Green Tea And Iron Deficiency

[bankbaybe]

I recently read that taking too much green tea ( or drinking too much), can cause an iron deficiency. Well, I'm already anemic, so should I stay away from this stuff??? If not, how well do the extracts work (the drops that you add to your drinking water), in relation to actually having to drink 8 cups of tea a day.

Also, if I DO use green tea, does it make a difference whether it's decaf or not?


Thanks in advance..


Jennifer

[Night-Owl]

It looks like you where correct in your research if you want to continue to use green tea or an extract you may want to talk to your doctor so she or he can best decide if you need a supplement to counter the green tea depletion of iron. Green Tea does have many health benefits I myself use an extract 100 mg a day but I am a male and have to worry less about the iron problems but as most places will tell you green tea benefits have not been approved by the FDA it is an herbal supplement.

An extract of green tea taken by healthy women with a meal inhibited the absorption of non-heme iron (e.g., the form of iron in plant foods) by 26%. Frequent use of green tea could, in theory, promote the development of iron deficiency in susceptible individuals.

High-tannin tea has been shown to reduce the need for blood removal from people with iron overload, or hemochromatosis, in an open study. The tea had to be taken with meals and without lemon or milk to be effective. Tea is believed to help in hemochromatosis by preventing iron absorption.

Which forms of supplemental iron are best? All iron supplements are not the same. Ferrous iron (e.g. ferrous sulfate) is much better absorbed than ferric iron (e.g. ferric citrate).The most common form of iron supplement is ferrous sulfate, but it is known to produce intestinal side effects (such as constipation, nausea, and bloating) in many users. Some forms of ferrous sulfate are enteric-coated to delay tablet dissolving and prevent some side effects, but enteric-coated iron may not absorb as well as iron from standard supplements. Other forms of iron supplements, such as ferrous fumarate, ferrous gluconate, heme iron concentrate, and iron glycine amino acid chelate are readily absorbed and less likely to cause intestinal side effects.

Best Regards Night-Owl

[bankbaybe]

Thanks a lot, Night-Owl. Yes, I noticed that online and was a bit surprised that it depleted iron levels. I guess I should just add that to the ever-growing list of supplements that my body just can't take.

Good luck and thanks, again....

Jennifer

[TVMichelle]

Jennifer, I was recently diagnosed as anemic, so I've been going through many of the same things you're going through. Green tea DOES inhibit the absorption of iron, so don't drink it with meals where you're trying to load up on iron. Also, calcium is a big no-no with iron - it also inhibits the absorption. A little vitamin C, on the other hand, AIDS absorption. My hemoglobin was low, my serum iron was down to 16, and my ferritin (my stored iron) was down to 3 - the low end of normal is 20!! IF you can take an iron supplement, GET ONE THAT'S CHELATED; your body can absorb it much much better and it doesn't cause gastrointestinal upsets (like constipation or nausea or diarrhea, believe it or not). I talked to my doc about a brand that Dr. Christiane Northrup recommends (Iron 27+, available only by mail from Advanced Nutritional Research, www.anrminerals.com or 800-836-0644, around $10) and she said that was fine, although I wound up getting a Rx for chelated iron from my doc because I was going out of town and didn't have time to wait to get something in the mail. The brand she prescribed was Chromagen and we did blood tests again just 11 days after I started taking it - hemoglobin normal, serum iron up to 55, ferritin up to 20 - all in just 11 days. (I felt a helluva lot better, too...!)

Just watch what you eat when you're trying to pack in as much iron as possible at meals - no green tea, no calcium, but yes, vitamin C. A little google search will pull up a complete list.

Hope this helps!
Michelle