5 foods to avoid if you have anemia

Most of the advice you see online for people who have anemia involves eating foods rich in iron. But there are also foods to avoid if you have anemia – foods that can deplete your body of iron even though they’re good for you in other ways.

Anemia and home treatment

Anemia is not a dangerous condition for most people, and in many cases doctors will diagnose it and then tell you how to treat yourself. But the symptoms can include serious fatigue, inability to concentrate, depression and a feeling that you just can’t handle any of your normal activities. If you’re having these symptoms, see a doctor*. In some mild cases (for example, many women who just get anemic around their periods), doctors advise patients to simply eat some beef or other iron-rich foods whenever they feel anemic (beef is rich in iron and B12, which helps your body use iron) and/or take iron supplements. I recommend Solgar Gentle Iron, especially if you’ve had stomach discomfort from other iron supplements. Or this Mega Food Blood Builder, which includes not only iron but also Vitamin C and B-12 to help with absorption.

Note: This article is intended for people who have been diagnosed by a qualified health care professional, and then advised to treat themselves and advised on how to treat themselves. This article is not a substitute for medical advice.

Foods to avoid if you have anemia

While most people diagnosed with anemia are aware of many foods that can bring their iron levels back up to normal, it’s less well-known that some foods actually interfere with iron absorption. If you eat these foods alongside iron-boosting foods, you may end up doing yourself little good. If you have a history of anemia, knowing about these foods can help you prevent or lessen your bouts of it.

Do you need to give these foods up? Not necessarily, and certainly not entirely. What you need to do is: avoid having these foods in your stomach while you’re also digesting iron-rich foods or iron supplements. For example: don’t drink red wine within an hour to either side of the steak dinner you’re eating in hopes of boosting your iron levels.

Additionally, you can counteract the iron-blocking effects of these foods by having some Vitamin C along with them. These are the Vitamin C chewable tablets I take. The taste and texture is better than most of the other brands I’ve tried – kind of a tart berry, and they don’t make you feel like dust is flying around in your mouth after you bite into them.

Spinach. You’ve probably heard that spinach is rich in iron and therefore great for anemia. It is rich in iron, but it’s never helped me with anemia at all. Turns out it has something called oxalic acid which binds with the iron and keeps your body from using it. Try broccoli, kale and other dark leafy greens instead.
Red wine. The reservatrol that helps fight heart disease and cancer seems to inhibit iron absorption. But white wine seems to help with iron absorption, so that’s an option.
Coffee. Coffee can also keep you from absorbing iron into your system. Avoid it within an hour either way of an iron supplement or iron rich meal.
Black and green teas chelate with iron from plant sources, making it indigestible. Iron supplements are typically from plant sources. Tea doesn’t have this effect with meat iron {PDF link} sources, however. And in populations that drink a lot of tea, there’s no more anemia than in other populations, so there’s definitely still some research to be done in this area.
Soy proteins. While one might argue that soy is rich in iron, non-fermented soy is also rich in phytic acid, which interferes with absorption of iron and other nutrients. Interestingly, fermented soy products (like soy sauce) can increase your ability to absorb iron. (Some sources actually recommend tofu for combating anemia because the phylic acid doesn’t completely block iron absorption, so you still get some iron from the soy. If you think tofu is your best available source for iron, be sure to eat it with plenty of vitamin C for best effect.)