Foods to compensate blood loss

Question
Hello Tanya,

My mother who is 65yrs old had a hernia surgery couple of months back and due to some minor complications they had to draw a lot of blood from her everyday for testing, etc.

She had always been friar and a weak person and this surgery has made her even weaker and is now almost white with all the blood loss.
She also has high blood pressure and thyroid problems for which she takes medications daily and also has painful joints.

I have bought for her a bottle of high potency liquid Calcium and also liquid multi-vitamins which she is taking regularly.

But I want to give her natural foods that are good in producing (the lost) blood for her, foods that give her strength and energy and foods rich in natural calcium and at the same time not giving her fats or cholesterol.

So can you please suggest me foods that I can either buy or prepare for her on a daily basis?
What are the good fruits or vegetables that she should have daily?

How are almonds and other dry fruits ground into powder, so she can drink with milk? Dairy products? Any juices, oils (fish oil), or iron tablets I can buy in stores?

Please do let me know. I would appreciate any help and information.

Thank you so much.
S.

Answer
Hello,

One of the ways to make your Mother stronger to compensate her blood loss is to rise her hemoglobin levels. This way, her body's tissues will get more oxygen, breathe for breathe. To improve hemoglobin count, choose foods rich in iron, one of the best traditionally is buckwheat. During my three pregnancies, when my hemoglobin decreased almost resulting in anemia, I tried to cook buckwheat 'kasha' at least every other day. Another excellent source is pomegranate, juice -- sauce, and whole fruit.

Food Sources of Iron - you'll see that canned clams and cysters have times more iron than next best food beef liver, but you'll be able to choose regular foods to cook with:
http://atkinszone-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/09/food-sources-of-iron.html

Keep it in your mind that there are foods preventing iron absorption, take the list here:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Nutrition-Dieting-939/2008/9/Absorption-heme-iron-ver

Nutrients in buckwheat
http://atkinszone-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/11/buckwheat-nutritional-values.html

Buckwheat Pancakes
http://atkinszone-recipes.blogspot.com/2006/06/blueberry-buckwheat-pancakes-sout

Ukrainian cabbage rolls with buckwheat
http://atkinszone-recipes.blogspot.com/recipes/2007/10/ukrainian-stuffed-cabbage

Tanya Zilberter

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