I'm anemic what can I eat?!

It's great that you're willing to be so supportive of your friend, but if you already have health issues such as anemia and allergies, you should really discuss this with your doctor and not a group of anonymous strangers on the internet. If you want to help her, I'd suggest prepping vegan dishes when she comes over, as well as dishes that you can eat that won't make you sick. Also, you could try reducing your consumption of animal-based products like leather, glycerin (think: Jell-O and candy) and products which have not been tested on animals.

Your friend will understand that you can't risk your health for the sake of her convictions.

That's really a tough problem. The heme iron in animal products is much easier for your body to absorb than the non heme iron in veggies. Iron deficiency probably shows up quicker than a protein or calcium deficiency.

Are you going vegetarian or vegan for a week? If vegetarian, you can still eat eggs and dairy products, both have heme iron. Just be sure you eat an egg and some cheese every day or a glass of milk. If you're thinking of going vegan for a week, here's a list of iron rich veggies:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/iron-rich…

I know you want to support her, but with your iron problems, she shouldn't insist you do something that could harm your health. Perhaps you can just give her some moral support?

Spinach, broccoli, kale, collard greens, raisins, dried apricots, brown rice, whole wheat bread, oatmeal, prunes (or prune juice), brussell sprouts, swiss chard.

Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron, so it's best to pair something rich in vitamin C with meals. Calcium blocks the absorption of iron so keep that in mind too.

Are you taking a multi vitamin that is high in iron? If you're struggle with anemia, whether vegan or meat-eater, you should be taking a vitamin supplement (oddly enough, prenatal vitamins seem to be the best source of iron in vitamin form).

Vegetarian for 21 years, anemia runs in my family so we've had a lot of time to learn about it.

All right so when you are anemic, you need iron, and meat is a big source of it.
Since you are allergic to nuts , some sea food and legumes which are a source of it, then meat is the only good source you would get. If you don't eat any for a while, you will defenetly get sick, so if I were you, I would explain that to your friend, and maybe not eat any meat in front of her if you really want to take part.
Breads and cereals have a little, so I advice you eat that as well while supproting your friend =D
good luck!

Tell her that with your allergies and anemia, you can't go on a vegan diet.

Getting enough iron should be pretty easy, but legumes and nuts are major protein sources for vegans, and without them you'll have difficulty getting the full compliment of essential amino acids.

Not that it will kill you if you just do it for a week, but as much as you want to support your friend, your health has to come first.

Take iron supplements-- most offer 100% of your daily need (although usually a good bit of that isn't digested). They are available at most grocery stores. If you go to whole foods, there is generally a knowledgeable helper who can direct you to the best brands to take for your condition. Make sure you eat it with food so that it digests more easily.

Dark green vegetables are an excellent source of iron. If you're allergic to all legumes, then beans are pretty much out. That's probably why you're anemic; because legumes are an excellent source of iron and you cannot eat them. Try Quinoa, or tofu. Those have some iron in them also.

according to QI the thing with the most iron in it is tyme, so perhaps you try seasoning a few things with tyme. but just so you know, you can get anemia whether you're a meat-eater or not. being vegie shouldnt make a lot of difference. like how you're supporting you friend anyway :)

Can you eat lentils? if yes I have great recipes for Lentiles. let me know if you want my recipes and I can posted up for you right here .
Lentiles are high in iron and great source for you anemic body :)
Do you like dates? raisins?

A great cook and a mother of a picky eater :)

If your anemic you need to ear lots if iron. Baked potatoes, apricots, raisins, dried beans and whole grain bread will provide iron.

Vegetarian

Spinach-cooked or raw it doesn't matter.

You take fresh and oil free diet

It doesn't sound like the best idea to be on a vegan diet, since you can't tolerate some of the common substitutes for getting iron. However, you can eat lots of dark green leafy vegetables. And eat tofu! You can actually make smoothies with soft tofu, and fruit, and yogurt, it doesn't have to be stir fried.
The link I provided has a list of foods, listing their iron content.

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm

sesame spread, sunflower spread, all seeds and pumpkin, yams, sweet potatoes and their seeds- pumpkin seeds are good.
Spinach, collard, kale for iron.
Onion, garlic for iron.
Avocado, olive oil, avocado in burritos with miso paste ( a bit like tangy cheese spread)
and sweetcorn, wasabi peas and sliced setian ( go to a good thai or Chinese supermakret to fine setian, gluten product- the "mock duck" is fantastci, reeeeallllly good).

Mushrooms spinach and the green veg and green peas are very good sources of iron.
So is tahini ( a sesame paste from the middle east, and really delicious on pita, bread etc)
Brown rice, buckwheat noodles, soba noodles, seaweeds ( again, the Thai or Chinese arket will be a lifeline, as it is for me, apart from being cheaper, they have 100 types of seaweed and 40 types of miso and mom sy fermented pastes).

Try using fermeneted wheat pastes- like miso, they're tangy, salty and rich in flavour and packed with iron. My local Korean market has tons of varieties- from soybean ones ( not for you) to wheat grain femrneted pates, you can get 5 grain pates, millet, barley, corn pates which are fermented and made with spices or seasalt or chili etc, different preparations of them.

They're usually sold near where the dried seaweeds are. In the same location will be dried mushrooms, dried vegetables of all kinds ( great for iron, in fact you'll be eating too much!)

Parsley, beets, oranges, papaya, PINEAPPLE ( big source) coconut, mushrooms, bean sprouts ( NOT the same as legumes) are all packed.

Wholegrain bread whci is packed with sunflower seeds, poppt seeds flax seeds and pumpkin seeds.

I wish Dr Kargs was available in USA, it's the most amazingly tasty, FANTASTIC crispbread and cracker range, SO tasty, full of iron, seeds and so on.
HEre's a link.
http://www.granarywholefoods.co.uk/Depar…


However, using Ezekiel bread, or Vogels or some really good breand of 100% wholegrain, 11 grain bread will basically set you up, spread with a little sunnflower spread, even if you ate nothing else, you'd get so much iron from that stuff.
Spread a little marmite or vegemite and roasted yellow pepper and spinach on it too, and you're getting more than enough iron, just from one sandich.

Get Marmite- it's probably the richest source of iron you can ever eat.
Get it from good american supermarkets.
Yes, it IS good.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmite#Nut…

Put on buttered toast and enjoy...

Great question, Steph. The good news is there's an answer that doesn't involve animal products or legumes.

You don't specify what type of anemia you suffer from, so I will give you two answers.

If you're iron anemic, it's an unfortunate association that we make with meat and iron. Truth be told, there are much, much higher amounts of iron found in vegan-friendly plant foods. I even explain the types of iron and why vegans shouldn't worry about it. It's all sourced stuff, nothing I just made up based on what I heard or want to believe. The ways to get iron are explained and none include legumes...but all are cheap food sources. http://dailyveganeats.tumblr.com/post/26…

If you're B12 anemic, that can be more difficult. The solution is simple: eat fortified foods and/or snag some organic foods and only minimally wash them. Might sound gross, but it's something humans are very capable of doing. Of course, you want to know the source of the food, the fertilizer used, its condition...so I'm not officially recommending this to you as a way to get your B12 but am saying that's how some people do it. B12 is also found in fermented foods, so you can snag some rice or coconut milk yogurt, or kombucha. These are legume-free.

I hope this helps. Bottom line: you're an omnivore and are anemic, so clearly meat isn't a catch-all, cure-all.