Anemia: Recommendations for Iron Deficiency

There are many types of anemia - if you have iron deficiency anemia, which can be cured through diet, or you have another type of anemia which can be improved through ingesting nutrients, this info will help you.

The absolute best option is to eat a small amount of red meat every other day, about the size of the palm of your hand. This means beef, lamb most commonly, though these days and in a city like NYC you can find venison, bison, elk, and others. Even better is organ meat - beef, chicken, or turkey liver, beef marrow, and if you're adventurous there's lots of offal and traditional recipes to explore, though for our purposes this is not necessary. If you have trouble digesting red meat (perhaps because it's been years since your body's had it), start with a cup of broth twice per day for a couple weeks, then a small bite every other day for a couple weeks, and build up from there. Make sure the broth is homemade or has very little sodium (such as bone broths sold in grocery stores these days).

The second best would be an animal organ supplement such as Ancestral Supplements brand Beef Liver Support capsules, but I've tried both methods and the red meat method is far superior. These, you take 2 caps, three times / day.

And a distant third, but worth it if for vegans - non-heme iron supplement such as Floradix. Plant iron, or non-heme iron, is not as absorbable as heme iron, but for those who feel better about a vegan alternative, this is a valuable choice.

Traditional Medicine Concepts

The Chinese Medicine concept of anemia is a moderate to severe form of Blood Deficiency. Blood Deficiency can have more subtle grades however, than clinically measurable anemia. This is useful because it allow clinicians and you to see problem coming before they manifest. For example, someone who has a tendency to feel cold or is prone to dizziness when standing up (orthostatic hypotension) might have a lower baseline blood volume, hemoglobin, or red blood cell count, while having tested within normal range for each of those.

But, individuals who tend to those symptoms are wise to watch for the appearance of new symptoms also related to the blood quality or volume of the blood - for example more frequent dizziness, mild joint pain all over, worsening intolerance of the cold, periods which are becoming lower in volume or further apart, fatigue, poor concentration, slow healing rates, less vigorous during exercise.

Personal experience

The most important aspect of Chinese Medicine, or any traditional medicine, is what you can learn about yourself and your unique challenges and strengths through the lens of that medicine.

Perhaps you had a parent or grandparent who taught your a few things about health and your body, as though it were a map or miniature version of the environment, world, or universe. This is same concept. With practice and being inquisitive, over time your concept of how your body functions as its own environment will start to form, which can be highly empowering.

I've had to deal with my own tendencies towards Blood Deficiency. I've had frequent colds and flus and one serious case of acute bronchitis, all of which I struggled to change after 3 years of acupuncture school and a couple decades of partying, poor nutrition, and physical neglect. During my early days with the fire department, I felt easily winded during the runs and sprinting we had to do to qualify for our physical fitness exams. And, I reliably become susceptible to orthostatic hypotension severe enough that I have to stop and wait for my body to normalize, if I go too many weeks without enough sleep, meals, or protein. In all these cases, I took supplements to enrich the blood such as those above, and they helped. I also have taken pseudoginseng, Vitamin C and Zinc, and performed tons of acupuncture and moxa on myself at home.

I'm available to established patients for questions, and of course appointments.

Take care,

Steve