Without breath there is no life. It is obvious. But there are substances in the body without which breathing itself would become useless. One of them is hemoglobin.
This is the name of the protein that is part of the blood. Its main function is to connect with oxygen molecules that we receive during breathing, and then, together with the bloodstream, transport and distribute them to organs and tissues.
The second, but no less important task of hemoglobin is to transfer oxygen, it takes carbon dioxide from the tissues and carries it in the opposite direction, to the lungs. We inhale and our organs receive the oxygen they need to function. We exhale and cleanse the tissues of the carbon dioxide formed in them. Without hemoglobin, full inhalation and exhalation would be impossible.
What level is considered normal?
The number of red blood cells in the blood and their quality can be determined using analysis. Moreover, the number of red cells is influenced by a person’s age. The gender of the person is also important.
In men
Representatives of the stronger half of humanity aged 18 to 65 years should have a hemoglobin level in the blood of 130–150 g/l.
Among women
In women aged 18 to 65 years, the normal hemoglobin level is 120 – 140 g/l.
In pregnant women
Women preparing themselves for the role of mother have a hemoglobin level in the range from 110 to 140 g/l. The lower threshold is 110 g/l. If the indicator is lower, then immediate treatment is necessary, otherwise anemia will harm both the expectant mother and her unborn baby.
The child has
In newly born babies, the normal hemoglobin level is considered to be 210 g/l. For children from one to five years old, the norm will be 110–140 g/l, for children from 6 to 12 years old – 120–150 g/l.
How to increase hemoglobin in the blood using folk remedies
Folk remedies for increasing hemoglobin in the blood are recommended for anyone suffering from anemia. If the disease is registered in a person over 3 years of age, then the recipes described above and dietary adjustments will help.
How to increase a child's hemoglobin
During intrauterine development, especially in the last trimester, the child's body stores iron. This is one of the reasons for the lack of this metal in the mother, but the baby also urgently needs it.
A child usually has enough structural material for red blood cells for up to 6 months after birth.
If the mother is breastfeeding, then there should be no problems with iron: the baby will receive it from milk (the protein lactoferrin), and the level of absorption will be truly high - up to 60%. But if such nutrition is impossible, the quality of blood cells will drop significantly.
Doctors also advise adding half a teaspoon of sprouted grains to a child’s diet. There are a lot of manufacturers producing natural products for children, so the choice should not be difficult.
Breastfeeding and pregnant women
During pregnancy, a woman’s body works for two, accumulating the necessary minerals for herself and the child. Expectant mothers should regularly eat iron-containing foods (liver, meat, etc.), because normal nutrition is the basis of health. However, failures are also possible that lead to a decrease in the protein transporting gases.
- A woman's hemoglobin is low, but her liver has iron reserves.
- The woman's hemoglobin is low, and the liver does not have iron reserves.
Correct diagnosis in this case will help to deal with the problem. To do this, the woman is tested for ferritin, a protein complex that plays the role of an iron depot in the liver.
If the study shows its normal concentration, then hemoglobin can be restored with food. If the ferritin level turns out to be very low, the situation will have to be corrected with medications.
As folk remedies for increasing hemoglobin, it is allowed to use the same tinctures based on rosehip, nettle, clover, etc. But there is also a special drug for women, which came to our medicine from distant countries.
Fenugreek
This exotic plant comes from Asia. Someone may know it as helba or shambhala seasoning. The herb is used in cooking and cosmetology, but as a medicine for mothers who have recently given birth, it will be very useful.
The alkaloids and organic acids contained in fenugreek help restore normal blood composition, improve lactation and hormonal levels in women.
Helba seeds are used for medicinal purposes and make excellent tea:
- Take half a teaspoon of dry seeds.
- Pour in 1 cup of boiling water.
- Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
- After cooling to 50 °C, add 1 tablespoon of honey, a slice of lemon and a mint leaf.
- Drink three times a day for 1 month.
Cancer patients
After chemotherapy, a person often experiences problems in various parts of the body. This is due to the long-term effect of serious medications on body tissues. The result is both anemia and other diseases. Not many folk remedies will help in this situation, but there is still a way out.
Infusion of fireweed tea
In the 70s of the twentieth century, Russian scientists from the Cancer Center at the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences obtained the drug Hanerol from the flowers of fireweed. The medicine has a pronounced antitumor effect, and the plant itself is used in folk medicine as an anti-inflammatory agent for prostatitis and disorders of the gastrointestinal tract.
In addition, 100 g of fireweed tea contains 23 mg of iron, which a person urgently needs for anemia.
The herb is sold in pharmacies and prepared according to the following recipe:
- The leaves of fireweed are dried and crushed.
- 1 tablespoon of raw materials is placed in a thermos and 0.5 liters of boiling water is poured.
- Leave overnight.
- Drink 100 ml half an hour before meals.
In order to quickly increase the level of hemoglobin in the blood, it is recommended to include iron-rich foods in your diet.
What level is considered critical?
70 g/l is the critical level of hemoglobin level. In this case, treatment in a hospital is necessary. If the hemoglobin level has dropped to 90 g/l, correction is possible with diet and medications that can be used at home.
If the hemoglobin level is below 70 g/l, then the person faces death, since all organs, suffering from a catastrophic lack of oxygen, fail. Against the background of oxygen starvation, diseases develop and worsen, which lead to death.
Reasons for low hemoglobin
To increase hemoglobin, you need to eliminate factors that reduce its concentration in the blood:
- poor nutrition;
- chronic or acute blood loss;
- sluggish chronic infectious and inflammatory processes;
- acute viral, bacterial, parasitic infections;
- blood diseases.
Women most often face the need to quickly increase hemoglobin at home, and during pregnancy this often needs to be done urgently, since during this period the need for it is higher than usual.
In women, the cause of a decrease in hemoglobin in the blood may be blood loss during menstruation. Loss of hemoglobin in the blood varies from person to person; it can reach quite high values and serve as a risk factor for the development of anemia.
If a woman uses an intrauterine device for contraception, then blood loss and the associated decrease in hemoglobin increase.
Iron is actively consumed and hemoglobin decreases during lactation, which creates the need to quickly increase the level of these indicators at home. If a woman does not receive enough iron from food during this period, the risk of anemia increases.
Low level symptoms
It is easy to understand that hemoglobin is below normal. The person feels constant weakness and malaise. He wants to fall asleep, but does not get normal sleep due to insomnia. The skin becomes pale, and cracks appear in the corners of the lips - one of the signs of a weakened body that is unable to fight the disease. There is no appetite, food is not attractive because the taste buds have changed. There is noise in the ears, shortness of breath in the chest. Even minor movements cause extreme fatigue. However, a person feels tired all the time. These symptoms indicate a critical decrease in the level of hemoglobin in the blood. In addition to all these signs, women also experience menstrual irregularities.
If you do not pay attention to these changes in human health, then hemoglobin deficiency will become a provocation of coronary artery disease and other serious diseases.
Symptoms of low hemoglobin
Very often, the reasons for poor health are sought not in a lack of iron and vitamins, but in ordinary fatigue, bad mood or spring vitamin deficiency. If you find your own symptoms at the moment among the symptoms listed below, you should not self-medicate. Immediately contact the clinic and take a general blood test.
- constant dizziness during the day, periodic fainting during menstrual bleeding in women;
- when bending over, darkness appears in the eyes;
- with little physical exertion you begin to feel out of breath;
- lethargy and apathy towards life may be a consequence of anemia, not depression;
- frequent ARVI;
- blue lips and cold extremities, even in hot summer;
- heartbeat quickens for no apparent reason;
- the nail plates begin to delaminate and sometimes break;
- I am often thirsty.
As for children, especially younger ones, the issue of low hemoglobin levels should be resolved as quickly as possible. There is sad evidence that a drop in hemoglobin by half leads to irreversible consequences in the body of children.
How to quickly raise at home
Do you feel weak, thirsty, and your head starts to hurt for no reason? Most likely, the body lacks normal oxygen saturation. It's better to see a doctor and get tested. If it is determined that the hemoglobin level has decreased, it is necessary to correct it.
Hemoglobin can be quickly restored with the help of medications and diet.
Medications
The following are considered the most effective means for raising hemoglobin levels:
- "Sorbifer-durules". Pills. Used for the treatment and prevention of iron deficiency anemia.
- "Fenuls". Capsules. This vitamin complex contains a lot of iron, which is quickly absorbed.
- "Ferrum lek." It can be in solution and sold in ampoules, syrup, or in the form of chewable tablets. This is a special preparation containing iron.
- "Ferro-foil". Capsules. The drug is prescribed for all forms of anemia; gelatin capsules dissolve well in the stomach and iron is quickly absorbed.
- "Totema". The base is iron gluconate. Available in solution.
Since all medications have side effects and contraindications, you should not self-medicate. Recommendations for taking the medicine should be given by a doctor.
Foods that increase hemoglobin
It is possible to raise hemoglobin levels without medications. You just need to introduce foods that contain iron into your diet. Moreover, iron is easily digestible.
- Meat.
- Sea kale.
- Spinach, greens.
- Cereals: buckwheat, peas, barley, soybeans, rolled oats.
- Nuts: almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts.
- Vegetables: potatoes, beets, zucchini, carrots, tomatoes.
- Fruits: persimmon, pomegranate, plum, quince.
- Seeds: pumpkin, sunflower, sesame.
- Berries: blueberries, dogwoods, cranberries, rose hips, strawberries, blueberries.
Walnut: benefits and harm
Folk remedies
At home, it’s easy to prepare delicious “medicines” to raise hemoglobin. Here are some recipes.
Beetroot and carrot recipe
Ingredients: beets, carrots.
Cooking method:
Squeeze juice from beets and carrots. Mix in equal parts. You need to drink juice before meals several times a day. This juice will not only increase hemoglobin but will also prevent high blood pressure.
Read the article: “How to normalize blood pressure without medications”
Recipe "Vitamin mixture"
Ingredients: prunes, dried apricots, raisins, walnuts - 100 g each, lemon - 1 pc., honey - 2 spoons.
Cooking method:
Place dried fruits in a blender along with nuts. Zest the lemon and add to the dried fruits and nuts. Grind everything. Add honey, stir. Before each meal you need to take a spoonful of this mixture.
Beet and carrot salad recipe
Ingredients: beets, carrots - 200 g each, vegetable oil - 20 g.
Cooking method:
Grate the beets and carrots. Add oil and stir.
If such a salad is on the dinner table every day for a week, the hemoglobin level will increase and the blood pressure will normalize.
Salad “Pomegranate bracelet” with chicken
Increasing hemoglobin for pregnant women
For pregnant women, many methods of increasing hemoglobin available to others may not be available. However, there are several tips that every woman in the “position” can use.
You need to add meat (beef, turkey) to your diet - especially heart and tongue. To maintain normal hemoglobin, it is enough to consume 100 g of the listed products daily.
The menu should also include legumes and grains (little by little) - rye, beans, lentils, etc. From them you can prepare porridge-puree with iron-containing vegetables and preferably seasoned with fresh herbs.
Hemoglobin increases flaxseed. They can be eaten dry, a small pinch a day. If you are not allergic to beets and carrots, then juice (diluted with water) is made from them. One glass a day is enough.
The use of certain foods, vitamins and traditional recipes can restore hemoglobin levels to normal levels in a few days.
To maintain them, it is enough to include foods and drinks containing iron in the menu.
source
During pregnancy
Low hemoglobin levels can be dangerous for both the health of the pregnant woman and the unborn child. To prevent the body from experiencing oxygen deficiency, a woman needs to take iron-containing medications. In addition to medicinal drugs, you need to introduce foods rich in easily digestible iron into your diet. These are raisins and dried apricots, lemon and beets, carrots, walnuts and honey, as well as vegetable oil and sour cream. Porridge is useful, especially buckwheat. Dishes made from legumes, which also contain iron, are suitable. You also need to prepare soups with meat broth, vegetable broths and stews.
A good helper for raising hemoglobin levels will be cranberry juice with the addition of apple juice. It's easy to do. You need to make cranberry juice, add apple juice and a spoonful of beet juice. Mix all. This drink is tasty and healthy. You should drink it three times a day before meals. It is better half an hour before meals.
Frequently asked questions to the doctor
What meat increases hemoglobin
Answer: Meat that can increase hemoglobin is red varieties (pork, beef, veal, liver). It should be constantly present in the diet.
Which nuts increase hemoglobin?
Answer: An excellent method of combating low hemoglobin are walnuts and pistachios. Pine nuts also contain hemoglobin. But walnuts are the most saturated with nutrients. They contain potassium, magnesium, iron and a large amount of vitamins. Pine nuts contain only 3 mcg of iron, peanuts 5 mcg, and pistachios 60 mcg.
Does chocolate increase hemoglobin?
Answer: Chocolate is indeed a product that increases hemoglobin. But it is worth noting that only dark chocolate, dark chocolate, the varieties of which contain more cocoa beans, can combat low levels of hemoglobin in the body. Therefore, doctors often recommend chocolate for low hemoglobin.
It is interesting to know that dark chocolate raises hemoglobin much faster.
Foods that increase hemoglobin in children
Children are more at risk of developing anemia than adults. After all, a growing child’s body requires more vitamins, minerals, and iron.
Children under one year of age receiving breast milk directly depend on its quality. Therefore, mothers must definitely introduce beef and pork into their diet - low-fat varieties, fruits, preferably pomegranates and apples, vegetables, and above all carrots and beets. The menu should include dishes with seafood, legumes, cereals and legumes, and soups. Then mother's milk will receive the required amount of iron.
A child who receives complementary foods should eat meat and vegetable purees, cereal porridges, and drink dried fruit compotes.
Children under three years of age should be given carrot and apple juices and purees, and buckwheat porridge. It's time for children three to six years old to get acquainted with dishes made from liver, eggs, pumpkin and potatoes. Berries and fruits, compotes of prunes, raisins and dried apricots are useful. Just a few drops should be added to your food with flaxseed oil. This product is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, which help better absorption of valuable elements, including iron.
Children from 6 to 12 years old can increase their hemoglobin levels with healthy and tasty drinks. For example, you will need pomegranate juice, as well as apple juice. A good option would be rosehip decoction. The diet should include greens, nuts, bran, seafood, and meat. And black tea and coffee, as well as carbonated drinks, dairy yoghurts, and fried potatoes should be deleted from the list of permitted foods.
For children
The processes of iron metabolism in a child’s body, unlike adults, are more susceptible to the influence of factors negative for metabolism. Hemoglobin decreases due to excessive or insufficient physical activity, improper daily routine, large amounts of carbohydrates in the diet in the absence of meat and vegetables.
The development of anemia in children is accompanied by the appearance of ulcers in the corners of the lips and on the oral mucosa, stomatitis, cracks in the feet and palms, hypotension, abdominal pain, decreased appetite, and pale earlobes.
To increase your child’s hemoglobin level, you should follow these recommendations:
- long walks in the fresh air;
- long sleep (at least 10 hours);
- use of diet;
- consumption of vitamin complexes, especially those containing groups B, D, C.
Products for the elderly
Anemia in an elderly person can occur due to chronic diseases that reduce the number of red cells, which provokes an increase in the disease. Sometimes anemia is a consequence of poor nutrition, as well as a deficiency of folic acid in the body.
You can overcome the resulting anemia with the help of drugs containing large amounts of divalent iron, as well as components that help speed up the process of absorption of iron in the body. Medicines for older people should be in convenient dosages. If you take such tablets according to the instructions, your iron levels can be raised to normal.
Diet is also important. To increase hemoglobin levels, older people must eat meat dishes, liver, fish dishes, egg yolks, nuts, greens, sausages, prunes and dried apricots, figs, dates, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds. Soups prepared with bran will increase hemoglobin. You need apples and carrots. Fermented yeast will raise hemoglobin, as well as pickled beet juice. Products containing vitamins B1 are useful.
Medicinal cocktail recipe
Ingredients: 2 pomegranates, 1 apple, 1 carrot, 1 lemon, 70 g honey.
Cooking method:
Squeeze out the juice. Mix and add honey. Place in the refrigerator for 48 hours to allow the solution to infuse. Take three times a day, 2 tablespoons.
Smoothies for weight loss and cleansing the body
Berry drink recipe
Berry smoothie
Ingredients: currants, strawberries, red rowan - in equal parts.
Cooking method:
Squeeze juice from berries. Mix in equal parts. Drink half a glass twice a day.
Older people need to know that alcohol, black tea and coffee negatively affect the absorption of iron in the body, so if you have health problems, you need to exclude these drinks from the menu. In addition, you need to remember that you should eat at least four times a day.
Medicines for low hemoglobin
You can increase the hemoglobin level in the blood with the help of pharmaceutical drugs.
Vitamins
To increase protein in the blood, it is necessary to compensate for the lack of iron in the body. To do this, you should purchase the following vitamin complexes at the pharmacy:
- Sorbifer Durules . They contain ferrous sulfate with ascorbic acid.
- Complivit Iron . Ferrous iron in combination with vitamin C.
- Perfect . A preparation based on ferrous iron with vitamin C and manganese.
Pills
List of medications against anemia that doctors usually prescribe:
- Ferrogradumet . This medication is made on the basis of ferrous sulfate, which quickly increases hemoglobin.
- Irovit . The composition includes not only iron, but also vitamin C.
- Tardiferon . In addition to iron, the drug contains vitamins and other excipients.
Important to remember! Before buying vitamins or tablets, it is better to consult a specialist.
Reviews
– I never paid attention to the level of hemoglobin, I worked like an ox, ate when I had to and drove myself crazy. I had to go on medication. Mom made me a salad of carrots and beets every day, and even with honey. Got me to my feet!
Maxim, Moscow
“My dad became seriously ill; in just two weeks he became a walking skeleton. And he’s not exactly old, only seventy years old. Blood tests showed very low hemoglobin. The doctor said that this is possible after the operation. They treated me with pills and my dad followed a diet. Mom cooked rich compotes of dried apricots and raisins with prunes for him. Slowly, but dad got better.
Ksenia, Vologda
– When I was pregnant, my hemoglobin suddenly dropped sharply. And not just any medicine is possible! My mother treated me the same way her grandmother once nursed me. Nuts, honey, beets, carrots. And pomegranate! And liver. It helped.
Elena, Kachkanar
- Useful material. Thank you.
Varvara, Perm
– Thanks for the healthy drink recipes! You can probably drink them for prevention.
Valeria, Cockerels
Monitoring the level of hemoglobin in the blood is important at any age. After all, the health of all organs depends on the quality of blood. Therefore, nutrition should be complete, with a large number of foods that contain easily digestible iron, and your lifestyle should be healthy.
Health to you and your loved ones! Natalya Belokopytova.
Diet features
Since hemoglobin is an iron-containing protein, its synthesis requires products containing iron and amino acids. The body receives the amino acids necessary for the construction of hemoglobin molecules from food and synthesizes it independently.
When planning your diet, you need to take into account that the body is not able to immediately absorb all the necessary iron to compensate for the lack of hemoglobin.
At home, it will not be possible to increase hemoglobin as quickly with diet alone as can be done with medications. It may take 2 weeks before the first results of proper nutrition appear.
What improves iron absorption
Foods that contain:
- organic acids – citric, succinic, ascorbic;
- amino acids - lysine, histidine and sulfur-containing cysteine, methionine.
There is a lot of methionine in asparagus and grain beans, chicken eggs, almonds, walnuts, and soybeans.
Cysteine is produced in the body, but vitamin B6 is required to obtain it. You can get cysteine from foods if you diversify your menu with bell peppers, soybeans, broccoli, garlic, milk, chicken, and eggs.
Lysine is found in a wide range of plant and animal products, and the champion in the content of this amino acid is the group of legumes. There is a lot of lysine in foods:
- pears, apples, cabbage, apricots;
- almonds, cashews;
- cottage cheese, cheese, yogurt;
- cod, sardines;
- meat, poultry.
The body cannot produce the amino acid histidine on its own, and its supply must be provided by food intake. Contains a lot of histidine:
- hard and processed cheeses, cottage cheese, milk powder;
- beef;
- chicken, chicken egg;
- squid;
- Walnut;
- peanut;
- rice, wheat.
Vegetables that increase hemoglobin contain a large amount of organic acids:
- beet;
- carrot;
- potato;
- cabbage – cauliflower, white cabbage, broccoli;
- pumpkin;
- tomatoes.
It is advisable to use these vegetables as a side dish for meat dishes. This type of food supply will provide the required amount of amino acids, iron and beneficial vitamins and acids for their absorption.
Additionally, enriching the diet with ascorbic acid will enhance the absorption of iron and increase hemoglobin. As a rule, at home you can raise hemoglobin in adults quite quickly if they are not vegetarians or on a diet, which is more common among women than men.
If desired, you can take vitamin C in tablets, or you can add foods containing a lot of ascorbic acid to the menu.
It is advisable that every meal of meat, fish or poultry be accompanied by the consumption of a dish with vitamin C, for example, this could be:
- salad with parsley, dill, green onions;
- compote of dried fruits with the addition of ascorbic acid;
- citrus juice;
- berries;
- rosehip decoction.
What impairs iron absorption
You should limit your diet to dairy products, as they contain a lot of calcium. This macronutrient is necessary for bones, but if it is in excess, iron is less absorbed in the intestines.
You cannot, of course, go to the other extreme by completely eliminating dairy products from your diet. They contain vitamin B12, necessary for the absorption of iron, and sulfur-containing amino acids.
This suggests that when creating a menu, you need to separate dairy products and meat products by time. And do not take iron supplements with milk.
The proteins tannin and phytates—salts of phytic acid (phytin)—impair the absorption of iron. Tannin is found in cola, strong black tea, and coffee. And there are a lot of phytates in the seeds and roots of plants, beet tops, and lentils.
This means that although fruits and vegetables contain vitamin C and folic acid, which is necessary for the absorption of iron, they should be included in moderation. It is best to consult a nutritionist before starting to create a menu.
Phytic acid binds not only iron ions, but also calcium, magnesium, zinc, etc. This must also be taken into account when preparing a balanced diet.
You cannot completely switch to a vegetarian diet. So, although spinach contains a lot of ascorbic acid, which, as mentioned above, helps raise hemoglobin in the blood, it also contains oxalic acid.
This compound, as well as tannins, interfere with the absorption of iron from food. It will not be possible to quickly increase hemoglobin if you consume in excess:
- sorrel, spinach;
- persimmon;
- blueberries;
- chokeberry;
- quince;
- dogwood;
- rhubarb.
Diet No. 11 according to Pevzner
Dietary table No. 11 is prescribed for anemia, tuberculosis, and during pregnancy to prevent anemia. This dietary table is recommended by nutritionists to increase hemoglobin for both children and adults.
Calories of the daily diet should come from:
- with lean animal proteins;
- plant foods rich in vitamins B and C.
Fat impairs the absorption of iron, which is why the percentage of fat in dairy products, fish, and meat should be low. The amount of daily protein increases to 140 g, and the amount of fat should not exceed 90 g.
There is no restriction on table salt in the diet, but the amount of refractory fats, which are found not only in meat and poultry, but also in eggs, butter, and cheese, is reduced. The most refractory fat is found in lamb, duck, and goose.
Sources of vitamins are plant foods rich in folic acid, vitamins C, B12, B6.
