Anemia is a catchall phrase for any time the body is not getting enough oxygen to its cells. It is usually caused by an iron deficiency, but can also be caused by a Vitamin B12 or a Vitamin B6 deficiency. In the past doctors usually prescribed iron pills or a vitamin pill with high concentrations of iron. When I was pregnant they prescribed special pre-natal vitamins. I always felt a little sicker and very much more constipated when I was on the pre-natal vitamins. Growing up I knew nothing about the human body and thought this was just a part of being pregnant. Now I know it is a side effect of that particular type of vitamin. The high levels of iron in them cannot always be assimilated by the body and causes constipation.
Knowing what is causing your anemia is one of the keys to knowing what to do about it. A blood test can tell you a lot of things. The books I read say that your blood will look pale under a microscope. I don’t know what kind of microscope they are using, but when I have looked at live blood cells under my microscope they don’t necessarily look pale. What they do look like is a target, with a large black ring inside the cell. This indicates that the cell is unable to absorb and carry oxygen correctly. As mentioned above there are several dietary reasons for this condition, but there are also some physical reasons that need to be ruled out, either by you or by your health care practitioner.
My father developed severe anemia six months before he died. After a week in the hospital they determined that he had a grapefruit sized tumor in his colon that was bleeding. When they opened him up to remove it they found that it was cancerous, and that the cancer had already spread. They questioned him about pain in the area and he swore up and down there was none. They said this was impossible given the size of the tumor, but knowing my dad I believed him. He was one of those people that could block physical and emotional pain to the degree he didn’t even realize it was there. That is not a healthy way to live. We don’t want to be incapacitated by every little ache and pain, but if we ignore them completely we will end up like my dad, too ill to do anything about it.
If you don’t have internal bleeding, or excessive menstrual flow there is a good chance you can overcome anemia with diet. The first thing to do is to ensure that you are digesting and absorbing the iron you are eating. This is where Plane Enzymes come into play. By taking them with your meals you ensure you are getting the nutrients from that meal. Then you need to look at what you are eating, making sure you are ingesting some good sources of iron in your diet. The third thing you need to do is to look at your vitamin supplement. Complete Vitamins Plus has 25mg of iron. It isn’t so much that the normal person will get too much, because that is also a problem, but it is a good baseline for everyone. Complete Vitamins Plus also contains Vitamins B6 and B12. The unique thing about this product is the balance between the vitamins and the unique blend of minerals and enzymes that ensure you digest and absorb everything that is in the capsule. Because they are totally natural you won’t take one small pill, but five capsules spaced out through the day. This also ensures that you digest and absorb all the nutrients.
If you have revamped your diet to include foods high in iron (meats, dark green leafy vegetables, dark red vegetables, molasses, some dried fruits, sea vegetables, wheat germ, brewer’s yeast, organ meats, and fresh seeds and nuts) and you are taking Complete Vitamins Plus and Plant Enzymes with your meals and you are still feeling sluggish there are some more things you can do. The Essential Source B12 Strips can give you a quick boost of B12. Because they dissolve in your mouth instead of your stomach you can bypass any absorption problems you may be having. Many people have this, and although Plant Enzymes helps tremendously with this you may not have the patience for letting your body rebuild its reserves the natural way. Essential Source B12 Strips are also great for when you are under stress and your body is craving more B12 than it can get through diet alone.
Other herbs you can try include: Dandelion greens, rose hips, watercress, yellow duck root, burdock root, nettles, chicory, black current, elder, hops, milk thistle, parsley, raspberry, and rhubarb root. There are more, but most of us have never heard of them. To utilize these herbs effectively work with a practitioner who is familiar with herbs, or at the very minimum get a really good book to guide you.
Not having energy is one way your body tells you something isn’t working right. In our culture the most common thing to look at is our diet and digestion. The chemically grown and processed foods that most of us eat are not packed with the nutrition that the organically grown counterparts are. Even the organically grown foods don’t always have the nutrients they would have a hundred years ago. Due to environmental pollutions our soils are being depleted, which leaves our fruits and vegetables depleted of the very things we eat them for. That is why supplements like the Plant Enzymes and the Complete Vitamins Plus are becoming so important to provide us what our bodies are missing.
Sources:
Nature’s Medicines by Gale Maleskey and the Editors of Prevention Health Books, copyright 1999 by Rodale Inc.
The Herbal Drugstore by Linda B. White MD and Steven Foster, copyright 2000 by Rodale Press
Common Herbs for Natural Health by Juliette de Bairacli Levy copyrighted 1997 by Ash Tree Publishing
The Good Herb by Judith Benn Hurley, copyright 1995 by Judith Benn Hurley.
Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar copyright 1993 by Rosemary Gladstar.
