As a female, endurance athlete living at altitude, I have three strikes against me when it comes to Ferritin. A ferritin score indicates iron storage in the body. A normal range for Ferritin is between 8 and 250. For a healthy female athlete, I have been told I should shoot for 65 (20 being the ABSOLUTE lowest).
Iron is important because it is responsible for getting oxygen to my muscles and also for cell growth. A week ago, my Ferritin was at 11. Translation = I failed the test miserably!
I have blood work done at least once each year to keep me honest on just this sort of thing. With two months until the first races I won’t lie – this slip is not good. It makes me weak in my training and slow with recovery. I do have time, however to make amends.
Liver and onions, who knew that something so nasty looking, sounding and smelling could be half good. Okay, not quite half-good, but I will give it an honest 38% good. Liver is on the top of the list of iron-rich foods, lucky me. Oysters and beef round out the top three Heme (from animals) iron options. Soybeans, lentils and molasses are some of the highest Nonheme (from plant) choices.
Of course it is never as simple as just eating a steak - Iron bonds to Calcium, which inhibits the body from absorbing either element. There goes my refreshing glass of milk after dinner! Red wine contains tannins, which also decrease absorption (so that glass of red wine with red meat needs to be rethought too). Things like vitamin C and white wine help the body absorb iron but lets be honest, a glass of OJ just doesn’t cut it with steak!
I am at sea level this month, which will help me boost my Ferritin too (I hope). I will get re-tested upon my return home (October 15th). Results from that to come – you can hardly stand the suspense, I know.
Thanks for reading,
Kate
6 comments:
A little more "food-chemistry" reading might be in order.
an iron injection, while not a long term solution, would boost things until you figure out how to get it more effectively from food
My coaches looked into injections and we decided to give it a month, re-test and go from there. My little brother had to self-inject, 2x/week in each leg for a while... So I have been talking to him about options he has tried too.
One of the reasons I wrote on this subject was to hopefully receive some feedback - thanks for all of the suggestions everyone!
Any "food-chemistry" insight would be appreciated - what I write is half read and half remembered. I don't think any of my facts are wrong (but they sure could be). If so, please let me know so I can fix them.
I am always open to suggestions and corrections. Comment, or shoot me an email (katewhitcomb@yahoo.com). Thanks again everyone!
I had the same problem. Mom pulled out every back issue of Gourmet magazine with any recipe for liver and we set to work. Turns out, liver and onions, with a good dollop of Grey Poupon dijon and a glass of white wine (go for a dry chardonnay, not anything too buttery or fruity), is the way to go.
I swear by Feosal - as a tablet(45mg and 65mg options), its pretty easy to digest, available in most drugstores, affordable, recommended by a USOC nutritionist and accepted by WADA. I take it quite consistently throughout both the training and competition seasons and have only had success from it. After scoring pretty low in the iron test one fall, it took only a few weeks to bounce back with using the supplement, and of course being more conscious about my food choices. Sardines chopped into pasta is a cheap option that can be found worldwide, even to the dismay of your teammate who sits next to you at dinner:)
Hey Kate!
A friend of mine with pregnancy-induced anemia cured her low serum ferritin levels by eating large spinach salads.....add some chopped hard boiled egg and anchovie paste Caesar dressing - yum!
Also, have you had your thyroid level checked?
Rock on Girl!
Your medical geek friend,
Liz Rawlings
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