Nutritional Applications for Macrocytic Anemia and Iron Deficiency Anemia
You found out you have been diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia- or maybe you found out you have macrocytic anemia. What does this mean for you now? How can you combat this from a natural perspective?
Dr. Hayden and Dr. Horsley will help to clear up some of the questions that you may have concerning anemia as they continue their series, “Understanding Anemia – Overcoming Fatigue, Bruising, and Other Symptoms”. You will learn about what anemia is, what the symptoms are, how it is diagnosed, what the best treatment options are, and what it is commonly misdiagnosed as. These videos will be released over the next couple days on our youtube account, facebook account, and as a blog post on The Hayden Institute website.
Transcript From Video on Nutritional Applications for Macrocytic and Iron Deficiency Anemia:
Dr. Hayden: We’re still talking about anemia… we’ve talked about what anemia is, what some of the common symptoms are, how to diagnose it, and today we’re gonna talk a little bit about how to treat it. This is a loaded question because there are over 200 types of anemia that someone could develop and so the treatment is very different for each kind. So we’re gonna talk about two or three easiest ways to look at anemia and how you might be able to address it from a nutritional standpoint. So, Dr. Horsley, which one would you like to talk about?
Dr. Horsley: We’ll start off with macrocytic. So macrocytic anemia is one of those conditions when the red blood cells are too large because they’re not maturing effectively and not becoming smaller as they get older. That is often because of a B vitamin deficiency.
Dr. Horsley: This is typically a deficiency of vitamin B12 (cobalamin) or B9 (folate). These are the two most common sources of a macrocytic deficiency. So if you’re doctor runs your CBC (diagnostic test we talked about in our last video) and sees specific markers for anemia, and even more specific things for macrocytic anemia, then often adding in B vitamins can make a big difference in relieving some of those symptoms for you.
Dr. Hayden: One of the other types of anemia that we mentioned briefly before was iron deficiency anemia. So in addition to a B vitamin imbalance that can create an anemic problem, iron deficiency can also create an anemic problem. It’s the way that most people thing about treating anemia. However, it’s not always the most appropriate way -just because we’re anemic doesn’t mean we have an iron deficiency problem. Iron deficiency can happen for a variety of reasons. For example, in a monthly cycle for a female, when there’s blood loss- that can generate iron deficiency. There can also be blood loss in the stool, blood loss from injury, or a deficiency of iron in the diet. There can be a variety of reasons as to why someone might have low iron. Still, in addition to treating the anemia with iron, want to look and identify where the root cause of the iron depletion is. When it comes to supplementing iron from our diet, obviously we can look at animal proteins, like red meat- which is high in iron, but we can also look at dark green vegetables for our non-heme sources – like spinach and leafy vegetables like that. If we get iron from a supplement, which is where a lot of people will go and try to increase their iron, it can be a very efficient way of getting iron into the body, but can sometimes have negative side effects like constipation or black stools.
Dr. Hayden: Iron deficiency anemia is a common type of anemia and it’s very easily corrected through supplementation and through diet. But both vitamin deficiency anemia and iron deficiency anemia can be identified on simple blood work and both can be easily repaired through supplementation and diet. This can dramatically change someone’s symptomatic outlook – energy comes back, hair stays in place, bruising goes away – big changes happen.
Dr. Horsley: One thing about macrocytic anemia, with B vitamin deficiency, is sometimes why people are having deficiency in B vitamins can be because of decreased enzyme production in their gut – specifically things like intrinsic factor. Oftentimes, why we’re having a B vitamin deficiency, resulting in anemia, can be related to gut imbalances or deficiencies in your diet itself. This can look like not getting enough B vitamins through green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, and animal products. So in addition to supplementing with whole food based supplements or getting a good quality methylated B vitamins, there are other things that should be looked at related to your gut health as well.
Be sure to check out our other posts related to anemia:
- What is Anemia?
- Common Anemia Symptoms
- Testing and Diagnosing Anemia
- Nutritional Applications for Macrocytic Anemia and Iron Deficiency Anemia
- Nutritional Applications for Hemolytic Anemia and MTHFR Gene Defects
- Misdiagnosing Anemia