Nutrition for Iron boosting in the blood and a study on anemia

Nutrition for Iron boosting in the blood and a solution for anemia

Nutrition for Iron boosting in the blood and a solution for anaemia

The Digestive system is embodied in Chinese medicine by the Stomach and Spleen organs (in this case Spleen apparently is referring to Small Intestine).

The Digestive system provides energy to our body for our existence once we are born.

A powerful Digestive system creates more energy for us and with lesser effort.

Gastrointestinal weakness will be indicated by fatigue, diarrhea, cravings for sugar or carbohydrates (sometimes replaced with alcohol), drops in energy, conditions of

diabetes, cold limbs, copious menses and more.

The Gastrointestinal tract and the Blood work together in Chinese Medicine. When there is weakness in the Digestive system there will be signs of decreased blood values, or a drop in the "octane" of our fuel.

Therefore , although the current study that is given here confesses doctors 'sin' in their disregard for undiagnosed anaemia, still the weakened digestive system can’t achieve a technical solution by adding B12 or folic acid or iron tablets as a real and effective solution. A weak digestive system cannot absorb food well enough due to its weakness let alone when it needs to absorb tablets or concentrations of food supplements.

Chinese medical solution solves the problem at the root meaning it strengthens the digestive system while tonifying the blood . Chinese herbs, acupuncture, proper diet and lifestyle modifications give a full and complete solution for iron deficiency anaemia.

Nutrition for strengthening blood iron :

Beans or broad-leaved green vegetables are an excellent source of iron. Iron absorption rises dramatically when eating it along with foods containing vitamin C, such as citrus fruit and juice.

Other sources of iron are: Spinach, beets, molasses, bulgur, juice of soaked prunes, tomatoes, broccoli, whole tahini spread and dried fruit.

Women tend to anaemia more than men due to monthly menstrual blood loss.

Chicken liver or turkey liver and consumption of low-fat red meat is most essential in these cases.

Cooking food in a pot or an iron skillet adds to iron assimilation in the body.

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Study: One-third of the population world wide suffers from iron deficiency.

Humans are at risk of anaemia, a third of the population has too low a haemoglobin level and iron deficiency, according to a first of its kind study which lets out the scope and the health consequences of anemia.

Over 2.37 billion people - a third of the world’s population suffer from anaemia. Iron deficiency and decrease in haemoglobin in the blood can cause side effects such as growth disorder, difficulty in concentrating and learning, severe fatigue to exhaustion, sleep disorders, decrease in the body's resistance to various infectious pathogens, fainting, and other symptoms. It's estimated that about 50 to 80 percent of the population of the Western world (both sexes) are at risk for anaemia.

These data are a new study, the most comprehensive done to date on the subject, conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle led by Dr. Nicholas Kaisbaum. The study was based on huge data collected from 187 states, the results of which were published last week in the valued International Journal “Blood”. Further studies in recent months as it performed in the hospital, "Mount Sinai" of New York, suggest that anaemia may raise the risk of dementia.

Seattle researchers noted that the preva lence of anaemia is now about 32.9 percent of the world’s population. Twenty years ago the phenomenon estimated 40.2 percent, but it reduced by only a fairly minor rate. Despite the efforts being made in the world today to better diagnose, accurately and earlier a suspicion of anaemia, surprisingly it is still a major health problem and a burden - both in the financial

sense and for the Health and Medical Systems.

The editor of the study, Dr. Kaisbaum, explained that in view of the findings it should be the duty and obligation of health systems to define anaemia as a major target for medical intervention. "Have to give it higher priority in treatment, especially in high-risk populations such as infants, children, girls and young women. Although anaemia causes so many health disorders, quite many public health systems are not getting the attention you need. Many doctors still think it is a total phenomenon accompanying other diseases, and they do not target to the required medical activity."

Dr. Nathaniel Horowitz, a senior haematologist at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, explains that "Anaemia is considered a seemingly simple enough medical problem, but this study, unprecedented in size and conducted with extensive international cooperation is challenging, emphasizing that the problem is a much more than may be assessed so far.”

"I expected that in the twenty years since the previous assessment anaemia dimensions would shrink at a much greater rate, because the awareness is growing. It is clear that there are gaps in health standards between the countries of the Western world and the other countries, but still could be expected a greater reduction in the dimensions of anaemia - it did not happen" Dr. Horowitz says.

Medical “sin”

There are different types of anaemia and many factors causing its appearance.

There is anaemia which is not derived from disease but is due to malnutrition, and it is common among children and toddlers where their food does not contain iron in large enough amounts. "The doctors do not treat iron deficiency as a disease," says Dr. Horowitz. "When it turns out in the appropriate tests that despite adequate iron absorption the body loses it quickly - for example, in women during menstruation - even this is not considered a disease. But when finding bowel disease - eg chronic inflammatory bowel disease , which is where the body is not absorbing essential mineral or cannot use it to make haemoglobin - it has been considered a condition requiring more focused attention and invasive tests for the diagnosis and appropriate treatment."

Iron stored in the body comes from the bone marrow, where haemoglobin is produced, carrying the blood oxygen onto the red blood cells. Our bone marrow is a factory for the production of red blood cells, where iron, vitamin B12 and folic acid are the raw materials for the production of blood cells. Deficiency of these nutrients in one’s dietary menu may cause anaemia.

Treatment of anaemia as a disease in itself is mostly done when it comes to blood shortages, with a low haemoglobin level. This type of anaemia is common among adults suffering from chronic and prolonged inflammation. "Many physicians who sin still maintain that the anaemia originates from chronic diseases of the patients," Dr. Horowitz says. "By this reasoning, if the disease is treated it will also fix the problem of anaemia. But this approach is not always correct: for example in the case of a patient who comes in with chronic arthritis and returns comprehensive blood tests which reveal anaemia. In this case the doctor should adopt a way to examine the reasons for the lack of raw materials - such as iron, vitamin B12 and folic acid. When a shortage of these materials is revealed, they should then follow the return to the required levels - or at least a minimum threshold or even above it. We must find out the causes of the appearance of deficiencies. Any different age may be other reasons."

The problem for athletes

Another interesting finding of the study is that a form of anaemia called "sports anaemia", is a growing phenomenon especially among athletes and among persons engaged in increased physical activity. There are even experts who called sports anaemia "epidemic." This kind of phenomenon is caused by ignoring the need to regularly monitor iron levels in the body or due to the lack of attention in consuming iron-rich food items.

A young scientist from the University of Michigan, conducted the first study of its kind in this context, based on personal experience. Researcher, Caitlin Patterson, was a long distance running as a teenager, but even in high school she was forced to quit sports because she suffered from exhaustion and respiratory problems as well as a slowing down of the speed with which she ran. It turned out she was suffering from anaemia due to iron deficiency caused by intensive physical training - a problem well known among elite athletes.

At first she found out that the problem was the failure of the hormone that regulates the level of iron called Ftzidin, causing “Anaemia induced by intensive physical training". Previously it was thought only physical training increases levels of the essential hormone, but Patterson's research revealed that 50 percent of runners taking part in the experiment had a history of anaemia and 85 percent of them consumed iron supplements dedicated to raising the level of iron in the body .

In general, in Western countries and North America, explains Dr. Horowitz, anaemia in adults is attributed to chronic diseases such as kidney failure. Among these

patients there is an increased incidence of anaemia, moderate to severe, mainly due to a deficiency of the hormone erythropoietin, which is produced in the kidney. A recent Israeli study of 480 elderly patients in a geriatric institution found that many of them suffered from anaemia due to kidney failure and other chronic diseases.

Elderly People

Older people must be checked also for the possibility that the reason for blood loss anaemia is a chronically slow gastrointestinal tract. The origin of this blood loss may be a malignant tumor in the gastrointestinal tract, creating obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. When medical staff diagnose elderly people suffering from anaemia and deficient levels of haemoglobin (under 13 in men and under 12 in women), this could be an iron deficiency which existed before being diagnosed with anaemia, resulting from the depletion of iron in the body. When this kind of anaemia is diagnosed at age fifty or more, you must find out the reasons for it and investigate the possibility of gastrointestinal blood loss due to a malignant tumor.

"If in this situation the right questions are asked and the appropriate tests conducted, it is possible to save the patient. It is very important to diagnose a lack in B12 or lack of folic acid. Prolonged vitamin B12 deficiency can cause irreversible damage to the nervous system, so it is important to discover such a shortage in time and give the appropriate treatment" emphasizes Dr. Horowitz.

According to U.S. research, anaemia occurs in people who are under-weight and it may occur in women after childbirth. Anaemia among infants and children due to an improper diet that can be remedied is considered less of a medical problem when compared to that of similar aged children in the developing world, where there are more poor food conditions. There is a high occurrence of widespread anaemia among infants during the postpartum period, and aged up to four years. Anaemia associated with kidney disease is common in adults, especially among individuals age 80 and above.

"About five years ago," says Dr. Horowitz, "a study performed by the Medical Corps found low levels of iron in enlisting soldiers in the IDF. These findings caused widespread attention in international media and medicine. Among 11.4 percent of men and 15 percent of women were diagnosed with low haemoglobin and iron levels due to consumption of the wrong foods. Among girls the problem was more common due to blood loss in the menstrual cycle, but also a nutritional problem is clear: Iron is found in beef and vegetables, but it seems that participants in the study consumed too little of the required amounts. Balance is the secret of life, and this is also true when it comes to matters of health".

Phone - 054-4804538

Email - effi@kfir.net

Website - www.kfir.net

Professional Background

About Me

I was born in Israel, in the city of Tel Aviv, where I was raised and educated. I served in the army in the Nachal unit as a tank commander and studied in Tel Aviv University at the Social Science Faculty, receiving a B.A. degree in Economics and Accounting.

During my studies I established a company for T.V. and Film Productions and in the next few years I took part in some feature films, T.V. news, and documentaries in Israel and Europe. Within that exciting period I became very interested in other cultures. Eventually I went for a 2 years journey to South East Asia and Australia. The Asian part of the journey went through India, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and Japan. It was a very special, free and educating period of time for me in which people from different walks of life shared their humanity and experiences with the strange and curious traveler that I was (and probably still am...). One of those "coincidences" was meeting with Dr. Yoshiharu Ikeda in Shodo Shima (an island off the Japanese Sea and Shikoku). Dr. Ikeda is a veteran practitioner of Chinese Medicine. He became the sole responsible for my unexpected exposure to Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine at his home.

That meeting was rather dramatic by its effect and led to a few major events in the years that followed. First, 4 years of studying Chinese Medicine in San Francisco at "ACTCM" - "The American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine", where I’d completed a Master Program of Traditional Chinese Medicine (while working for a living as a diamond dealer...). The college, probably one of the best in the nation, had given us a very deep level of qualification in Acupuncture, but mainly in the much more sophisticated field of Chinese Herbal medicine.

After passing the Californian State Board Exam I received the Californian Physician’s license. Soon after, I passed the exam of "NCCAOM" - "The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine", and received a practitioner’s license Dipl. Ac in another 30 States in the U.S.

I felt that the end of formal studies in San Francisco, including 4 years of working with patients at the college public clinic, was only the beginning. It had called for more experience. So the natural move was to go to China and Japan for a specialization period of almost a year on the treatment of Internal Medicine disorders and with a special emphasize on Gynecological and Obstetric problems . The training occurred at two hospitals in China and one in Japan. In China, at the Chengdu #1 Hospital in the south - where the treatment consists mainly of Chinese Herbal Medicine & at the Tian Jin #1 Hospital in the north, near Beijing - where the treatment is based on Acupuncture (in the emergency rooms as well). In Japan it was the Tsukuba Hospital near Tokyo. There the treatment is given traditionally by blind doctors and is based on Japanese Medicine.

The exposure to the clinics at these three hospitals, treating so many patients with Chinese Medicine (1,700 beds in Chengdu #1 Hospital...) contributed greatly to my confidence in the qualities and scope of Chinese Medicine and to my expertise as a practitioner. Press here to see the Photo Gallery.

To seal off the qualification and learning period I finally went back to the island of Shodo Shima to study the unique Japanese Acupuncture techniques under the personal guidance of Dr. Ikeda... yes, the same one whom it had all begun with 5 years earlier at his home. These Japanese techniques differ very much from the stronger Chinese style Acupuncture. The Japanese, being smaller in size and relatively delicate people, developed a very gentle, pain-free and yet very powerful needling style, which I respect and use frequently.

After all that massive training period I was ready to work on my own at last. So I went back to California and started to work as a physician at the "ACTCM" public clinic in San Francisco. But the wish to share all that great knowledge and experience in my homeland got the upper hand. I decided to get back to Israel after years abroad. I’d established my clinic in Tel Aviv and started teaching Chinese Medicine at a local College and at a special course of Chinese Medicine for M.D. doctors given by the Bar-Ilan University. A year later, the need for a Hebrew textbook had pushed me to write and publish the book "Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine - Materia Medica" which is used as a textbook but also is welcomed by the general public. Later, I worked at the Tel Aviv Ichilov Hospital in the Department of Complimentary Medicine, known as "MALRAM". Press here to see Magazine Clips.

After a few years, I lived for a while at Moshav Sede Eliezer in the Upper Galilee near Rosh Pinna and established the second clinic in the Galilee. Not long after, I published my second book "Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine - Formulas" which is used as an advanced textbook by students and practitioners. The 2 books are sold by Amazon after they were accepted as the second Hebrew books to be sold there (after the Bible...). During the year 2014 these 2 books will be offered to practitioners and the general public in a digital app version.

The time had called for another big trip. I had started from France and down to the Basque Country in Spain and later to Portugal. The idea was to go from the colonial states and arrive in the "New World" - The South American continent, by the sail. This did not work out because I had not found the right sailboat in Tenerife where I had arrived mainly for this purpose. Instead I had taken a flight directly to Buenos Aires, Argentina. From there mainly by buses to Ushuaia at the tip of the continent and then to Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama.

After a few more years of working in my Tel Aviv clinic, I had taken on along a few years to work as a Chinese Medical International Specialist aboard 3 American Cruise Ships. The Celebrity "Solstice", The Royal Caribbean "Liberty of the Seas" and the Celebrity "Summit". This was a most demanding practice. I had treated guests, staff and crew from over 70 different nationalities for various conditions with Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs. If you wish to learn more about my life aboard the cruise ships, behind the scenes of the glamorous front, please press here and read my telenovela "Solstice my Love".

This period was by far a very interesting one and extremely challenging. To this day I keep receiving thank you letters and very positive testimonials from people I had treated onboard. They are to be seen at my clinic upon request. Press here to see onboard patients' Testimonials.

Back from the stormy oceans to Israel I practice now at my clinic in the heart of Tel Aviv close to Ichilov Hospital and Weitzman City Mall.

On this informative website you'll find a few common clinical problems and the unique Chinese medical view about them. The medical issues discussed are under the section of Syndromes. You may also find some very Useful Tips.

It is important to mention that the information offered in this website is not a substitute for a full face to face diagnosis done at a clinic of Effi Kfir L.Ac. A full body diagnosis is a very special process and its findings may prevent if treated right away many problems along one's life. The Diagnosis is very personal and unique to every person with his own private history and habits. Only after the diagnosing process is completed the treatment with Acupuncture, Chinese Herbs, Chinese Diet and Changes in Lifestyle can be determined and employed successfully.

As a service to the community Effi Kfir L.Ac is giving a special preventative treatment against CVA (Stroke) to anyone of his patients, regardless of the problem they come to treat.

Effi Kfir L.Ac will be happy to share with you his vast International clinical experience as well as his life experience while listening fully with his ears and heart to your health needs.

For appointments or for an initial consultation please call 054-4804538 and start feeling better today!

Email: effi@kfir.net

Website: www.kfir.net