Anemia is one of the common health conditions that affects the body’s ability to transfer oxygen to tissues, which causes a feeling of fatigue and general weakness, and this condition is caused by multiple causes, most notably iron deficiency and some basic vitamins.
Food plays a pivotal role in treating and preventing anemia, by eating foods rich in iron and nutrients that enhance the production of red blood cells, which contributes to restoring health and activity naturally and safely.
Types of anemia:
Iron deficiency anemia
It occurs due to iron deficiency as a result of the inability of the bone marrow to form red blood cells as a result of iron deficiency in the body, as well as “hepatitis anemia” and is also called malignant anemia when the patient suffers from vitamin B12 deficiency, as this vitamin is important for the process of manufacturing red blood cells, and this type of anemia affects women and the elderly more than.
Analytical anemia
It is characterized by the lifetime of red blood cells, knowing that its normal age is 120 days, and the “sickle cell anemia” occurs in the red blood cells in the sicklery anemia and becomes in the form of a crescent or sickle.
Mediterranean anemia
This type is known as Thalassemia, which is a genetic disease, and the person with this disease usually needs continuous blood transfusions, and this in turn leads to a high level of iron in the patient’s blood, as it leads to deposit in the tissues of the body, endocrine, liver, and pancreas, which causes damage.
Symptoms of anemia and its causes
Symptoms are to feel tired or general weakness, skin pill, shortness of breath, heartbeat, cold in the hands and feet, dizziness or headache.
There are many causes of anemia and vary according to the type, and one of the most prominent causes is iron deficiency, which is the most common cause, and it occurs as a result of chronic blood loss (such as bleeding during menstruation or stomach ulcers), in addition to a lack of iron intake of food, in addition to poor iron absorption in the intestine, as well as a lack of vitamins such as vitamin B12 and folic acid, which leads to the production of abnormal or incomplete blood cells.
Also, chronic diseases may cause anemia such as (kidney disease, cancer, or chronic infections that hinder the production of blood cells), in addition to genetic diseases such as thalassemia or sickle cell anemia, as they affect the shape and function of blood cells, and sudden blood loss as a result of a large injury or surgery.
Anemia treatment
Anemia is treated through food therapy with interest in eating foods rich in iron, red meat and liver, poultry and fish that contain a good amount of iron, legumes such as lentils, beans, chickpeas, dark leafy vegetables such as spinach, parsley, and whole -backed iron.
It is also preferable to eat vitamin C sources (such as oranges or strawberries) with foods rich in vegetable to enhance absorption.
In addition to foods rich in vitamin B12, eggs, milk and dairy products, fish, foods rich in folic acid, green leafy vegetables, acidic fruits, nuts, and whole grains.
