best ways to get (food based) iron into a 1 year old

[radiowave]

My daughter tested positive for lead (a 4) and I am working on getting more calcium and iron into her system. I am not having trouble with the calcium, because she loves yogurt and cheese, but I am having a little trouble with the iron...not having luck getting dark greens into her...What other foods are high in iron? Is there a plant or food based iron supplement that I can give her?
Thanks!

[farmerjess]

have you tried red meat? My baby loves it over all other foods. Also, dark meat poultry is high in iron. Lentils, too.

[mumkimum]

molasses - we add it to yogurt here ourselves, it's good with bean dishes too,
and cook as much as you can in cast iron.

[chattyprincess]

green smoothies and cookie all her meals in a cast iron skillet.( is there different kinds of molassas, I always see that blackstrap is good, it even reccomended in many mainstream preg. books!)
~Kate

[radiowave]

Thanks! What kind of things do you put into green smoothies? Is there any place to get recipes for them?
Also, I am not much of a red meat eater and really don't know a good way to prepare red meat for a one year old...we've offered her hamburger at a friend's house and she was really uninterested--any ideas?
I have a cast iron pan, so I will def. use that. And I will get some molasses to put in her oatmeal and yogurt.
mothering.com is the best!

[YummyYarnAddict]

Originally Posted by radiowave

My daughter tested positive for lead (a 4) and I am working on getting more calcium and iron into her system. I am not having trouble with the calcium, because she loves yogurt and cheese, but I am having a little trouble with the iron...not having luck getting dark greens into her...What other foods are high in iron? Is there a plant or food based iron supplement that I can give her?
Thanks!

Do you know that she has an iron deficiency? Depending on her levels, you may want to consider something like Floradix: http://www.florahealth.com/flora/hom...cts/r64771.asp

I would also seriously look into the source of the lead. Your state's Dept of Health may offer free lead testing (ours did when my dd had an elevated lead level).

[radiowave]

Thanks!
We are pretty sure that the source of the lead is renovations done awhile ago that were not properly cleaned up and some chipping paint. We are moving into a new place that has had lead abatement done. I also found out that some of the toys she plays with were recalled because of lead (little einstein cloth and vinyl blocks) and they have gone in the trash...going through the rest of her toys now.
She did not show up in the blood test for an iron def. but I thought it would be good to give her a little boost, along with calcium, to prevent more lead absorbtion. Any advice on how floradix compares to the enfamil vitamin (vitasol) which was what our ped. recommended?
Thanks!

[YummyYarnAddict]

Originally Posted by radiowave

Any advice on how floradix compares to the enfamil vitamin (vitasol) which was what our ped. recommended?
Thanks!

I would look at the ingredient profile. I'm thinking you mean Poly vi sol (vitasol came up as a supplement for pets). Here's the one for Poly vi sol:
http://dietarysupplements.nlm.nih.go...ps&pageD=brand

You'll note that it also has:
Glycerin , Water , Ascorbic Acid , Ferrous Sulfate , Vitamin E Succinate , Niacinamide , Artificial Flavor And Color Caramel , Polysorbate 80 , Vitamin A Palmitate , Thiamin Hydrochloride , Riboflavin - 5 - Phosphate Sodium , Vitamin B6 Hydrochloride , Vitamin D3


Here's the one for Floradix (click on the "Ingredients" and the "Supplements" tabs):
http://www.evitamins.com/product.asp?pid=1041#;

You'll note that it has:
Aqueous extract from Carrot, Nettle Wort, Spinach, Quitch roots, Angelica roots, Fennel; Ocean Kelp, African Mallow Blossom, Orange Peel; Juice Concentrates (pear, red grape, black currant, orange, blackberry, cherry, beetroot),Yeast (saccharomyces cerevisiae) Extract, Honey, Rosehip extract, Wheat Germ Extract, Natural Flavor.

[LauraLoo]

Here's a site to review:

http://www.healthcastle.com/iron.shtml

Some foods will aid in utilizing the iron, and some foods decrease the ability for the body to use the iron.

Interesting that spinach is one that isn't easily absorbed by the body - I always thought it was a good source. I did a little research and it's because it's high in oxalic acid which binds to the iron and makes it difficult for the body to use it.

You might want to try pureeing some of the veggies and cooked meats suggested to make a sauce to put over rice or pasta. I can hide a lot of veggies in tomato sauce! It even looks like baked beans in a tomato sauce base could be a winner. Mash the beans up if you need to.