I Am Not Iron Man
Went to give blood today and was deferred due to low levels of iron in my blood. This isn't an actual health issue, but does prevent me from donating until they go back up. Given my father's experience, that might be never. He too was a frequent blood donor, and then one day his iron levels went down and never went back up to safe donating levels. So this might be the end of the road, if family history is any indication.
Iron, of course, comes largely from leafy green vegetables and red meat. Vitamin C helps absorb it. Given that I eat a ridiculous amount of spinach and plenty of citrus fruit, I'm not sure what else I do to increase my iron content short of taking iron supplements. On the plus side, I'm not likely to develop haemochromatosis, which is where the body rusts, sort of. On the down side, donating blood is pretty much the only unselfish thing that I do, and it'd be sad to lose that. Oh well, I'll iron load for a month or so and try it again.
Iron, of course, comes largely from leafy green vegetables and red meat. Vitamin C helps absorb it. Given that I eat a ridiculous amount of spinach and plenty of citrus fruit, I'm not sure what else I do to increase my iron content short of taking iron supplements. On the plus side, I'm not likely to develop haemochromatosis, which is where the body rusts, sort of. On the down side, donating blood is pretty much the only unselfish thing that I do, and it'd be sad to lose that. Oh well, I'll iron load for a month or so and try it again.