hi i'm dr janine and this is dr j9's nine and nine all about iron deficiency so iron deficiency is
very common i find sometimes more common in women as opposed to men and that could be because of our
monthly cycles and having babies but also there are dietary considerations when we're talking
about iron deficiency and certainly if you're eating more of a vegetarian diet they're sometimes
difficult to find high iron containing foods so some of the symptoms that are really common when
you have an iron deficiency is certainly lack of energy so we need to have enough iron in our blood
to carry the oxygen and so when we're deficient in iron then this is a big problem and that
oxygenation can't happen throughout our body so that would be one of the symptoms another symptom
could be low thyroid function so believe it or not the thyroid and having enough iron those two are
core related and if we're deficient in iron then the thyroid can't function optimally so not only
are we tired which was our first symptom but now we're gaining weight easily and we don't have you
know regular bowel movements we have dry skin and sensitivity to cold these are all symptoms
of a low thyroid but sometimes that goes missed and you wouldn't necessarily you know notice that
because of the iron that there's that's having an impact on your thyroid you could also have
shortness of breath with an iron deficiency you could look really pale as well one of the signs
that you can do is you can check the lower eyelid and that should be a nice you know injected pink
to reddish color if it's very pale then that's an indication perhaps that your iron levels are low
also if you press on your fingernails when you let go then that that blood you should see come
back right away if it stays white for a period of time your iron could be very low so my top
nine and nine so tip number one is to increase if you are vegetarian prunes in the diet so prunes
we know have that natural laxative effect but if you look at that dark pigment that's because
of the iron in the prune so great you know having two to three prunes in the morning is a great way
not only to get things moving digestively but is a great source of absorbable iron
tip number two is black molasses now blackstrap molasses again if you look at that coloration
is quite dark that's because of the iron it also contains a little bit of magnesium so using one
tablespoon of blackstrap molasses mixed into some warm water close to bedtime is a great way to have
some great iron absorption tip number three and you're gonna love this one if you're a chocolate
lover is dark chocolate so dark chocolate contains yes iron but also contains that magnesium so
certainly you don't want to overdo it here and the darker the chocolate the better so the more bitter
less sugar certainly because we can't have too much sugar but more of that actual chocolate and
the cocoa actually has that natural source of iron which is well absorbed as well tip number four is
to decrease the caffeine sorry i love caffeine i love my coffee but a study has actually shown that
when coffee was ingested with eating a good sized burger up to 38 percent less absorption of that
iron was possible so something to think about so if you are a coffee drinker you love your caffeine
just make sure that you're getting enough iron in your diet so whether it is from the food sources
that we're talking about or from a supplement which you may need to go in that direction always
get it from that whole food source tip number five is spinach so yes why did popeye eat a lot
of spinach to be nice and strong while it contains iron so it is that natural you know source of the
iron but also it's in terms of being a healthy vegetable spinach is so fantastic because it
is a green vegetable has that chlorophyll and also helps with that iron absorption
tip number six is kiwi so kiwi is very high in vitamin c and vitamin c helps with that absorption
of that iron some other really high fruits in that have a lot of vitamin c are camo camera berries
and acerola cherries camo camo berries have 60 times more concentrated vitamin c as opposed to
oranges which we always think of as that gold standard for vitamin c tip number seven is to
really take a look at potential or the potential of having parasites in the body especially in the
digestive tract so one of the ones that's notorious in humans as an intestinal worm
unfortunately is hookworms and yes these go very much under diagnosed there's not a lot of great
testing for some of the parasites that commonly happen in humans but hookworm is notorious
of robbing people of their iron because it's eating away the foods that contain that iron so
really something to look at and can cause some micro bleeding in the intestinal tract that you
wouldn't necessarily know is there so make sure you know if you have symptoms and we have other
videos on certainly on parasites and intestinal worms if you've got symptomatology ibs would
be a great video to look at in terms of you know having that imbalance in the gut and the digestive
tract because of parasites that could be one of the issues and that could be why you have the
iron deficiency so it's one thing to have the iron deficiency but we always have to look at
why is that happening in the first place and often it could be related to intestinal parasites
tip number eight is if you need to to take a supplement so an iron supplement that i love
is iron bis glycine it and in that form of iron it's really easy on the stomach so historically
you know the run-of-the-mill iron supplements or if it's prescribed by your physician can be
really hard on the stomach and can be very constipating make you feel you know not so
well and nauseous when you take it and that's not you know side effects that you necessarily
want to have when you're trying to help your body so taking an iron based glycine it can be
a great way now to supplement with that iron it's really highly absorbed and it is non-constipating
and is not going to have you know those negative impacts on your digestive tract so tip number nine
is my dr j nine truth about what we're talking about today and that's iron and iron deficiency
and in terms of the mind-body spirit connection there could be a correlation with you not being
able to absorb the goodness from life so when you think about the mind-body spirit connection it has
a lot to do with and finding that balance in terms of what's happening and what's going on internally
in our bodies and if you think of a three-legged stool a three-legged stool in mind body and spirit
if it's balanced it's balanced you're not going to fall over so we can be really healthy in the body
and doing everything right with our you know diet we can you know also be really
of sound mind and have a healthy mind but if we're lacking in spirit as an example
so we're lacking a connectiveness and to something bigger and greater than ourselves
and we don't have an appreciation for our environment for mother earth then this can cause
part of that imbalance and can be related back to what's happening and what's out of balance in your
body and so that's a great example with having that mind-body spirit relationship and that's why
in every episode of our nine and nines i always share the dr j9 truth to find that balance between
mind body and spirit and relating it back so if you're not absorbing the goodness from your life
take a step back do some deep breathing do some meditation and think about and be grateful for
all of the good things that you have around you so thanks for joining me today that was
my dr janine truth and my top dr j nine nine and nines all about iron deficiency and how
you can take care of that and really correct that deficiency first of all you've got to find out why
you have the deficiency second of all you want to definitely you know do something naturally to find
that balance again and to get your energy levels back thanks for joining me today i'm dr janine
and that was my top nine in nine be sure to take care of your good health and to do it naturally