6 drinks that can help with anemia

Anemia is a condition that can happen when you don’t have enough of a substance called hemoglobin in your red blood cells. If you don’t consume enough iron in your diet, your body can’t produce hemoglobin naturally, affecting your blood’s ability to transport oxygen.

This can lead to your body not receiving enough oxygen, which can result in you feeling faint and fatigued.

To help manage anemia, it’s important to follow the recommendations of a healthcare professional. These may include taking supplements and changing your diet.

You can also raise your iron intake through beverages. This means that certain drinks may be able to help with anemia.

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1. Prune juice

Prunes are a nutrient-rich fruit and a very good source of non-heme iron. Non-heme iron is a type of iron that’s found in plants.

Just 1 cup of prune juice contains around 3 milligrams (mg) of iron, which is 17% of your daily iron requirement.

Prunes also contain the antioxidant polyphenols. Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds that can help boost your digestion and cardiovascular health.

2. Beetroot juice

Beetroots are root vegetables that contain high concentrations of iron. Incorporating beetroots into your diet may help boost your iron intake.

Beetroots are rich in iron, and they can be a good source of fiber, potassium, and vitamins. A cup of cooked beetroots contains almost 3 mg of iron.

Drinking raw beetroot juice daily can be a great way of incorporating iron into your diet and can also be beneficial in lowering blood pressure levels.

3. Spinach smoothies

Smoothies are a great way to pack lots of minerals and vitamins into your daily diet. Spinach contains non-heme iron, along with other dark leafy vegetables like broccoli and cabbage. Half a cup of cooked spinach contains 3.2 mg of iron.

Spinach also contains minerals like magnesium and calcium.

There are many ways to incorporate spinach into your smoothies. Try combining spinach with the following fruits for a great-tasting smoothie:

• raspberries
• strawberries
• citrus
• kiwi
• papaya

4. Kale smoothies

Adding kale to your smoothies is another way to increase your iron intake. For every 100 grams (g) of kale, there is around 5 to 10 mg of iron.

You can also consider adding kale to meals alongside other vegetables that are high in vitamin C, like tomatoes and bell peppers.

5. Pea protein shakes

Pea protein is a convenient and effective way to increase how much protein you fit into your daily diet. It’s cruelty-free and versatile, which can be beneficial if you’re a vegetarian or vegan. This is because it can help implement enough protein into your diet.

It also has a high iron content. Combining pea protein into smoothies with other iron-rich ingredients like spinach and kale can provide a boost to help increase your daily iron intake.

6. Cacao smoothies

Cacao solids are known as a superfood and contain a very high quantity of minerals and vitamins. You can buy cacao as a powder, meaning you can add it to your favorite smoothies.

Be careful what time of day you choose to drink your cacao smoothies. Cacao does contain some caffeine, so you may want to replace your morning coffee with a cacao smoothie to prevent it from interfering with your sleep.

Anemia treatment

Anemia is the most common blood disorder, affecting over 3 million people in the United States. The main treatment for iron-deficiency anemia will depend on its severity — milder cases may not need any treatment at all.

In some cases, doctors might recommend dietary iron supplements and increasing intake of iron through foods and beverages.

If your condition is severe, a healthcare professional may suggest you get intravenous (IV) iron infusions, such as ferric gluconate (Ferrlecit). You can help support the function of these infusions by increasing the amount of iron-rich foods in your diet.

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Summary

Following an iron-rich diet may be beneficial if you have anemia. Trying out some of these drinks may help you with symptoms while being convenient and tasty.

These drinks have many other health benefits, such as increasing your potassium and magnesium intake, which are important minerals needed for good body function.

It’s important to follow the recommendations of a healthcare professional. This includes continuing to get IV iron treatments alongside any dietary strategies.

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