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| Hi, I have been getting low energy recently. Only thing different for me would be that I'm back in school and leading a somewhat hectic/stresseful(although I'm trying to learn not to be) life. Could this be contributing low energy?
I don't eat unhealthy. But although with frequent yoga practice I think I maybe still be not eating well enough? |
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| maybe not, or maybe you're not getting enough sleep/rest. . . or it's just hte stress...
could be a lot of things. |
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| Thanks Zoe. I just found out yesterday that it's probably b/c I'm not getting enough iron. Normally, I don't eat enough meat/poultry/fish to begin with but with frequent hatha yoga practice, minimal iron supplements I was getting by with from fruits and veges weren't enough. I'm in my 4th month into the introduction of yoga, and I was puzzled by why my energy was going lower and lower after hitting the highs in the middle.
I found out that there are two types of iron. Heme iron, from meats, poultry and fish, which are easier to absorbed by the body. And non-heme irons that are from fruits, nuts, beans, peas, etc. But problem with non-heme iron is body is only able to absorb 4-5% from the source so I would have to eat more.
I'm not big fan of meats, etc. I don't mind occasional sushi but I just don't eat much meats. And I don't want to go on the iron supplements b/c I usually stay away from pills/supplements in general. I'll just have to eat bit of meats I guess.
Edited by tabula_rasa 2007-10-16 2:56 PM
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| Oh, and does increase in activity means increase need of an iron intake? |
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| Iron pills are great...Increases my susceptibility to infections though. Oh well, that's what antibiotics are for! |
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| You mean decreases? I wasn't considering the pills, b/c apparently there are side effects like constipation if you take too much? But with lack of time to cook and dislike for meat, I think I'll go to the doctor to test if my body is too low on iron and consider taking it. |
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| I don't eat meat, and I don't get low iron. My sister eats meat, and is constantly fighting anemia. Her doctor has her drink port wine.  I don't drink wine either. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| There are iron supplements that don't cause constipation. Check with the health food store. some people, especially women, just need more than they can absorb from their food. Of course you start with looking carefully at your diet, but if you are chronically low, you might need a little boost. |
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| Thanks for all the advices. Port wine increasing iron? Really? First time I've heard but I did hear about some ppl cooking in cast iron to increase the iron in your body? I'll be having a quick chat with a doctor today and go hunt for some supplements today. |
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| You bruise? |
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| I forgot all about that- I do cook in cast iron.  |
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| I was curious about the port wine too, and so I googled anemia and port wine. I found a ton about port wine stains (birthmarks) being connected to certain types of anemia, and was about to give up on the actual wine when I found this:
http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/83_folder/83_articles/83_wines.html
It doesn't exacly go into detail, and I'm not advocating wine, I just thought it was interesting. |
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| No Shalom, I don't bruise.. Well, I do seem to bruise easily and I don't know where or when I've gotten them when I do have them. But I haven't seen any recently.
Interesting about wine. There are always seems to be "medical researches" on how good wine is for your body.
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| I'm having a port wine currently. And it's really really strong. |
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| Tabula Rasa;
Truly sorry to hear you perceive that you are not at optimum vitality, i.e. low energy?
Is it self diagnosed or verified with a stress test et. al.?
You state: “found out yesterday that it's probably b/c I'm not getting enough iron”
What was the result of your CBC tests, i.e. what are your hemoglobin and hematocrit levels?
Was this analysis the result of routine blood tests?
If so did you note your TSH W-Free T4 RFX results?
I would be very interested in these numbers also.
Also what was the result of your Blood sugar, GTT, Fasting glucose, glucose tolerance tests?
Please realize that these tests are not meant to replace a clinical assessment of how you are doing at any given moment.
“I don't eat enough meat/poultry/fish” What is your idea of enough? I am a vegan therefore this doesn’t equate to health issues other than being certain that my B12 intake is within normal parameters, which is rather easy via foods fortified with B12.
Port wine as medication, surely you jest, but for those addicted to ethanol, they will always think what they want to believe. BTW: your liver doesn’t, but please don’t consider what I say, ask your primary health care provider. Although America’s national drug of choice has been institutionalized, it has been and remains statistically one of the most serious health threats in the world, sorry but I’m only the messenger on this one.
Have you considered the wisdom of getting professional medical help rather than experiment on body?
A final thought, “he/she who treats themselves, has a fool for a doctor.”
Somehow this has withstood the tests of time, wisdom maybe?
My sincere best wishes for your rapid return to vitality and good health.
Namaste; Thomas
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| Hi Thomas, wow lots to answer from your post. To start off, it was self diagnose but this is something I've never experienced before and it has certainly gotten me worried. I have seen a doctor who recommended me to see a lab for the blood test result, which will happen tomorrow. When I say that I don't eat enough meat product, I mean to say that I don't consume enough given even to the Canadian health food guide to average women with active life style(and I've been getting even more active). I tend to eat meat products about once in 2-3 weeks(only counting fish, poultry, lean meat and not eggs etc). And as you become more active you need more varient of nutritions, which I'm speculating with my eating habit I haven't been getting. And I'm sorry for the confusion, but I did not mean to indicate that vegans would suffer from same iron deficiency issue as me. I'm not a vegan or vegetarian but I rarely eat meat, but I do not have a good balanced diet from vegetables to sustain iron intakes.
As far as port wine, no worries. I WAS jesting.
It was a perfect excuse to try sweet red wine. I don't usually drink either, given that half a glass of wine finishes me off and I don't particularly enjoy the 'buzz'. But I gotta say, it wasn't as sweet as sherry and it did remind me how rarely I drink or drink wine in particular. Jokes aside, I do hope to get better and to clarify once again I've seen the doctor, will see the lab tomorrow and no, I'm not addicted to ethanol and drunk people depresses me.
Thomas, is that a barley in your user picture?
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| are you a tea drinker ? tea inhibits iron absorption while vitamin C increases it.
This article says that adding a vitamin C source to a meal increases non-heme iron absorption up to six-fold which makes the absorption of non-heme iron as good or better than that of heme iron
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm
I too tend to suffer from anemia when I stop eating meat and drink too much tea.
I had no clue until 3 years ago after a blood test. After taking iron supplements, i really was another person... but I can understand that you're not keen on taking them. For a lot of people, they're not easy to digest. Now, if I really have to, I take a herbal iron supplement. |
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| That's very interesting, and good to know. It's funny that they can put out nutritional guidelines at all with all the other circumstances that are involved. I didn't know about the one you mentioned, but I did know that meat eaters use more calcium which isn't factored into the guidelines. This is how the USDA pushes dairy and meat at the same time.  |
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| the beautiful thing is: vitamin C also helps with calcium absorption
so we're definitely better off having more fruit and vegies !
Unfortunately, unless you grow them or are close to the place where they are produced, the vitamin C amount can be divided by 10 by the time they reach your plate
Edited by ankali 2007-10-22 9:20 AM
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Adding milk to tea (black tea, I have no idea about green, but guess it is likely the same) binds the factor that grabs the iron, or so I read long ago. |
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low energy lately
