naturopath also said the blood cells are varying sizes - more than the norm,

which indicates the body is making them but struggling (OK, I didn't tape record

the conversation so don't blame her if i'm inaccurate.)

 

Seems to me I've also read somewhere that cancer loves an iron-rich environment

so I'm not eager to get the ferritin up to 100.

 

She should be glad I'm up from 14 to 23 LOL. (Gentlemen, cover your eyes) The

14 was when I almost needed a transfusion from excessive, and I do mean

excessive, bleeding for over ten days.

 

I'll stay on the path and see what things are like in a few months.

 

As for the molasses, she only suggested that because she knew I wouldn't consume

a haem source of iron, gag.

Now that I don't cook, my cast iron skillet is in the basement. Perhaps I should

go lick the rust off my chain link fence. (tongue in cheek)

 

Kaylen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

With such a low ferritin level, maybe I'm evolving to an antity with green blood

ROFL.

 

Kaylen

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Kaylen,

 

I regularely attend a cancer group and you are right. Tests only shows what is

not or is in the blood ( and at that moment), not what is stored in the body.

you may be storing iron rather than the body proccessing it normaly . If you

wish to discuss it a little with me write direct email.

 

Catherine

 

 

-

rainspirit

Friday, April 13, 2007 12:53 PM

Re: Very low ferritin level - how to increase iron

reserves??

 

 

Nora,

 

Thank you for your comments. I regularly eat several of the foods listed.

 

The naturopath also said the blood cells are varying sizes - more than the

norm, which indicates the body is making them but struggling (OK, I didn't tape

record the conversation so don't blame her if i'm inaccurate.)

 

Seems to me I've also read somewhere that cancer loves an iron-rich

environment so I'm not eager to get the ferritin up to 100.

 

She should be glad I'm up from 14 to 23 LOL. (Gentlemen, cover your eyes) The

14 was when I almost needed a transfusion from excessive, and I do mean

excessive, bleeding for over ten days.

 

I'll stay on the path and see what things are like in a few months.

 

As for the molasses, she only suggested that because she knew I wouldn't

consume a haem source of iron, gag.

Now that I don't cook, my cast iron skillet is in the basement. Perhaps I

should go lick the rust off my chain link fence. (tongue in cheek)

 

Kaylen

 

[Guest guest]

My first thought was: eat some raw ferrit.

 

 

 

Seriously, are you having any symptoms of anything? Maybe your ferritin

level is just right. I think it would be interesting for raw fooders to get

blood tests and compare them. Anybody know of a cheap place to get it done,

without having to go through a doctor?

 

 

 

Mark

 

 

 

_____

 

On Behalf Of rainspirit

Friday, April 13, 2007 12:59 PM

 

Re: Very low ferritin level - how to increase iron

reserves??

 

 

 

With such a low ferritin level, maybe I'm evolving to an antity with green

blood ROFL.

 

Kaylen

 

 

 

 

 

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7:58 PM

 

 

 

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Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 269.4.0/759 - Release 4/12/2007

7:58 PM

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

>

> Seriously, are you having any symptoms of anything?

 

 

I don't kow what the symptoms are for low ferritin except

she said the blood cells are not even in size indicating the

body is making them but struggling to do so. I'm definitely

not anemic according to the hematocrit test.

 

 

 

 

This is from http://www.thewayup.com/products/0136.cfm talking about a

ferritin suppliment rather than an iron supplement.

 

 

 

The best blood test for determining iron status is serum ferritin, which

measures the level of stored iron available in your body. Dr. Slagle considers

any level less than mid-normal to be capable of detracting from health &

requiring dietary change or supplementation.

 

f you are in the high risk group or have a constellation of the deficiency

symptoms listed below, supplementation is likely indicated. Do not use if you

have a liver disorder or do not fit the group at risk for deficiency, unless you

have a serum ferritin test.

 

SYMPTOMS OF DEFICIENCY :

 

* Depression

* Fatigue

* Listlessness

* Impaired learning

* Poor memory

* Decreased attention span

* Irritability

* Dizziness

* Appetite loss

* Constipation

* Difficulty swallowing

* Joint soreness

* Asthma

* Sores on skin

* Hair loss

* Headaches

* Sore or burning tongue

* Brittle, flat, or spoon shaped nails

* Longitudinal ridges on nails

* Heart palpitations on exertion

* Shortness of breath

* Cold extremities

* Decreased resistance to infection

* Anemia (hypochromic, microcytic)

* Numbness & tingling

* Night sweats

* Fragile bones

* Growth impairment

* Eye soreness

 

 

Those could be symptoms of many other conditions as well.

 

Kaylen

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

For a list of plant-based foods (animal based too) and their iron

content (the top 38 are plant-based! I missed an animal organ at 4.9

mg) have a look here: http://www.soystache.com/iron.htm

 

Jeff

[Guest guest]

For a list of plant-based foods (animal based too) and their iron

content (the top 38 are plant-based! I missed an animal organ at 4.9

mg) have a look here: soystache.com/iron.htm

 

Jeff

[Guest guest]

You might want to try taking a chelated (said kee-lated) iron

supplement. I do this with zinc as it seems to be the only way I can

keep from getting low on zinc. The chelation process makes the mineral

easier for the body to absorb.

Ron

 

, rainspirit wrote:

>

>

> Thanks, Terri, I'll look into it. I think the iron supplement I'm

taking

> has yellow dock. It's getting the iron into from food me that's the

problem, too.

> Kaylen