Foods for weight gain and anemia diet

Which food should be included in an under weight and anemic person's diet ?
(October 26, 2010)

Anemia Diet

Anemia is a condition where the individual’s red blood cell count or hemoglobin count is lower than normal. This leads to the impaired functioning of blood as an oxygen carrier. Anemia may cause other symptoms as well. There are many different causes for anemia. An individual who loses a large quantity of blood may suffer from anemia as the body struggles to replenish its supply of red blood cells, a supply that has recently been diminished by the blood loss.


A diet that has insufficient iron in it will also lead to anemia. This type of anemia is known as iron deficiency anemia. Iron deficiency anemia is a common form of anemia that affects individuals across the world. This type of anemia can be controlled by following an anemia diet. An anemia diet plan will depend on an individual’s sex, age, level of physical activity, and existing health conditions. It is therefore important that you consult your doctor for a personalized iron deficiency or anemia diet plan.

A diet for anemia naturally relies on an increase in iron intake. This is done when the individual has made sure that there is in fact a deficiency in iron intake. When suffering from anemia, the individual should consult a doctor and describe his or her regular food intake. The doctor will be able to understand if there is an insufficient quantity of iron in the diet being consumed. This deficient quantity of iron will lead to iron deficiency anemia. This form of anemia can be rectified easily by improving one’s diet and by following anemia diet recommendations.

When analyzing the cause of an individual’s anemia, the doctor should be aware of the nature of the problem. If the diet has sufficient iron in it, then there may be a condition where the patient is not absorbing iron from the diet effectively. If this is the case, an anemia diet will have little positive effect on the individual. When considering an anemia diet, one should be aware of the fact that most people agree that a diet containing non vegetarian sources of iron is more effective than a diet containing vegetarian sources of iron. That being said, iron can still be absorbed from vegetarian foods, even though this absorption may be less effective than with non vegetarian options.

When considering meats that fit into an anemia diet, one may focus on oysters, clams, chicken, beef and pork liver and mussels. These are all considered to be highly effective sources of iron as they contain large quantities of easily digestible iron. Beef itself is considered to be a good source of iron although beef may contain plenty of fat along with the iron content. If one is a vegetarian, then these meat sources are quite useless when it comes to an anemia diet.

Vegetarian foods that provide a boost to an individual’s blood iron level include beans and lentils. Most breakfast cereals are fortified with iron and other important vitamins and minerals. Potatoes and asparagus are considered as good sources of dietary iron. Green leafy vegetables, particularly those with dark green leaves are considered to be extremely good for the health of an individual. These leaves provide the individual with plenty of iron along with dietary fiber as well, making them good for the health of the individual.

For weight gain
Reasons for being underweight need to be understood and very often for weight gain, the underweight person needs to be counseled individually to address specific condition. If there are any health problems present, they need to be dealt with first. For. e.g. If you are a skinny person with TB, then your medical condition (TB) needs to be dealt with first before addressing your weight issues. Very often psychological counseling and behavior modification are very helpful.

In general, if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. Choose calorie dense foods such as nuts and dry fruits. Underweight people cannot eat large quantities of food, so eat small frequent intervals, say 6 meals instead of 3 large meals.

You can get more information along with a sample diet plan to help you gain some weight
http://www.diethealthclub.com/health-issues-and-diet/thinness/diet.html

Read about the Symptoms and Causes for Thinness
http://www.diethealthclub.com/health-issues-and-diet/thinness.html

Remember that you will not gain weight overnight. It takes patience and time and with dedicated efforts you should be able to overcome being thin.

For anemia, you will benefit from eating foods rich in iron, folic acid and Vitamin B12. Include green leafy vegetables, dates, prunes, meats in your diet. Read about more food sources of iron, folic acid and Vitamin B12 from the links mentioned.

Remember that you can improve your iron absorption from foods by combining vitamin C rich foods with an iron rich food. For e.g. Lime squeezed on top of chicken just before eating improves iron absorbed from the chicken.

Read this site for more detailed information on foods and diet for anaemia:
http://www.diethealthclub.com/health-issues-and-diet/anaemia/diet.html