Home Remedies for Anemia
Anemia is a nutritional deficiency and not a disease. Low hemoglobin levels indicate the presence of a condition, known as anemia. In other words, the number of red blood cells are less. Red blood cells are the carriers of oxygen parcels. If you have lesser number of these cells, it decreases the amount of oxygen intake. When the hemoglobin levels are lesser than 12 gram/dl in men and 13.5 gram/dl in women, it is referred to as anemia.
Types of Anemia
Anemia falls into various categories, such as vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, folate deficiency anemia and iron deficiency anemia. These are curable at the home level, by adherence to a balanced diet. Other categories include aplastic anemia (decrease in stem cells), pernicious anemia (poor vitamin B12 absorption) and megaloblastic anemia (deficiency of both vitamin B12 and folate). Pernicious anemia is also due to the deficiency of the intrinsic factor, which binds to vitamin B12. Lack of intrinsic factor affects the absorption of the vitamin. This is not treated at the home level.
Anemia Causes
Deficiency of iron in the diet is the major contributing factor for anemia. Other points of consideration are exposure to toxic metals, poor dietary regimen, improper functioning of the bone marrow and heredity and so on. Improper menstrual cycle, bleeding due to cancer and use of over the counter drugs are the other causes.
Anemia
Typical symptoms of anemia include fatigue, shortness of breath, and feeling of tiredness, malaise, hair loss, palpitations and pale appearance.
Treatment for Anemia
Treatment of anemia depends on the causative factor. Certain drugs that trigger the synthesis of red blood cells in the bone marrow are useful. Iron supplements, vitamin C, blood transfusions and vitamin B12 injections are effective techniques. Heme iron and non heme iron are the two forms of dietary iron. Heme iron is present in fish, poultry and meat. They are better absorbed than non heme iron. The latter is present in cereals, flour and grain products. Vitamin C enhances the absorption of the non heme form of iron. Blood loss due to bleeding ulcer or colon cancer, results in iron deficiency anemia and requires the surgical removal of the colon.
Home remedies for Anemia
One of the most easy-to-follow remedy at the home level is the adherence to a good diet.
- Foods which are rich in iron such as brown unpolished rice, milk, beans, soybean, cheese, meat, egg, honey, fish and soybean prove beneficial.
- Iron rich foods are a great necessity, especially for pregnant women. Poor diet results in anemia in pregnancy, which further results in miscarriage or any other complication.
- Fruits and vegetables in the diet provide an array of nutrients including iron, some of them being, plums, green leafy vegetables, onions, barberry, potatoes, strawberries, tomatoes, beets, potato, grapes, banana, carrots, apples and cabbage.
- Green leafy vegetables, including spinach raise the number of red blood cells, thereby preventing the condition of anemia.
- The initial treatment of anemic patients commences with fresh fruit juice.
- Citrus fruits, like oranges and lemons are equally effective in curbing anemia. This is attributed to the vitamin C, in them, which enhances the absorption of iron. Other fruits, which have a high concentration of vitamin C, are cantaloupes, apricots, kiwis, strawberries, mangoes and watermelons. Fresh and natural fruits and veggies have more content of vitamin C than their frozen counterparts. Pepper, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes and greens are the vegetables, which have a good degree of vitamin C.
- About three to four figs, on a daily basis proves helpful. Beet roots are an excellent source of various minerals, including iron.
- Liver and kidney are organ meats, which are useful.
- Foods such as eggs, soya, liver and cheese are good sources of vitamin B12, also referred to as Cyanocobalamine. These also prove helpful, in the increase in the red blood cells.
- Avoid foods that have low concentrations of iron, such as sweets, refined flour, refined, sugar, fried foods and white bread.
Tips for anemia
A healthy diet with multivitamins proves helpful in the prevention of anemia. Counseling is necessary in case of inherited anemia. Yoga helps in the enhancement of blood circulation. Sarvangasana or shoulder stand pose and corpse pose or shavasana are certain yogic postures, which help to improve the condition of anemia. Surya bedhana, ujjayi (ocean sounding breath), kapalbhatti (skull cleansing) and anuloma viloma (alternate nostril breathing) are breathing exercises that are useful.
