Pumpkin Spice Cream of WHeat [high in iron]

This is a Iron Rich Fall Pumpkin Spice breakfast made with Cream of Wheat + real pumpkin puree. Dairy free and refined sugar free.

Whether because of my incessant ice eating addiction or because of the blood test I recently received the results of….both point to me being “iron deficient anemic”.

And it’s tricky because I don’t typically choose to eat “fortified cereals OR breads” and don’t really love meat NOR eat it often.

So, I’ve been tying to eat a LOT more spinach and have also incorporated Cream of Wheat into my diet more. And since it is fall, I decided to take a quick spin on favorite fall flavors and looks:)

According to the WHO [World Health Organization], approx 80% of people have some sort of iron deficiency. And 30% of those people have anemia because of it. Most are women:)

Iron is a mineral that is vital to our bodies for growth and development:

• our body uses iron to make hemoglobin [a protein in red blood cells that is in charge of carrying oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body]

Life Stage	Recommended Amount
Birth to 6 months	0.27 mg
Infants 7–12 months	11 mg
Children 1–3 years	7 mg
Children 4–8 years	10 mg
Children 9–13 years	8 mg
Teens boys 14–18 years	11 mg
Teens girls 14–18 years	15 mg
Adult men 19–50 years	8 mg
Adult women 19–50 years	18 mg
Adults 51 years and older	8 mg
Pregnant teens	27 mg
Pregnant women	27 mg
Breastfeeding teens	10 mg
Breastfeeding women	9 mg

—if you don’t have enough iron, there is not enough oxygen carrying blood cells which means there is a DECREASE in oxygen circulating through your body. Ah! That’s bad.

some symptoms of iron deficiency

Less oxygen to your ENTIRE body means you are more tired, have gut issues, memory/concentration difficulties, weaker immune system, more fatigued [did I mention that one yet???] Oh yeah, and also one can crave ice. It’s called pica.

what to do

The main method and BEST way to get iron is from eating foods that contain high amounts of iron!

the best source of iron is found in meat products…says my doctor…however, if you don’t stomach meat very well, then you just need to concentrate on consuming iron rich foods OTHER than meat—

Cream of wheat (cooked): 5.7 to 5.8 mg of iron
Oatmeal: 4.5 to 6.6 mg of iron
Lentils: 4.1 to 4.9 mg of iron
Beans: 2.6 to 4.9 mg of iron
Dry cereal: 4.0 to 4.3 mg of iron
Tofu (cooked): 2.4 to 8.0 mg of iron
Soybeans (mature) cooked: 6.5 mg of iron
Tempeh: 3.2 mg of iron
Pumpkin/squash seeds: 1.4 to 4.7 mg of iron
Blackstrap molasses: 3 mg to 6 mg of iron

It is common for menstruating women and children to be iron deficient. And both of my babies were when they were little. The doctor always recommended me giving my babies iron supplements. But because of the possible side effects of GI upset and constipation, I tried the natural route first. Through diet. Which can be tricky when they are babies. [they were always past the age of 6 months and could eat solid foods].

And both times, it worked for me! [disclaimer: i’m not suggesting that simply by diet works for everyone…it just worked for me and my kids]

I knew that beef liver was very high in iron and that was easy for me to find ORGANIC so that was my choice of iron rich food. I would boil it, puree it, [mix it with applesauce] and then feed it to them. It completely grossed me out, but I did it and their iron levels always came up to the normal level and I never had to give them supplements.

To give you a glimpse of how much IRON liver has…

3 oz of liver has 12.5 mg of iron

3 oz of spinach has 2.7 mg. [liver wins]

Another staple iron rich food I found was Cream of Wheat. This is a fortified cereal I gave my iron deficient babies.

And as you can see, [from the vegetarian list above] Cream of Wheat is at the top with the most iron.

ITEMS NEEDED:

• Pumpkin puree
• Pumpkin Pie Spice
• Maple Syrup
• Cream of Wheat
• Salt

METHOD:

— I think it says on the package to boil the water first and THEN dump in the cream of wheat. Well, I have been making Cream of Wheat for almost a decade and have yet to let the water boil before adding in the Cream of Wheat.

I just add them altogether and then bring to a boil. Rememering to stir constantly to prevent lumps.

IF LUMPS OCCUR: I simply strain them out! And voila! No one knew!

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