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Anemia and Deficiency Induced Cravings

Ennis-TX

By Ennis-TX
in Introduce Yourself / Share Stuff

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Ennis-TX Grand Master
Ennis-TX
Posted

I find it funny how when my gut acts up, bleeding increases, or I lower my protein powder intake, I start getting odd cravings for random things covered or cooked in chocolate. I mean like really odd things, everything must be chocolate, and sweets galore (end up making protein powder shake ice cream every day) . Also get cravings for almonds (I end up binge eating them by the handfuls), fish (can't really digest it), and oddly enough dirt.....this last one I ignore and find cocoa and pea protein mix satisfy it. My dietician told me these cravings are characteristic of iron and mineral deficiency and blood test did show anemia. Funny story here, I once got a craving for chocolate covered fish tacos.....well being unable to eat this anyway I ended up making a taco filling of flax meal, almond meal, egg whites, cocoa, bonito flakes, taco seasoning, and eating it rolled up in lettuce leaves covered in a mix of salsa and taco seasoning......Tasted oddly great but I blame the cravings and doubt it would taste good normally. Though experimentation has proven that pasta sauce is great with a bit of cocoa stirred in even without the presence of the anemia.

Anyone else have any odd stories of crazy cravings and trying to satisfy them?

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Posterboy Mentor
Posterboy
Posted

Ennis_TX,

Pica is a classic anemia (iron deficiency) induced activity as well as craving ice.

Chocolate cravings usually indicate a Magnesium deficiency.  Chocolate and Nuts especially Almonds and Cashews are the best dietary sources of Magnesium.  And explains your strange cravings for Almonds and Chocolate.

See this post where I talk about the bodies need for Magnesium in either the CITRATE (highly bio-available) or Glycinate form.

We are said to waste away when we don't  have enough Magnesium in our bodies.  I used to have fatigue problems despite being gluten free until I took Magnesium CITRATE 200 mg 3/day plus bedtime for restful, peaceful dreams.

Eating carrots or other foods high in beta carotene can help with iron absorption.  Also discussed in this thread. but be sure to eat the carrots with other fats in the meal to aid absorption Vitamin A being a fat soluble Vitamin such as your favorite dip or salad dressing.

 

Magnesium is to the animal the way chlorophyll is the plant.  We can can not make energy without and fatigue issues, cramps, sleep problems (too much or too little) follow etc.  One hour before bedtime can helps insomnia. 3/day plus bedtime helps people who have chronic fatigue and have sleep (nap) through out the day to make it through the day.  People who take it describe the affects it has on their energy levels as miraculous because before their body was not able to make energy enough before to function all day long.

See this huffpost article about why this  is so that you crave dirt and why it can helpful for people for people with either GI problems and/or anemia.

Open Original Shared Link

The livescience link in this article explains in more detail what actually is happening inside when our bodies wisely tells us dirt (clay) can help use.

Open Original Shared Link

The antidiarrheal Kaopectate actually gets its name from a clay once used in its product.

I hope this is helpful.

Posterboy,

 

 

 

 

Ennis-TX Grand Master
Ennis-TX
Posted
  • Author

Yep, I take 2x 3/4 doses of Doctor Best Magnesium a day, and one dose of a citrate version with cacium when needed. And I always eat 2 servings of greens or squash high in vitamin a with each meal.

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    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Blood tests for thiamine are unreliable.  The nutrients from your food get absorbed into the bloodstream and travel around the body.  So, a steak dinner can falsely raise thiamine blood levels in the following days.  Besides, thiamine is utilized inside cells where stores of thiamine are impossible to measure. A better test to ask for is the Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test.  But even that test has been questioned as to accuracy.  It is expensive and takes time to do.   Because of the discrepancies with thiamine tests and urgency with correcting thiamine deficiency, the World Health Organization recommends giving thiamine for several weeks and looking for health improvement.  Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.   Many doctors are not given sufficient education in nutrition and deficiency symptoms, and may not be familiar with how often they occur in Celiac disease.  B12 and Vitamin D can be stored for as long as a year in the liver, so not having deficiencies in these two vitamins is not a good indicator of the status of the other seven water soluble B vitamins.  It is possible to have deficiency symptoms BEFORE there's changes in the blood levels.   Ask your doctor about Benfotiamine, a form of thiamine that is better absorbed than Thiamine Mononitrate.  Thiamine Mononitrate is used in many vitamins because it is shelf-stable, a form of thiamine that won't break down sitting around on a store shelf.  This form is difficult for the body to turn into a usable form.  Only thirty percent is absorbed in the intestine, and less is actually used.   Thiamine interacts with all of the other B vitamins, so they should all be supplemented together.  Magnesium is needed to make life sustaining enzymes with thiamine, so a magnesium supplement should be added if magnesium levels are low.   Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  There's no harm in trying.
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Neither of them were anemic 6 months after the Celiac diagnosis. His other vitamin levels (d, B12) were never low. My daughters levels were normal after the first 6 months. Is the thiamine test just called thiamine? 
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      Son's legs shaking

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      Yes, I do think they need a Thiamine supplement at least. Especially since they eat red meat only occasionally. Most fruits and vegetables are not good sources of Thiamine.  Legumes (beans) do contain thiamine.  Fruits and veggies do have some of the other B vitamins, but thiamine B 1 and  Cobalamine B12 are mostly found in meats.  Meat, especially organ meats like liver, are the best sources of Thiamine, B12, and the six other B vitamins and important minerals like iron.   Thiamine has antibacterial and antiviral properties.  Thiamine is important to our immune systems.  We need more thiamine when we're physically ill or injured, when we're under stress emotionally, and when we exercise, especially outside in hot weather.  We need thiamine and other B vitamins like Niacin B 3 to keep our gastrointestinal tract healthy.  We can't store thiamine for very long.  We can get low in thiamine within three days.  Symptoms can appear suddenly when a high carbohydrate diet is consumed.  (Rice and beans are high in carbohydrates.)  A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function, so symptoms can wax and wane depending on what one eats.  The earliest symptoms like fatigue and anxiety are easily contributed to other things or life events and dismissed.   Correcting nutritional deficiencies needs to be done quickly, especially in children, so their growth isn't stunted.  Nutritional deficiencies can affect intelligence.  Vitamin D deficiency can cause short stature and poor bone formation.   Is your son taking anything for the anemia?  Is the anemia caused by B12 or iron deficiency?  
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc.  Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food. The only processed food they eat regularly is a bowl of Cheerios here and there.  Could shaking legs be a symptom of just a one-time gluten exposure? I guess there's no way to know for sure if they're getting absolutely zero exposure because they do go to school a couple times a week. We do homeschool but my son does a shared school 2x a week and my daughter does a morning Pre-K 3 x a week.  At home our entire house is strictly gluten free and it is extremely rare for us to eat out. If we eat at someone else's house I usually just bring their food. When we have play dates we bring all the snacks, etc. I try to be really careful since they're still growing. They also, of course, catch kids viruses all the time so I  want to make sure I know whether they're just sick or they've had gluten. It can be pretty confusing when they're pretty young to even be explaining their symptoms! 
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