At Home Iron Test Kits Can Help You Determine What You Need
Have you ever had the experience of standing up too fast and your vision blurs and collects black spots around the edges? Perhaps you’ve made it to a full-on faint before your consciousness shook off the dust and brought you back. If that’s the case, get to a doctor, as it could indicate various health concerns. One health issue could be low iron.
Be Like Pop-Eye, Think Of Spinach
Some people who don’t eat meat are more susceptible to iron deficiency. And by some people, I mean the vegetarians who think skipping the cheeseburger and eating only the fries makes them healthy. Here’s a word of caution: if you cut meat out of your diet, you have to include proper protein and nutrients from other sources (like nuts and beans and actual green leafy vegetables). Potatoes do not make a well-balanced diet, even if you cook them in various ways.
It's Not Only Vegetarians Who Have Symptoms Of Iron Deficiency
(Steps down off soap box) Iron deficiency does not only afflict uneducated vegetarians but also pregnant women, people with ongoing illnesses, poor diets, and more. There are a variety of common symptoms that may signal the need to get your iron levels tested. Constant exhaustion (also life), the dizziness as mentioned above, headaches, muscle weakness (spending most of your time on the couch binge eating potato chips can do that as well), irritability (also parenting, working, being a relationship; basically life can cause that as well), loss of breath, leg aches, heart palpitations and chest pain. Of course, if you’re experiencing heart palpitations and chest pain, please don’t sit around and wait for your at-home iron test kit to show up. That’s when you contact a doctor.
The Easy Kind Of Blood Sample
While at-home iron test kits are relatively simple to employ, it is crucial that you follow the instructions on how to collect and send off your sample. It is a test for checking your blood’s iron levels, so a blood sample is required. Thankfully, most are simply finger pricks and not vials worth extraction requiring a tourniquet, a needle long enough to find a vein, and small talk with lab technicians.
Like Water, Iron Levels Can Rise
Once you send off your results, you should have them within a week or two. If you have some concerning medical symptoms, you shouldn’t wait before talking to your doctor. However, if your symptoms are mild and this test is more for management and curiosity, here are some ways to increase your iron while waiting.
Be Careful Of Iron Overload
Cooking in a cast iron skillet is a great way to get more iron, especially if you throw a big ol’ slab of red meat onto the skillet and eat that for dinner. Leafy greens like spinach are high in iron and go really well with that steak. Of course, iron supplements are an option, but those should be approached with caution. Not only can your body get too much iron, but it can also constipate you. Then you’ll have a whole other issue to deal with.
At Home Iron Tests
Want to learn more about testing your iron levels at home with at home tests?