Dear Friends and colleagues, Recently I rea...

Dear Friends and colleagues, Recently I read about all the inspiring women in newspaper on the occasion of women’s day. A thought crossed my mind and I thought it prudent to share with you. According to world health organization (WHO) around 70% of women (teenagers included) in India develop anemia (low hemoglobin) sometimes during their lifetime! Quite a high percentage? If anemia was nonexistent in our country, then just imagine what would be the productivity of our women as low hemoglobin leads to myriad of problems both physically and mentally. We all know the important role played by our women as a homemaker. We all know that hemoglobin (which in female should be above 12 gm/dl) is important for all our daily activities and anything lower than normal will bring along problems in day to day life. Anemia is the commonest single reason for which patients come to Lotus hospital for my consultation. I have seen innumerable patients over the last 12 years and come to a conclusion that almost 80% of them suffer due to faulty DIET! Let us discuss one main component in our diet today…Iron. We have to take in iron as it is not produced in our body. It is important not only for hemoglobin but also for muscles, cellular functions etc. Many women have symptoms like irritability, loss of concentration, weakness, calf pain. They often look pale and few also have weight loss. So what is iron rich diet? Chapati, rice, dal and 2 sabzi’s will give you overall nutrition but may not be necessarily be iron rich remember! If you are a strict vegetarian then you need to take extra efforts to be iron rich. Cashewnuts, drumsticks (shevgyacha shenga), Dill and palak combination(shepu-palak) and combination of jiggery and ground nuts (chikki) are very rich in iron. Designer foods like “prunes” are very iron rich. Please make sure you are taking these iron rich food along with your regular meal. More “famous” foods like dates, pomegranate, beet are also good. Non-vegetarians do get a good quality of iron in their routine diet and hence need not tale extra efforts. So in short in simple ways we can prevent anemia (low hemoglobin) so you remain healthy and energetic! In my next update I will discuss other causesof anemia and other dietary secrets Dr Pritesh Junagade Lotus Hematology hospital, Nashik.