If any of you are having problems with post-surgery anemia, like I am, and you can chew softer foods, try this spinach salad. A friend gave me this recipe and I have been eating the salad non-stop ever since. It tastes awesome, but what's best about it is that it combines Vitamin C (from the strawberries) with the iron from the spinach, so your body will actually absorb the iron. Hooray!
Spinach Salad
Baby spinach
Sliced strawberries
Cilantro (or parsley)
Red onion
Feta cheese (or Chèvre)
Toasted pecans (or other nut/seeds)
Renee's Pear Guava salad dressing (or other sweet dressing, like raspberry vinaigrette)
Enjoy!
Showing posts with label anemia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anemia. Show all posts
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
Ask Bella: Hot tips
Q: Knowing what you know now, would you still go through the surgery? Is there anything you would change?
A: No regrets. I'd do it all again. Only this time, I'd be taking the homeopathic remedies before the surgery as well as after to help get the swelling down faster, I would have gone to lymph drainage massage as soon as humanly possible after the surgery instead of waiting two weeks to help get the swelling down, and I would have moved my expectations about being perfectly healed from three months post-surgery up to six months post-surgery. Oh, and I definitely would have upped my iron intake during my recovery.
Q: Any random tips/recommendations for any part of the process?
A: Do your research. Read all you can, look into natural remedies, know exactly what you're getting into, and keep a positive attitude and a sense of humour and you'll breeze through it (as much as anyone can "breeze through" major surgery, that is.)
*To ask Bella a question about her jaw surgery, email her at smilingbella at gmail dot com or leave a comment on this post. Go ahead: ask away!!
A: No regrets. I'd do it all again. Only this time, I'd be taking the homeopathic remedies before the surgery as well as after to help get the swelling down faster, I would have gone to lymph drainage massage as soon as humanly possible after the surgery instead of waiting two weeks to help get the swelling down, and I would have moved my expectations about being perfectly healed from three months post-surgery up to six months post-surgery. Oh, and I definitely would have upped my iron intake during my recovery.
Q: Any random tips/recommendations for any part of the process?
A: Do your research. Read all you can, look into natural remedies, know exactly what you're getting into, and keep a positive attitude and a sense of humour and you'll breeze through it (as much as anyone can "breeze through" major surgery, that is.)
*To ask Bella a question about her jaw surgery, email her at smilingbella at gmail dot com or leave a comment on this post. Go ahead: ask away!!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Anemialiscious
This post-surgery anemia business is far more complicated than it first seemed. You think - okay, my iron levels are low, so I'll just take iron pills and eat some spinach.
Not so much.
The first thing I learned was that you have to take iron supplements with Vitamin C or your body won't absorb them. My doctor never mentioned this when she told me to take the iron; I got this information from a friend. So, one more pill to take.
Then, I decided to look up information on foods with high iron content so I could be sure I was eating right. I was surprised to learn that not only there is a list of foods that enhance iron absorption, but there is also a list of foods that block iron absorption. These include sweet potatoes, red wine, soy and spinach.
What? Spinach inhibits iron absorption? Isn't it supposed to be chock full of irony goodness? Well, it is, but it also contains an acid that blocks iron absorption. In order to absorb the iron in spinach, you have to eat it with iron absorption enhancing foods, such as meat, tomatoes, and Vitamin C-rich fruits.
Note to self: people put strawberries, oranges and bacon in spinach salad for a reason, not just because it makes the salad look pretty. Go figure.
Not surprisingly, the iron that is most easily absorbed by our bodies is found in meat, poultry and fish. Making it extra difficult for vegetarians.
So, I took my iron supplements with Vitamin C like a good girl for a few weeks and...nothing happened. I didn't feel any better. I was still exhausted and sick all the time. What the heck was going on? Was there something else horribly wrong with me?
On Monday, I went to see my naturopath and mentioned it to her. She asked what else I was taking the iron supplements with, and I named off my arsenal of capsules and pills.
"You have to make sure that you don't take calcium and iron supplements together. The calcium competes with the iron for absorption and the calcium always wins. Then, the iron is just this toxin floating around your body."
In other words, all that iron I had been taking these past few weeks was not absorbed, even though I was taking it with Vitamin C, because the calcium blocked the iron.
Grrrr.
On the plus side, I started taking the iron away from the calcium on Tuesday, and by Friday, I had already started feeling better. So, there's hope for me yet.
Not so much.
The first thing I learned was that you have to take iron supplements with Vitamin C or your body won't absorb them. My doctor never mentioned this when she told me to take the iron; I got this information from a friend. So, one more pill to take.
Then, I decided to look up information on foods with high iron content so I could be sure I was eating right. I was surprised to learn that not only there is a list of foods that enhance iron absorption, but there is also a list of foods that block iron absorption. These include sweet potatoes, red wine, soy and spinach.
What? Spinach inhibits iron absorption? Isn't it supposed to be chock full of irony goodness? Well, it is, but it also contains an acid that blocks iron absorption. In order to absorb the iron in spinach, you have to eat it with iron absorption enhancing foods, such as meat, tomatoes, and Vitamin C-rich fruits.
Note to self: people put strawberries, oranges and bacon in spinach salad for a reason, not just because it makes the salad look pretty. Go figure.
Not surprisingly, the iron that is most easily absorbed by our bodies is found in meat, poultry and fish. Making it extra difficult for vegetarians.
So, I took my iron supplements with Vitamin C like a good girl for a few weeks and...nothing happened. I didn't feel any better. I was still exhausted and sick all the time. What the heck was going on? Was there something else horribly wrong with me?
On Monday, I went to see my naturopath and mentioned it to her. She asked what else I was taking the iron supplements with, and I named off my arsenal of capsules and pills.
"You have to make sure that you don't take calcium and iron supplements together. The calcium competes with the iron for absorption and the calcium always wins. Then, the iron is just this toxin floating around your body."
In other words, all that iron I had been taking these past few weeks was not absorbed, even though I was taking it with Vitamin C, because the calcium blocked the iron.
Grrrr.
On the plus side, I started taking the iron away from the calcium on Tuesday, and by Friday, I had already started feeling better. So, there's hope for me yet.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Anemia is the new black
This long weekend, while everyone else was out camping, sunbathing, and enjoying not being at work, I was sleeping 15 hours each day. I thought it was fallout from the torture session with my physiotherapist or I was coming down with (yet another) cold or flu. My whole body felt heavy and run down.
On Tuesday, I talked to my doctor about the tests I requested last week and she informed me I am mildly anemic. This is a new thing, because I had the same blood tests run a month before my surgery and I was fine.
A number of factors can affect your blood iron levels, and surgery is a big one. Fortunately, the solution to my problem is pretty simple; my doctor wants me to take iron pills for a month and then get my blood tested again (iron builds up in your body and can become toxic, so it's important to get levels re-tested regularly if you're taking iron supplements.)
I hope the iron deficiency also explains why, since the surgery, I'm constantly picking up viruses, getting easily worn out, having problems getting out of bed in the morning, and, as a result, missing waaaay too much work. Because not only do I have zero sick days left, I actually owe my employer for all of the time I've taken off for health reasons. And let me tell you, all of that physiotherapy, homeopathy, supplements and acupuncture don't come cheap. Bella needs a paycheque.
On Tuesday, I talked to my doctor about the tests I requested last week and she informed me I am mildly anemic. This is a new thing, because I had the same blood tests run a month before my surgery and I was fine.
A number of factors can affect your blood iron levels, and surgery is a big one. Fortunately, the solution to my problem is pretty simple; my doctor wants me to take iron pills for a month and then get my blood tested again (iron builds up in your body and can become toxic, so it's important to get levels re-tested regularly if you're taking iron supplements.)
I hope the iron deficiency also explains why, since the surgery, I'm constantly picking up viruses, getting easily worn out, having problems getting out of bed in the morning, and, as a result, missing waaaay too much work. Because not only do I have zero sick days left, I actually owe my employer for all of the time I've taken off for health reasons. And let me tell you, all of that physiotherapy, homeopathy, supplements and acupuncture don't come cheap. Bella needs a paycheque.
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