I needed to have chemo last year for several months and there was a concern re anemia. The hematologist and the oncology dietician both advised me that it was a choice between getting blood transfusions down the road if my count continued to be low, or eating beef, liver and meat sources of iron as the vegetarian sources, even the fortified cream of wheat which has a large percentage of iron, is not as easily absorbed and used by the body. It was a no brainer for me....blood transfusion or beef? Beef won. I also continued to eat spinach and at the time the fortified cream of wheat, beets, egg....but made sure I had grass fed (better efas) beef daily and also drank plenty of water to rebuild those new cells as the old ones were dying off. I did not use green tea or any kind of dairy withing 2 hrs of having an iron rich food as that blocks absorption as you said.
Hope this helps someone who is facing difficult decisions in the present. I am fine now and trusting GOD that all that cancer is behind me. My plan for eating well is as low glycemic as possible as sugars feed the fastest growing cells in our bodies, mainly lc veggies, salads, and as clean a source of beef, poultry and fish that I can find. Less inflammatory in my case than eating grains. Still researching the effect of dairy as I've heard conflicting infor re same. Aiming for "eating the rainbow" of veggies/minimal low gly fruits daily and 7+ servings of that a day....more is better. Also using garlic, onions, and some of the antiinflammatory herbs and spices that have shown to make the terrain of our bodies less cancer friendly and more of a one two punch for any abberant cells trying to find their way in. T