It is very important to eat iron-rich foods, and there are two sources of iron in food, namely hemoglobin iron in animal protein and ionic iron in vegetables, that is, non-hemoglobin iron. 40% of the iron in meat, fish, and poultry can be absorbed; less than 10% of the iron in eggs, cereals, hard fruits, legumes and other vegetables can be absorbed by the human body, while the iron in spinach can only absorb about 2%.
Iron supplementation should be based on meat, chicken, fish and other animal foods rich in hemoglobin iron; and attention should be paid to how to improve the absorption rate of iron, such as paying attention to the combination of meat foods can improve the absorption rate of iron; fermented grains can also improve the absorption rate of iron, such as steamed buns, cakes, etc. Vitamin C promotes the absorption of hemoglobin iron in vegetables. If the intake of vitamin C-rich lemon juice, orange juice and iron-rich vegetables at the same time can increase the body's absorption rate of iron in vegetables by 2 to 3 times. If iron supplementation is given, it should also be taken at the same time as vitamin C.
In addition to dietary therapy, oral iron is the key to the treatment of iron deficiency anemia, and divalent iron is generally used.
There are many varieties of oral iron, and ferrous sulfate is the most commonly used. Generally, ferrous sulfate compound is used; others such as ferrous fumarate, ferrous gluconate, ferrous succinate, etc. are also used, but the cost performance is low. The dose of oral iron is 2 to 6 mg/kg of elemental iron per day, divided into 3 times, the highest absorption rate can be achieved, and the absorption rate above this amount is reduced, and the gastrointestinal tract stimulation effect is increased.
Oral iron is well absorbed before meals on an empty stomach, but it is easy to cause gastrointestinal discomfort; taking after meals can reduce the above discomfort, but the phosphide in food is easy to combine with iron into insoluble phosphate, reducing the absorption of iron, so it is appropriate to take oral administration between meals.
Oral iron should be started in small doses and may be added to adequate amounts within 1 to 2 days if there is no adverse effect. Vitamin C can be taken at the same time to reduce trivalent iron to divalent iron and increase absorption. Milk, tea, coffee and antacids can affect the absorption of iron when taken with iron, so the above foods or drugs should not be taken with iron.