Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Oh the Irony Smoothie

www.withinthekitchen.blogspot.com
My 8 year old has low iron so in addition to iron supplements, we've been trying to increase iron rich foods in his diet. He's not a big meat eater so it's not exactly an easy task!

I had to laugh last night when he bounded down the stairs to tell me that I just had to buy him Fruit Loops! Now he knows that type of cereal is usually only allowed on his birthday but he insisted I should buy a box to improve his iron levels! Turns out a serving of Fruit Loops contains 50% of a person's daily iron need....seriously.

I'm still not convinced that everything else in it outweighs it's iron profile...but I have to give props to my son for reading the labels at the store!

This smoothie not only offers a couple servings of fruit for him, it has extra iron. Did you know pumpkin seeds are a good source of iron? Neither did I until a friend told me so as she dropped off a jar of pumpkin seed butter on my desk! One 2 tbsp serving gives you 30% of your daily recommended iron intake (this varies depending on brand). Prune juice also has quite a bit of iron so this smoothie has a double hit. I added orange juice as Vitamin C increases the body's ability to absorb iron (btw calcium decreases it).

I would love to hear from any parents or bloggers in similar circumstances and what iron rich food recipes you're using!

Makes 1 large or 2 small smoothies

Ingredients

1/2 c prune juice
3/4 c orange juice
1/2 banana (preferably frozen)
1 tbsp honey
2/3 c frozen blueberries
1 heaping tbsp pumpkin seed butter

Instructions

Blend everything together for 1 minute.
If too thick add a bit more juice until desired consistency is reached.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recipe! Just curious, did your son outgrow his low iron? My 5 year old we just found out has low iron and I am scrambling to figure out what to do about it and what all to feed him to try and get his levels up without messing up his stomach. Thanks

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    Replies
    1. Hi Charity, My son is now 10.5 yrs old. It took 2 years to get his iron level up to the right levels. We tried to raise his iron levels through food but he doesn't like to eat red meat (makes me question if he's mine since I could eat a steak every day:) And other food options just didn't get those levels up enough. We gave him an iron supplement (liquid) but to be honest, it wasn't until we were diligent and gave it to him everyday for a 6 months (and not with calcium i.e. a glass of milk that we saw a big jump in the numbers. Currently, we give him a supplement once or twice a month. He will have his levels checked again in a few months - fingers crossed that they stay up. I don't remember the name of the liquid supplement but it was for kids and it could even be flavoured. It didn't seem to bother his stomach. Good luck!

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    2. Thanks! I search and see what I can find as a supplement.

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