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This is a response to Mireille Cyr's post on iron absorption.  I am not a
doctor or health professional.  However, I will disagree with one thing she
wrote, namely, that "Iron is not well absorbed unless it comes from meat..."
I will relate my own experience.

I am in my late 40's and am a vegetarian, although I will occasionally eat
fish and/or seafood.  I eat no meat at all.  I was diagnosed with Celiac
Sprue in late April of this year, after over 30 years of chronic iron
deficiency anemia.  Until my gastroenterologist suggested that I might have
CS (based on other symptoms, e.g., severe early-onset osteoporosis, weight
loss, extreme fatigue, loss of appetite), my iron deficiency anemia had been
a mystery to every doctor who had ever treated me for anything.  Over a
period of 30-plus years, I'd had three major work-ups for the anemia; every
possible lab test had been done to try to figure out why I was anemic, with
none giving any answers.  One internist in the mid-1980's even recommended
that I have a Schilling scan -- a test in which radioactive dye is injected
into one's bone marrow, after which x-rays are taken.  I refused to go along
with that recommendation.

Prior to my diagnosis of CS, the staple foods of my diet included beans
(pintos, black beans, red beans, etc.), rice, and corn.  Since my diagnosis
and adopting a gluten-free regimen, I've continued to eat beans, rice, and
corn, increased my eating of lentils, tofu, and soybeans, and also increased
the amount of fruits and vegetables I eat.  Dried beans are a very good
source of iron, and, when eaten with rice and corn, the combination provides
a full complement of amino acids.

Last month, my internist ordered a CBC (Complete Blood Count), which
includes Hgb and Hct counts (tests which measure the amount of iron in the
blood).  When I saw her this past Friday, I asked her about the blood tests.
She was very excited and told me that, in her nearly-11 years of having me
as a patient, she had **never** seen my blood count look as good, that my
iron level was completely normal.  In other words, I am no longer anemic,
because now that I amm on a gluten-free diet, I am finally absorbing iron!

So my experience tells me that one doesn't have to eat meat to absorb the
iron from food.  A nutritionist or good book on nutrition should be able to
provide a comprehensive list of foods that are high in iron.  The
nutritionist I saw suggested a combination of foods.  And vegetarians do
need to be particularly careful to eat foods that are good sources of iron.

I do agree with Mireille that one needs to be very careful about the timing
in taking vitamins and supplements, as they can virtually "cancel" each
other out.  (That is also true in terms of taking vitamins, supplements and
some prescription drugs, e.g., the antibiotic tetracycline.)

Pat Shechter
Boston, MA
Email:  [log in to unmask]