Natural Remedies for treating Anemia in children

Anemia is not actually a disease, it's a good news. However, anemia can be an indication of some of the serious illnesses and that's a very bad news. So, you need to check first with your doctor and then ensure that you don't have the hemolytic anemia, sickle cell anemia or sideroblastic anemia. These types of the anemia occur due to the malfunctioning of your body which can be treated through the proper medical intervention only.

Understanding Anemia

If everything is all right but you are still diagnosed with the anemia, it is due to the nutritional deficiency. You suffer from the deficiency of iron, vitamin B 12 or the folic acid. You should understand that your red blood cells count has gone really low and they can't now carry enough of the oxygen to your body parts. Your hemoglobin, which carries the oxygen to your various body parts, may also have reduced to such levels that may quite pose risk to your health. Therefore, you need to supply the essential nutrients to your body so as to treat this nutritional deficiency anemia. Here are some of the home remedies for anemia of such type.

Natural Remedies for Anemia

Hereunder are some of the natural remedies for anemia:

Beetroot-Apple Juice

Apple is rich in the iron content along with many other health friendly components. On the other hand, beet is also extremely high on folic acid as well as fiber and potassium. Its most nutrient rich part is just under its peel. So, if you plan to have the beets, you may cook it in a microwave oven or just roast it on gas stove with its peel still on it. After it gets cooked, peel the beet and then have it. While you can always have an apple or two in a day, when you mix with the beet with apple, your chances of fighting off anemia always doubles up.

Get this:

• Apple juice- about 1 cup
• Beetroot juice- about 1 cup
• Honey- about 1-2 tsp

Do this:

• Mix the apple juice with the beetroot juice.
• Add honey to this and then stir well to mix it in the juice.
• Have this juice twice a day.

Sesame Seeds

Sesame seeds are yet another ingredient that may be seen to work excellently to treat anemia. Especially the black sesame seeds are a rich source of the iron. There are more than one way to have the sesame seeds for anemia.

Do this:

• Soak the sesame seeds in water for about two hours
• Then strain and then crush the seeds to get a paste.
• Add honey to this sesame seeds paste and then mix well.
• Have this honey-sesame paste for twice a day.

2nd way to have sesame seeds for anemia

Get this:

• Black sesame seeds- 1 of the tsp
• Milk- about 1 cup
• Honey- about 1-2 tsp (or jiggery)
• Warm water- to soak the sesame seeds

Do this:

• Soak the sesame seeds in warm water for about 2 hours.
• Grind it to get the paste.
• Strain to get its overall emulsion.
• Mix it with a cup of the milk.
• Add honey or the jiggery and mix well.
• Have this well mixed sesame flavored milk daily.

Blackstrap Molasses

This is the folk remedy to fight with the anemia. Blackstrap molasses not only contain high levels of the iron but also folate which is a natural source of the folic acid. There are many B vitamins too in the molasses. With all these components, the molasses can increase the red blood cell production efficiently. What is important is that even people suffering from the diabetes can have this due to its low glycemic index. While you can always cover your waffles, the pancakes or even any other food with the molasses, here is a fine home remedy to follow it every day.

Get this:

• Blackstrap molasses- about 2 tsp
• Apple cider vinegar- about 2 tsp
• Water- about 1 cup

Do this:

• Mix the molasses with the apple cider vinegar.
• Add water to this and then mix well.
• Have this once a day daily.

Spinach

Just half cup of the spinach daily is what you need to cure your for anemia. This dark green leafy vegetable is high on the following:

• Vitamins A,
• B9,
• E and C,
• iron,
• fiber, and calcium and
• Beta carotene.

Just half a cup of boiled spinach has about 3.2 mg of the iron which is about 20% of the daily iron requirement for a woman! So, include the spinach in your daily diet. However, never forget to go and boil spinach, even if for a minute because the spinach also has oxalic acid in it which interferes with the absorption of the iron by body. Boiling the leaves can reduce its overall oxalic acid levels.

Ways to include the spinach in the daily diet for anemia

1. Include the spinach in your daily plate of the green vegetables salad. If you already have it, you might like to increase its overall quantity. Other vegetables in your salad may include the following :
   • celery,
   • broccoli,
   • kale,
   • Watercress etc.
2. Boil half a cup of the spinach in a cup of water to make it as a soup. Add your favorite seasoning to make it quite tasty. Have this soup twice for a day.
3. Add two teaspoons of the honey to a glass of the spinach leaves juice.
4. Drink this juice every day, at least for about 40 days.

Tomatoes

Just having more of the iron is not sufficient. You should be able to absorb that iron too. For this, amongst the other foods, you can have tomatoes for best results. Tomatoes are rich sources of the Vitamin C and lycopene. Vitamin C is needed by your body to absorb the iron.

Ways to have tomatoes for anemia

1. Eat 1-2 of the raw tomatoes every day. You can include them in your tasty salad, sandwiches etc. or just eat them as a different dish separately.
2. Drink a glass of the tomato juice every day.
3. Add tomatoes while making your dishes.

Pomegranate for the Anemia

Pomegranate can be called as a super fruit because it has too many beneficial components within it. It has the essential protein, carbohydrate, fat, fiber and even sugars too. More importantly, it has the iron and calcium. It is enriched as well as minerals like the potassium and copper other than a host of the vitamins. It excellently increases the hemoglobin in your blood and it even supports healthy blood flow. You will feel lesser the amount of the exhaustion, dizziness, weakness that are typical symptoms of the anemia.

Ways to have the pomegranate for anemia

• Have a medium sized juicy pomegranate (about 200 g) every morning on a daily basis in an empty stomach.
• Have a glass of the pomegranate juice everyday with your breakfast.

Parsley

Parsley, is also known as the rock celery, it is perhaps the most popular culinary herb used worldwide. Apart from the various other beneficial components, parsley is very high on iron and the folic acid. A 100 g of the parsley contains 5.5 mg of the iron which means half a cup of the fresh parsley or about 1 tablespoon of this dried herb, it can meet 10% of your body's daily requirement of the iron! Not only this, its vitamin C helps your body to actually absorb the iron well.

Ways to have parsley for anemia

1. Use the parsley in your sandwiches and also in your salads.
2. Toss some of the fresh or even the dried parsley in your soups, gravies, the stews and even sauces.
3. When preparing say a juice, add some of the parsley, say about 1-2 tbsp. with it.
4. Make a tea using parsley. Pour the hot water over parsley leaves, steep for a couple of minutes, if required then go ahead and add a tsp of honey and have this herbal tea twice or thrice a day.

Dates Remedy

The delicious palm tree fruits, dates, are a good and rich source of iron. Per 100 g of dates contain 0.90 mg of the much needed iron. Therefore it makes a good remedy for the anemia as it helps increase the overall hemoglobin in your blood. Dates are also rich in such minerals as:

• calcium,
• manganese,
• Copper, and magnesium.
• Copper particularly is required for the production of the red blood cells. So have dates daily to treat your anemia properly.

Ways to have the dates for anemia

1. Soak 2 dry dates in a cup of the milk overnight. Eat the dates in the morning on an empty stomach.
2. Do not discard the milk, drink this also as well.
3. If you do not want to soak the dates, have a handful of them on an empty stomach in the morning after which you should drink a cup of milk to remain energetic throughout the day.
4. You may also soak 1-2 dates in a cup of the warm water for 2-3 hours.
5. Drink this water once it quite cools down.
6. This is especially good for all those people who are lactose intolerant and who cannot have milk or milk products.

Eating Liver

• The iron that we get from animals is called the home iron. Our body absorbs this dietary iron better than the non home iron which we get from the plant based foods.
• It can absorb anywhere between 15-35% of the home iron and that is also a good number.
• Organ meat like the liver, is a powerhouse of the much needed iron which is the most important nutrient that your body needs when suffering from the anemia.
• Organ meats are much higher in the nutrients than the muscle meats.
• Liver can provide you anywhere between about 16 to 85 percent of your daily iron requirement depending upon what liver you are actually eating like the - calf, pork or chicken.
• Liver of chicken is one of the best sources of the iron.
• Raw chicken liver has about 9 mg iron while beef liver contains of about 5 mg of iron.
• Liver is also a very good source of the B vitamins, especially the B12 as well as copper, phosphorus and even the zinc.
• However, it is also important to eat the organ meats of those animals which are raised on the fresh pastures and are not treated with the hormones, antibiotics and commercial feed.
• So, if you eat the non vegetarian foods, you should include eating liver to increase iron content in your blood and to get rid of anemia.
• However, if you survive on the vegetarian foods only, there are many more options like the legumes which we discuss next.

Raisins Remedy

Raisins are an excellent source of the various nutrients including the calcium, potassium, sodium, protein, fiber and the iron. A 100 g of these dried grapes can provide you with the 1.88 mg iron. Many of the traditional medicines use raisins to treat anemia. You too can have them.