Naturally raising iron levels during my third pregnancy.
Hello! I went into pregnancy with incredibly low iron readings that were a concern to doctors and soon, naturally I was offered iron tablets, infusions and asked if I wanted to block my periods yet not once asked about my diet or lifestyle in general. I didn’t feel comfortable with any of the options presented and took the readings as a sign I needed to make some changes. I am not against taking iron, but some research and conversations I had with people made me not want to overload my body with iron and let it find it’s own path. Here are 5 things I did to raise my iron levels. Alot of them are no brainers.
1.I overall started eating better. I find it very easy to feed the kids well, but a lot harder to care for myself. So, dark leafy greens, more smoothies packed with spinach and the powders I needed, apricots and nuts as a snack. etc. All amazing foods for upping iron! A few more steaks were featured on the menu (Joseph was very happy), and I tried to buy meat where offal was mixed in eg. these burgers from Gazegill Organics.
2. I started taking my pregnancy supplements again which I had been a little lax taking. These are not the cheapest but I was happy with the ingredients list, especially the fact the folic acid is delivered in the active methylfolate form.
3. Drank Rheal - You can get 20% off your first order- (minus subscriptions) with this link MEGANLANDRETH-SMITH. The mix comes as a powder. I chose the clean greens based on reviews and had bought it to settle some bloating pre-baby but found it massively helped brighten my skin and raise my energy levels! Lots of people take in water, I always paired it with some orange juice and drank it as a shot!
4. Took Liposomal Vitamin C /vitamin C to help absorb the iron. Vitamin C helps absorb Iron where it’s thought dairy hinders absorption. I made sure to up my vitamin C overall. - I did this in a mix of ways- took the kids incredible ‘mighty kids liposomal Vitamin C’, added acerola powder to smoothies and drank fresh orange juice! You can juice your own, or, I love this fresh orange juice from Abel and Cole. You can get 50% off your first order with this link or by typing in Megan Landreth-Smith
5. I cut out the majority of caffeine I was drinking. Caffeine is also thought to be an iron inhibitor. Since being pregnant my caffeine consumption had crept up and I was drinking 2-3 cups of tea a day and one cup of coffee. It was suggested I drop down, so I kept the morning cup of tea and went herbal on the rest! I have LOVED drinking these golden turmeric tea bags from dragonfly as well as their vanilla roobois ones. I tend to add a drop of milk in too! I think the move away from caffeine has massively helped my iron levels go up, and I have felt SO much more energy without the reliance on caffeine for energy too! Something I’m gonna try and carry forward with a newborn but we’l see!
Let me know if you’ve been in a similar position. What did you do?