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Hi all, has anyone had any issues with exercising and low iron count. Even at plus 50 I still have the normal women's issues and 6 months after starting McDougalling, and with increased exercise my iron levels crashed, and left me very fatigued. I've got it under control by being careful about what I eat (mixing iron sources and vitamin C) and I also take iron tablets (only about three a week which seems to work). because it really knocked me around and ruined my exercise program. I'd rather not be on the tablets so does anyone have any ideas.

I'm not sure I understand: did you suddenly ramp up your exercise after McDougalling for 6 months?

Here are some sources of iron--some better than others--but are there any you aren't using (that you can stand to eat?)

Cooked soybeans (McDougall advises no more than 1 cup of beans a day)
Cooked lentils
Spinach
Tofu
Sesame seeds
Kidney beans
Pumpkin seeds
Chickpeas
Navy beans
Blackstrap molasses
Greens
Beets
Tempeh


I know of at least one person who juiced beets daily and that helped (she got nausea from the iron pills so diet was all she had to work with).

I did ramp up the exercise, and I still exercise fairly intensely for about an hour a day five days a week. I've sort of got the iron levels under control but they are still quite low.

Interestingly, an obstetrician friend of mine has haemochromatosis, a disease where your body stores too much iron, and her iron has dropped to normal levels. When she went to talk to pathologists and blood specialists she knew, they didn't know of any link between exercise and low iron, except in marathon runners and people who exercise to extremes - that is caused by bleeding in body tissues. I definitely don't exercise anywhere near extremely.

I guess I'm just a bit uncomfortable about taking supplements - I feel that I should be able to do the McDougalling thing and stay healthy without them.

When you say 'beets' do you mean the dark plum coloured root vegetable? Sorry but some of the names are a bit different in Australia. If it's what I think you mean we usually eat it pickled, though I know you can eat the leaves, and I have. The other stuff I do eat, except for Tempeh because I have a slight gluten intolerance and it can make me feel a bit nauseous.

Thanks for your response

Brannach

Quinoa has 21% of your daily value of iron in only 1/4 c.

The best thing you can do for low iron is eat A LOT Of green leafy vegetables and citrus fruits or other foods high in vitamin C. I would suspect that your problems with low iron have nothing to do with the McDougall diet and more to do with an underlying problem most likely the dramatic increase in exercise. Avoid too much spinach and I don't know if you are eating dairy products but they can actually inhibit iron absorption.

The fact that it happened after you dramatically increased your exercise may tell you that your body did not handle the increase in exercise very well. You may want to decrease your exercise for awhile to allow your body to recover and then slowly build back up to an hour a day, that is an aweful lot of exercising. You should NEVER increase your exercise by more than 10% per week. If you are going from nothing you should start at probably 10 minutes a day and build slowly over several months so your body can adjust.

You can cause tears in the muscle tissue and micro-injuries that could easily lead you to iron deficiency by overtaxing your body that way. You may not think you are exercising to extremes but a sudden increase in exercise when you haven't been exercising much before could easily cause injury and iron deficiency.

Too much grape juice has been linked to iron deficiency. I'm just trying to think of everything I know to see if something hits home for you.

Chronic use of aspirin will cause iron deficiency as well. But my main recomendations would be to eat a lot of green leafy vegetables and foods high in vitamin C. Decrease you exercise routine to 20 min a day and try to take one or two days for yoga or some exercise that is easier on the body. Allow your body several months of recovery and then build up your exercise slowly.

I think you are probably right. I have eased off since I had anaemia, and I'm in the process of building the exercise up again fairly slowly. The hour I do a day does include warming up and stretch and cool down at the end. The most intense thing I do is cycling and so far I haven't had any injuries. I think a lifetime of feeling guilty about over-eating and not exercising enough has left me a bit unsure about reading my bodies signals. I teach primay (elementary) school and it can be really exhausting, but I keep on with that and the exercise.

It's not easy to get quinoa in australia, but a friend has told me it's available by internet from a Sydney health food shop. I might give that a go.

I already eat heaps of leafy green vegetables and I eat mostly capsicum (bell peppers?) for vitamin C. I don't drink juice at all (except the occasional vegetable juice) because it really pushes my blood glucose levels up.

thanks for you ideas - I think one of the other things I need to do is get my iron levels checked more regularly. I think I sometimes am just tired and put that down to low iron. One other positive is that my doctor says that over time my body will get used to a lower iron level.