Total cereal and iron deficiency? - Page 5

Tigriss · ‎03-12-2010

The fact is that cereal has all those vitamins and minerals sprayed on so they wash off into your milk. You are only getting all of them if you drink the milk too. Also, just take a supplement. It is clear that your diet isn't enough and a bowl of cereal isn't going to fix it. If you are deficient you need much more than you diet is giving you. You also may not be absorbing all of the vitamins in you food, so a supplement is required.

CalMom · ‎04-30-2013

On 12/21/2014 clangle said:
On 12/21/2014 MalteseMomma said:
On 12/21/2014 Lila4now said:
I think you posted about the same questions in another thread. I'll tell you again, put your big girl panties on, and go see a qualified MD! You can't get medical advice in any public forum like this. You're just asking for more troubles getting any medical advice here!

I really think this person has a bigger problem than can be settled here. Why so focused and many threads started on a bowl of cereal?????

Google "OCD".

The subject is being discussed on Dr. Phil today.

Top 10 foods to get Iron from. http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/food-sources-of-iron.php

Tigriss · ‎03-12-2010

Also try gummy vitamins for your multi vitamin and your iron. Amazon has both if you cant get them locally. They taste way better than any other chewable and dissolve much better. They are like eating gummy candies.

sfnative · ‎03-10-2010

On 12/21/2014 BlondieeGirl said:
Hey guys! So I have an iron deficiency. My ferritin is at 7. My hemoglobin and hematocrit are normal so I'm not anemic. I really don't want to take a supplement due to the side effects and the metallic taste it usually leaves in your mouth afterwards. I already eat 100% iron a day in food which is good and it's the amount you're supposed to get (18mg) but it's just giving me what I need, it's not enough to make it go up. It's just enough to maintain. So I need a lot more than that. And actually, most iron supplements contain 150-175% iron. Nature's Plus Chewable's, for example, has 150% iron.

So if I'm already getting 100% a day through food, if I get 50% or even 100% more, it will start to go up. People tell me I can't get it up through food but I assume I can if I do this since that's how much is in a supplement. I've heard that some doctors recommend Total cereal for people who have an iron deficiency and even for people who are anemic to correct it. One serving size is 100% iron and half a serving size is 50% iron.

So I'm thinking if I stick with my current diet which is giving me 100% iron and even just have half a serving size of Total cereal it will start going up. The only problem is I have a fear of throwing up and I'm worried if I eat a cereal I don't like, then I might throw it up. I haven't actually tried it yet but some people have said it tastes like cardboard/straw. Is this the case? They're made by General Mills and I love Honey Nut Cheerios and eat them daily which are made by the same company. They have to be better than a metallic taste from iron pills. I was even thinking about eating it plain and carrying them around the house and just eating a few at a time for a snack. Like measure out half a serving size into a baggie and then eat some in between breakfast and lunch and some in between lunch and dinner. Just kind of spread it out like that. Do you think this would work?

For those of you who have tried Total cereal before, what do you think it tastes like? Is it bearable? I'm very sensitive to tastes and smells. Also, if you had an iron deficiency, would you rather eat half a serving size of Total a day or take a supplement that is known to cause side effects? I just want to get some opinions on it so that's a serious question.

Thanks in advance!

I really did give Total Cereal a good go some years ago and so will answer your two questions:

1. What do you think it tastes like? It tastes like every flake was sprayed with unadulterated vitamin spray. What I mean is that it tasted like I had placed a One-a-Day vitamin tablet in my mouth a just let it sit on my tongue. I think you get the point.

2. Is it bearable? Let's just say that I completed eating the one box I purchased and wouldn't waste my $$ on another. Plain and simply.

terrier3 · ‎03-10-2010

On 3/9/2015 Chrystaltree said:
I doubt that there any practicing endocrinologists on this board. However, sometimes vitamin deficiencies are NOT related to what we are eating. Sometimes, especially with older people, we develop a vitamin deficiency because our bodies aren't metabolizing what we eat properly. Hence the need for supplements. You can eat all the Total you want and if your body have metabolism issues, Total won't solve your problem. You need a supplement.

I have been under the care of hematologists for my anemia for years. They have all said that when your levels are very low....you would have to eat an ox every night of the week and it still would take a long time to get back to normal, if ever. Same thing with supplements.

You need to find out the underlying CAUSE of this problem and attempt to solve it. Plus iron infusions work immediately.

terrier3 · ‎03-10-2010

On 3/9/2015 sfnative said:
I really did give Total Cereal a good go some years ago and so will answer your two questions:

1. What do you think it tastes like? It tastes like every flake was sprayed with unadulterated vitamin spray. What I mean is that it tasted like I had placed a One-a-Day vitamin tablet in my mouth a just let it sit on my tongue. I think you get the point.

2. Is it bearable? Let's just say that I completed eating the one box I purchased and wouldn't waste my $$ on another. Plain and simply.

One of my best friends in high school became a mechanical engineer. Her first job out of college was to design sprayers to coat Lucky Charms with vitamins (and still have them taste good.)

She said it wasn't easy and took a team of engineers over a year!!!

ellaphant · ‎12-13-2010

No medical adice from me but I would never eat 'regular' cereals....they are loaded with sugars, chemicals and colors. I eat only Organic cereals.

Blondieee · ‎12-14-2014

I already tried Total cereal a while ago and didn't like it. So I was asking if eating ground turkey meat 3 times a week with half a tangerine would work? Last night for dinner I had pasta with ground turkey meatballs (but I ate more meat than pasta) with lima beans and corn. I felt better all throughout the night. I felt less shortness of breath and less like I was gonna pass out. So would this work or would it have to be red meat? Is there something specific about red meat that corrects anemia? Isn't ground turkey meat just as good? Either way it's heme iron. I know for a fact that years of not enough iron in the diet in addition to having my period has caused this problem. It's not an absorption issue.

Blondieee · ‎12-14-2014

On 3/9/2015 Desertdi said:
On 12/26/2014 newziesuzie said:
On 12/21/2014 VaBelle35 said:
On 12/21/2014 Blondieee said: Nvm I didn't realize majority of the posters here would be from the other forum. I was posting actually trying to get some new answers. I see that's not the case though. I do not have an iron absorption issue. It went down over years of a low iron diet and having my period. I didn't always eat 100% iron in food. I used to eat less than 50% a day. That's when the problem started. But anyway maybe there's some other forum that deals with nutrition where nobody knows me and I can ask about this. Thanks!

Yes keep posting this all over the internet until you get the answer you want to hear.

I'd start with the Post Cereal forums.

VaBelle, that's exactly what the op's looking for, somebody to tell her what she wants to hear and nothing else. ${#emotions_dlg.confused1}$

People who think we're "mean" need to read her other thread in Beauty:

"Thinning hair, tired all the time, I want my life back!!"

http://community.qvc.com/forums/beauty-banter/topic/484165/thinning-hair-tired-all-the-time-i-want-m... ________________

Not a single suggestion has ever been acceptable to the OP

I would appreciate it if you could please not come into my threads anymore. If you're not gonna be helpful and you're just gonna be rude, there's no reason to comment. This is not the first time you've been rude either. Just so everyone knows, I posted a picture of how my hair looks (as a result of the low iron) and this poster told me that it doesn't matter cause I have more hair than she does. She always has nasty comments or snide remarks to make.

Mindy D · ‎05-23-2010

If you are a vegetarian or athlete, you will be prone to lower ferritin levels. If you want to absorb more iron, heme iron from meats is absorbed at higher rates than iron from plant sources. Vitamin C is essential for absorption and for raising ferritin levels. BTW, citric acid is not Vitamin C, ascorbic acid is. Oranges or other sources of Vitamin C should help raise levels absorbed from non heme sources of iron. The iron in most cereals is added into them and usually is the same as the iron found in supplements. I suggest you add in the most absorbable form, heme iron from animal sources, and augment your intake with natural sourced foods that are very high in Vitamin C. Didn't your doctor recommend how he or she wanted you to correct your condition? I would avoid an iron supplement unless directed by my doctor, to take it. Too much iron can be dangerous, and your doctor would probably want to follow up and see if your level changes.