Help me with a health overhaul please

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Have felt rotten for ages, and think one of the things that might help is a change in diet. I'm vegetarian but need a big boost in iron and vitamin B12, I think.

I also think I probably need to eat little and often, to avoid dips in blood sugar - and also to drink much more water.

Any tips for iron and B vitamin rich foods, please? Ideas for healthy snacks to keep in my bag for a quick boost? Ways of remembering to drink lots of water (when I don't like it much) etc?

Anything else? Supplements?

I want to take more exercise but currently feel so weak that I just haven't been up to it - have passed out a couple of times, and feel on the verge of it a lot. I do try to walk as much as possible.

Thank you.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Hopeful bump.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Oh dear. Am I a lost cause? :(

[ej23]

Hi, I'm veggie and bfing and currently having health issues too though am normally v healthy. Dried apricots are good for iron, also greens. I stir fry kale with garlic - actually quite nice. Superfoods like spirulina are great. I get it in powder form and chuck on cereal, porridge , yoghurt or in a smoothie with milk and banana. Cereals are often fortified with b vitamins or maybe take a supplement.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Thank you, EJ.

I rarely eat cereal, but that would be an easy thing to do - and dried apricots v easy too (and delicious when dipped in dark chocolate!). Does spirulina taste of anything?

[LadyLemongrab]

Kefir!

I recommend this to anyone who wants to improve overall health. It's full of probiotics. Since drinking regularly everything just feels and works better, from my digestion to my fuzzy-headedness.

I won't lie it's not the tastiest thing to drink, think a bland sweaty flabby cheese, babybel perhaps, left sweltering in the sun and then liquidised...yum! Amazing stuff though.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Erm.... thank you. But I honestly don't think I could stomach that.

[ej23]

Ooh not had kefir, sounds interesting. Spirulina's quite potent though not sure what of. I don't mind it mixed in with yogurt or something though. You can get it in tablet form though too. Sauerkraut also amazingly good for your digestion and full of probiotic.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Thanks, both.

Is there any way I can boost my diet without having to drink pond water etc?! :)

[noddyholder]

Sub lingual b12 amazing

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Thanks, Noddy. What does sub-lingual mean and where does one get such stuff?

[noddyholder]

Sorry under tongue. Lots odd people can't absorb b12 I am one and pointless taking it in pill form but can work under tongue I have the jabs but the holland and Barrett b complex that you hold under tongue us very good too. www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/holland-barrett-b-complex-sublingual-liquid-60002871?query=B12

[noddyholder]

Excuse blooming iPad

[Scousadelic]

Great minds think alike Noddy. I take sublingual B12 too

I also take a general multivitamin and mineral (just as a kind of insurance against my diet being deficient in anything) and Co-Enzyme Q10 which is also good for energy

In winter I sometimes add Vitamin D as apparently a significant number of people are deficient in it

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Thanks for that. Am getting blood test results next week, so won't buy anything until then but will be having a trip to H&B soon!

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Have bought lots of dried apricots, plus some almonds today, and have made a real effort to drink more water. Have managed to stay vertical all day so far!

[Stuffofawesome]

Agree sublingual B got mine cheap off amazon. I feel better reducing lectins in my diet. Nutribullet smoothies enhanced with supergreens or maca or protein powder etc great. Can get 5 a day including raw leafy greens for breakfast

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

What are lectins?

Ta re B12 stuff - will deffo get that.

I don't think I am ever going to be the kind of person who drinks green smoothies though.

[Cocolepew]

I would take a magnesium and vit d supplement as well.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Thanks, Coco. What does the magnesium do? Would you take them all separately, or in a multi-vitamin?

[Cocolepew]

Magnesium strengthens muscles, but also relaxes them. If you take it at night it aids sleep. If you have periods it will help to reduce the flow. I think this is because it strengthens the uterus muscles. There has been a marked improvement in DDs periods, since she, started to take it. She used to flood and had very bad cramps.

It relaxes the nervous system, helps vit b6 work better, helps bowels, blood pressure, the heart.

A vast majority of women are deficient in it, mainly due to the fact that we loss our store of it with having periods.

I would take them seperate and take at least 400mg of magnesium.

I presume you dont take fish oils if you are vegetarian?

If you don't all ready you should take flaxseed oil for your Omega oils

Healthspan online do reasonably priced high dose vitamin and minerals.

[Cocolepew]

Sorry for typos and random commas!

[oohdaddypig]

This is a genuine question but would you be prepared to eat red meat?

I know some veggies can be very healthy but the times I have tried it, I have felt horrendous within a matter of months. I think my body just can't cope with it so my compromise is to buy UK organic beef - mainly from my local farm.

You sound anaemic to me so in the short term I would go to GP for tests. Then have a rare steak! If not then floradix and or spatone.

Egg yolks are a brilliant superfood. Grass fed butter like kerrygold. Lots of fish.

For micronutrients something like Seagreens.

Green juices made with cucumber, kale, apple, spinach.

[oohdaddypig]

Agree with magnesium and vit D. Make sure it is magnesium citrate and vit D3. You need way more of both of these than is in a multivit. Vitamin k too - k2.

There is a heap of chat on all this stuff in general health chat in a thread called "should I get hot and bothered about vit D"

[oohdaddypig]

Oh sorry - also bin gluten and cut down sugar and processed veggie oils!