This does not answer your question but it does arm one with more information as to the types of food that have heme iron: MedlinePlus

I am not recommending anything but this is considered to be very important to take Blackstrap molasses - contains iron and essential B vitamins taken 1 tbsp twice daily. Vitamin C sublingual helps for better absorption.

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Sharon Grant
Editorial Team

I recently viewed the educational video below. You may especially be interested in the segments at 2:30 - 3:30 and from 7:30 - 9:19 (end of video). Those segments explain options hospitals can provide for their patients who need iron.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cidNF...oodless-2.html

I found this informative. Hopefully you will too.

Thanks Robert. There is much clinical evidence that oral iron supplementation is nowhere near as effective as intravenous iron for raising the hematocrit, yet there is widespread reluctance to use i.v. iron preparations due to fear of adverse reactions. These fears were largely based on older reports on the use of iron dextran leading to anaphylactic shock in some patients. With the newer generations of iron solutions mentioned by Dr Orr the risks have been virtually eliminated, yet the reluctance of many clinicians to administer them remains. Advocates of i.v. iron for anemia have reported great success with this therapy and say that the fears are unjustified.
See the thread here at NoBlood: IV iron to reduce blood transfusion

I know this is a bit late from the date of your original request.

We have found that in cancer patients that one table spoon of black strap molasses mixed with one table spoon of peanut butter three times a day will improve the total iron binding capacity significantly enough to result in a minimum of 0.3 gm/dl of blood per day until it gets to about 8. For some reason, is seldom goes much higher in cancer patients.

There are some potential cautions here. If the patient has a sulfa allergy, we make sure and only use unsulfered molasses. Since it is not in the hospitals formulary, it requires an order that will OK the family to bring it in from the store. It is also good to make sure that all the nursing staff is aware. This is best done by asking the Charge Nurse and I would even go to the Nursing Supervisor and inform them that the unusual accommodation is in place.

I have implemented numerous complimentary procedures in numerous hospitals and most often it is the nurses that provide the greatest resistance.

One example is related to the intake of oral iron. A side effect is binding up the bowel. This can be aided by including orange juice to help with the absorption (even though it is still minimal) and another very common natural cure.

Two studies (several years ago) from China pointed to gum chewing as decreasing post op illus. So it only stands that gum chewing, resulting in increased saliva production, resulting in increased peristalsis (the movement in the gut) will help prevent the complication.

The docs at the five hospitals where we implemented it love it. The nurses questioned the order until it was explained.

Hope this helps.

Good health to you and yours.

Liquid iron preparations are a lot better absorbed than tablets. Oral iron should be given in combination with vit C to enhance absorption and preferably an hour before or two hours after meals which may interfere with absorption especially if these consist of phytates (in cereals) or tannates (in tea).