Eating is a drudgery and something I have to force myself to do – if I can be bothered. I used to eat breakfast, but eventually my body mutinied at the thought of eating early in the morning - the thought made my stomach turn. So I compromised – I put some things every morning into a jar – ground seeds, nuts, powders such as maca and mesquite and cinnamon, raw honey, frozen berries (which thawed by morning tea), then, when I had been at work for a couple of hours, I topped my little meal with plain yoghurt and made myself eat the lot. There was no pleasure in it. But at least I had the satisfaction of knowing that my body was getting some nutrients.
This was all the result of my iron reserves draining away without my noticing. I mean, I knew that I wasn’t taking iron, which apparently I have to do for the rest of my life, so of course, if I am not putting iron in, then presumably it is not increasing, and what I do have is going to drain away. I knew this. But I thought that I was feeling okay, and anyway, I was concentrating on other things – taking maca to balance my hormones, silicon to help my hair and my hands, chlorophyll to help balance my acid/alkaline levels– somehow the iron got overlooked. But just because I wasn’t noticing it didn’t mean that the levels weren’t changing, draining. And then, when they got so low that they could likely barely be measured, by then it was too late – the indolence and indifference that is a symptom of low iron had taken over and I simply didn’t give a toss that they were low and I couldn’t be bothered to even find some iron to take (I had some in the house).
I schlumped along in this fug for quite a while. I entered and exited every day in a grey, foggy haze. I marched wearily all day long and fell into bed at night, often without having the energy or interest to prepare any dinner. I went to bed and lay there luxuriously for hours and hours until it was time to get up in the morning again.
Then I met with my daughter in Sydney. She’s a goer, hurling along at a cracking pace to see and do everything. Usually I am too, and when we are together we have a great time. But this time she noticed that I wasn’t keeping up. I said it was the heat, (I really thought it was) but she thought about it and rejected that – she gave me some iron - while we were together I took about four to six times more than what a normal adult needs – and for the first time in ages I felt a little bit of oomph steal back in. When I got home, I let it all go yet again, but a week or two later I suddenly realized in how bad a way I was. I was feeling oh, so blacky-out. Out came the iron liquid and the tablets and I started taking them 3 times a day, dividing my diet around them to maximise absorption. Within a few days my verve came back along with some sass and some feistiness. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt, and how much more capable I felt. Iron really is iron – strength – in the blood and body.
I have found out a very important thing: it’s one thing to take iron, but it’s another thing to retain iron. There are foods and drinks that inhibit iron absorption – this has been one of the most crucial discoveries yet on my health journey. Calcuim (dairy and also almonds), tea (all types) and chocolate are all major inhibitors of iron absorption. I’m no scientist, but it’s something about the molecules that these foods have that bind with the iron molecules and take them straight out of the body. Who knew – I was taking my iron with tea, or chocolate, and most often with almonds. My iron levels shot up when I separated all these things – I didn’t give any of them up, I just divided my food and drink intake into increments and kept the iron (which I took with vitamin C) well away from anything else. So when I have meat I try not to have a cream-based sauce. When I take iron I don’t have cheese or milk or chocolate or almonds. It has made a huge difference.