Title: Anemia and Iron Deficiency
Categories: Info
Yield: 1 Text

Anemia has long been a concern of obstetricians and has often been blamed as the primary cause of fatigue and low energy during pregnancy. (I often wonder whether the tremendous physiological and hormonal changes going on during pregnancy are the root of our need to rest and contemplate and if, perhaps, the correct thing to do would be to follow those impulses.) It used to be routine for pregnant women to be prescribed iron tablets for iron-poor blood. Though constipation and upset stomachs often resulted and the blood count often didn't rise very much, iron tablets were routinely prescribed throughout pregnancy. I myself remember having iron tablets prescribed by my nurse-midwife when I was pregnant with my son. Fortunately, after a few days of constipation and upset stomach, I decided that this wasn't the way I wanted to get iron into my body and discontinued the iron tablets.

Amazingly, there is startling new evidence that indicates that iron deficiencies are not quite what they were thought to be and that iron supplementation may not be as necessary as previously believed. In fact, inorganic iron supplements are coming under severe attack as the potential cause of many health problems. Nutritional research journals are full of interesting new facts and studies about the side effects of iron tablets. Though iron is a main component of hemoglobin and is essential to the health of the fetus and mother, a moderately low iron count may be part of the natural physiological changes the body undergoes during pregnancy and not a cause for alarm at all. During pregnancy, blood volume increases dramatically; lower hemoglobin levels may be a reflection of increased blood volume.

Dr. Andrew Weil states in his book Natural Health, Natural Medicine, "Unless you are a menstruating woman or have had a significant blood loss, you should NEVER [his emphasis] take supplemental iron except on orders from a physician after appropriate blood tests [this refers to a lab test, not to the standard hematocrit done in the doctor's office] have documented iron deficiency anemia. Not only can excess iron accumulate in the body to toxic levels, it may also interfere with immunity and promote cancer." On the same subject, Susun Weed writes in her book Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Years, "It is possible that many diagnoses of iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy are a result of misinterpretation of the body's natural physiological changes while pregnant, and that lower hemoglobin levels, especially during the second trimester when the blood volume increases sharply, are normal."

No one questions that iron is an important mineral and is necessary during pregnancy. However, the "how much" and "in what form" are in question. A major constituent of hemoglobin, iron is indispensable in the oxygenation of cells. During pregnancy, extra iron must be available for both the mother and infant. The mother needs extra reserves of iron during childbirth, while the child must store sufficient quantities in its liver to be used during its first months of life after the womb.

Iron is readily found in dark-green leafy vegetables and in dark-red vegetables such as red chard, beets, and red cabbage. It is found abundantly in molasses, dried fruit (primarily black mission figs), cherries, prunes, and apricots. Sea vegetables are high in iron and should be included often in the diet; try mild-tasting seaweeds like dulse and hiziki. Wheat germ, brewer's yeast and fresh seeds and nuts are excellent sources of iron. Egg yolks are also high in iron, as are all organ meats (which are safe as long as they come from organically fed animals). There are many herbs rich in organic iron: nettle, rose hips, watercress, yellow dock root, burdock root, parsley, and horsetail.

Without the presence of calcium, protein, copper, cobalt, and other trace minerals, iron cannot be absorbed. Iron is fairly useless in tablet form. For the most efficient absoption of iron, it should be taken in a naturally biochelated form, the form that nature provides. If assimilation of iron is poor, and iron deficiency results, use a good herbal liver tonic to stimulate digestion and absorption. If necessary, supplement the diet with natural iron supplements such as Iron-Plus-Calcium Tincture (see General Formulas for a Healthy Pregnancy) or spirulina. You can also take Floradix Herbs with Iron or NatureWorks Herbal Iron, liquid iron supplements made from wildcrafted and organic herbs and available in natural food stores. Finally, try to cook in cast-iron pots as much as possible. Though an old fashioned remedy, cooking foods in cast-iron post provide the system with an extra boost of iron.

Symptoms of iron deficiency are very obvious; they are probably better signals of anemia during pregnancy than hemoglobin tests are. Shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness, heart palpitations, pallor, and breathlessness are all common signals and alert one that reserves of iron may be low.

previous

next