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Seeing Red – How to Recover from Anaemia and Iron Deficiency
by Alison Jane Reid
Alison going for a stroll with Monty energy levels restored thanks to Hema-Plex and a diet rich in natural iron sources.
Iron is the Cinderella mineral. It
isn’t a sexy topic for the exploding
world of super nutrition, and yet we
can’t live without it. When there is
insufficient iron to make red blood
cells, that transport vital oxygen
around the body, anaemia and iron
deficiency will happen. The body
needs iron, just as Picasso needed red
oxide paint. The effect on the body is
a gradual and overwhelming breakdown in vitality. It is a bit like trying
to run a car without petrol. It will just
splutter to a full stop.
If you frequently feel inexplicably
tired, look very pale, and have weak
nails, see your GP as soon as possible, and ask for a blood test to check
your iron levels.
This is the easy part. If you are
diagnosed with the condition,
or low iron levels, your doctor
will habitually prescribe iron
sulphate tablets. The problem
with iron in this form is that
it is very strong, and often
difficult to digest.
It would be great to see the
NHS, and GP’s embracing a new
generation of food state supplements
rich in naturally occurring iron that
can return levels to normal, quickly
and gently, without the unpleasant
side effects frequently associated with
harsh sulphates, which can include:
constipation, nausea, loose bowels
and stomach discomfort.
Nelson’s the homeopathic chemist
and the people behind Spatone, a
form of naturally
occurring mineral
rich water, found
in the foothills of Snowdonia, is a
good choice for topping up depleted
iron levels before they have a chance
to become serious. The trailblazing
natural health company founded 160
years ago offers an unrivalled depth of knowledge
in holistic medicine. There
is a pharmacy on Duke
Street, London, which is
jam-packed with every
type of remedy, botanical
skincare and the best food
and mineral state supple-
© E Landoni
ments including Spatone. If Hogwarts
had a chemist, it would be this! I
spent hours browsing. Another form
of iron that has been around since
my childhood, is Floradix, a delightful iron rich elixir, made from fruits
and vegetables, which can be found
in most healthfood shops. You can’t
taste the iron and it is hard not to
glug from the bottle, as it is delicious!
The problem with anaemia and
low iron levels is that the condition is easy to miss, particularly amongst younger women,
who are more susceptible to low iron
levels through blood loss during
menstruation or pregnancy – when
the baby takes all the mother’s iron.
Anaemia can also occur as a result
of stomach bleeding. Of course, anaemia and low iron levels also have a lot
to do with the 21st century disease of
feeling tired all the time.
Why do we accept the idea of feeling
constantly exhausted due to overwork
or stress? This is not normal. Let me
tell you about my own story of anaemia and ongoing recovery.
My Story of Anaemia and Chronic Iron Deficiency
Could you be anaemic?
Symptoms to look out for
• Paleness
• Tiredness
• Lack of energy
• Lack of concentration
• Mental confusion
• Dizziness
Six years ago, I started to experiwas causing my anaemia, but she
ence sudden and chronic periods of
did say it might be blood loss from a
extreme tiredness. It was a bewilder- congenital hiatus hernia, and the fact
ing and frightening time and it very
that I was eating less meat, because
nearly ruined my life. Gradually, over my partner was vegetarian.
a period of a couple of years they
Unfortunately, the iron tablets didn’t
occurred more often. It was as if my
work. They made me feel sick and
natural, boundless energy and love
caused agonizing stomach pain and
of life was slowly ebbing away. In its
constant trips to the loo. I returned to
place came an overwhelming feeling
the GP and she prescribed a different
of weakness, lethargy and confusion.
iron tablet, often to given to children,
diagnosis and treat myself. Nor was
I frequently felt dizzy, miserable
who can’t tolerate iron sulphate. Unit explained to me, that an anaemia
and lacking in focus. I didn’t feel
fortunately, my chemist said it wasn’t
diagnosis is only one half of the picrefreshed in the morning, and hated
available, and I was offered a substiture. When you are diagnosed,
getting out of bed, while it was
it is essential you ask your GP
a challenge to concentrate on
for your iron store reading,
writing, my greatest passion
as this is affected by anaemia,
in life. A trip to the local
and it can take up to a year for
shops, involving the slightest
levels to run to normal. When
uphill gradient, would leave
iron stores are low, you will still
me breathless, exhausted and
feel weak and exhausted, even
close to tears. I felt I was going
when you are told you are no
mad. My health was falling
longer clinically anaemic.
apart, but I had no idea what
This is where my recovery
was wrong. I was experiencing
took
so much longer. I was
stress at work, but not enough
taking
just enough nutritional
to make me feel like I was
iron
in
supplement form to no
slowly dying.
longer be clinically anaemic,
I made an appointment to
but I had virtually no iron
see my GP and after a blood
stores. The improvement in my
test, the puzzle began to fit into
health was negligible. I simply
place, when I was diagnosed
wasn’t taking enough iron.
with severe iron deficiency
Please see a good nutritionist,
anaemia.
with an interest in a holistic
My GP was a pleasant woman
approach to health or seek the
in her early thirties, who posadvice of in-house experts at
sessed a good bedside manNelson’s Homeopathic Pharmaner, and always seemed keen
cy, Helios in Covent Garden or
to help. She prescribed iron
the Nutricentre, which is staffed
sulphate tablets and told me to
eat more meat and leafy green AJ has been taking Hema-Plex for 6 months. © E Landoni by experts who really have time
to listen and treat you as an
vegetables, which are known
individual. Shona, the head
to be rich in iron. Interestingly, she
tute, which also upset my stomach.
nutritionist
at The Nutricentre says, “
didn’t seem that bothered about what
When I returned yet again to the
surgery, my once helpful GP was now We always try and build up the whole
picture behind a person presenting
only too happy for me to harness my
Iron Rich food
with chronic tiredness. The key is
own interest in natural health to try
• Pumpkin seeds
to find out if the person is slightly
and find an alternative form of iron I
depleted in iron or
• Apricots
could stomach.
severely deficient. So
It was all very
• Almonds
we look at the person’s
unsatisfac• Green vegetables
diet, we look at the
tory, and
GP’s test results if they
with increasing
• Red meat
had them and then
desperation, I
• Liver
felt I was left to we’ll go for something
Meat Box by Abel&Cole
like the Solgar Gentle
deal with the
Iron if we think they are slightly depleted or the Hema-Plex if it is more
serious and they have their GP test
results.”
Supplements for
Iron Deficiency
• Solgar Gentle Iron
• Spatone
• Floradix
• True Food Easy Iron
• Terranova Easy Iron
Today, more and more people who
are living high stress lives, and perhaps existing on convenience foods
except extreme tiredness as a normal
part of life. “It isn’t normal to feel
exhausted all the time,” says Shona.
“We are a lot of people, both men and
women, who are really in a very poor
state. There is a loss of libido, they
appear very pale, miserable and really
quite unwell. Please get help. Start
by asking for an iron test and seek
professional nutritional advice before
you lapse into anaemia, and your
body stops functioning.”
After lurching in and out of anaemia for three or four years and trying
just about every form of
nutritional iron supplement on the market, I
finally found the help I
needed after a very helpful conversation with a
knowledgeable naturopath at Wholefoods in
Piccadilly. She told me
about Hema-Plex – a food state iron
complex, that is easy to tolerate, and
offers 85 mg of nutritional iron per
tablet. (This is only suitable if a doctor has diagnosed you with anaemia
or high iron deficiency as it is very
strong).
Anaemia Supplement
• Hema-Plex
After more than six months on Hemaplex, I feel like the old me again.
The last time I had my blood tested,
my levels had reached 25, which is
a great improvement on 0. Now, I
am looking forward to
achieving a reading of
50 and enjoying making
organic liver terrine and
snacking on delicious
unsulphured apricots,
adding Linwoods Pumpkin Seed mix to my cereals and baking and drinking nettle tea
to gain as much iron as I can through
my food. I am also looking forward
to meeting the leading surgeon I
hope will use keyhole surgery, and a
necklace of tiny magnets to repair the
stomach hernia that has caused me
pain and discomfort since I first came
into the world and is the at the heart
of my recurring anaemia. It is time
for a new chapter where the only time
I see red, is when it is the embellishment on a Dolce and Gabbana,
form-fitting lace masterpiece!
The Story of Spatone
an ancient volcano, moves, causing
the iron pyrite in the rocks to break
down, and then run off the mountain
in a necklace of iron rich underground springs and streams.
This energetic water has been used
and celebrated for millennia. Now it
is available from the source as Spatone, one of nature’s great wonders.
The appeal of this natural, iron rich
mineral water is that the iron is highly absorbable, gentle on digestion,
and that the taste of iron is pleasantly
disguised by the addition of natural
apple extract.
The famous Trefriw Wells Spa where Spatone iron rich water is bottled at source.
Iron is the mysterious mineral we
cannot do without. It oxygenates our
blood and imparts the vitality we
need to perform countless, effortless tasks and to realize our greatest
dreams every single day of our lives.
And yet almost one in ten women
experiences low iron levels at some
point in their lives, robbing us of our
joie de vivre. But let’s make one thing
clear. Feeling tired all the time isn’t
a state of being we should accept as
normal. And yet the answer to low
iron levels lies in a remarkable nature
phenomenon that happens on the
ancient crags of Wales’s most sacred,
highest mountain, Snowdon, steeped
in Arthurian legend, as Kings Arthur’s last resting place.
For it is said that the mountain,
“It is said that King
Arthur was slain on
Snowdon, and that his
men rest in a cave waiting
to rise again with the
sword excaliber.”
Legend says that the precious, iron
water was first discovered by Roman
soldiers from the XX Legion, who
were stationed at Canovium, three
miles north of the Trefriw, the site
where the water filters off the mountain and comes to the surface through
an ancient cave.
“The views from the
summit are spectacular –
on a clear day you can see
England, Scotland, Ireland
and the Isle of Man.”
In the 18th century the cave was excavated, and people started to bathe
in the therapeutic waters for the first
time. In 1833, Lord Willoughby de
Eresby built the elegant Cyclopean
Bath House. Forty years later a new
fangled pump room and bathouse
A majestic view of Snowdonia in Winter
house followed and the spa became
the fifties, when prescriptions became
the place to promenade, bathe and
free under the NHS, the spa entered
take home a bottle of the therapeutic
a new emerald age, when Nelson’s
spa water. Soon the iron rich water
the famous homeopathic Pharmawas being mailed to customers in
every corner of the globe from Nairo- cy acquired the rights to draw and
bottle the water. Today the distinctive
bi to New York.
After briefly falling out of fashion in orange and grey sachets, containing
© Crown copyright (2014) Visit Wales
the iron rich water are known the
world over as Spatone – the magical
water from Snowdonia - the mountain fabled as Eryri – the place of
the eagles. To buy Spatone iron rich
mineral water at Holland and Barrett
click here.
Visit Snowdon and Snowdonia
thur and his men, with a very dashing
archaeology professor, who always
delivered spellbinding lectures in a
black tie and a spotted bow tie, often
in the middle of a boggy field! Then
there was the extraordinary organic
bakery, with the unpronounceable
Welsh name, that baked the bestest
Chelsea buns and sourdough bread
ever, and inspired me to become an
organic girl. In fact it changed my life.
I wouldn’t be editing this magazine
if I hadn’t found that the secret of
great food is in the soil – don’t panic
so long as it’s organic! Click here find
out more about magnificent Wales.
© Crown copyright (2014) Visit Wales
Snowdon, Snowdonia and North
Wales is a far from the madding
crowd, Ethical Hedonist place to
visit for a sustainable, getaway from
it all holiday or weekend break. Take
the train from London, or elegant
Chester, for a great train journey
along a coast steeped in Victorian
glamour and allure. You will find it
unforgettable as your feast on medie-
val castles , Victorian seaside pleasure
palaces and the Great Orms Head. I
first ventured there to study English
at University College Bangor, as an
undergraduate in the eighties. I fell
in love with the slow food culture of
farmers markets, food festivals, funny
people in bright orange clothes and
tramping the hills and bogs of Snowdonia, looking for signs of King Ar-
“Down and back at day dawn,
Tramp from lake to lake, Washing
brain and heart clean Every step
we take. Leave to Robert Browning
Beggars, fleas, and vines; Leave to
mournful Ruskin Popish Apennines,
Dirty stones of Venice, And his gas
lamps seven, We've the stones of
Snowdon And the lamps of heaven.”
Charles Kingsley
Layout & Design by Elisabetta Landoni