08/29/2024
Every day is a learning experience when navigating being an endurance athlete with hereditary hemochromatosis. Since February of this year I’ve had 9 therapeutic blood draws (1 pint each time). Initially more frequently to unload iron back to healthy levels, but now we are working on maintaining healthy levels.
But each blood draw lowers Red Blood cell count and hemoglobin, among other things, and I don’t have enough time to rebound and build back up to baseline before I need to do the next blood draw. This highly impacts my athletic performance. 👉 So, with the help of I am making dietary changes to 1) keep ferritin levels from raising too quickly, 2) provide better support so I can build back quicker and better.
The goal, fewer therapeutic blood draws 🙏🙏
Here are the primary changes I’m making 👇
✅ Focusing on dairy, eggs, and fish for my protein needs (eating much less red meat and other meats) to lessen my iron intake
✅ Eating more protein, especially after workouts to support the build back of hemoglobin which is critical for my athletic performance
✅ A lot of leafy greens and high oxalates foods to discourage iron absorption
✅ Discouraging iron absorption by including drinking milk or black tea or coffee with meals, only eating fruit outside of meals
✅ Supplementing with curcumin (turmeric) to chelate iron, as well as supplementing several nutrients for support or that I may miss from my food as I avoid high iron food (B vitamins, zinc, magnesium, etc)
✅ I may try ketones post workout as they are known to support the build of red blood cells
I’ll be getting weekly blood tests to see if/how much these changes will impact my ferritin levels and build back of RBC’s and hemoglobin.
I’m just an athlete trying to navigate these new waters proactively and using all the information we currently have access to. If you can relate, please let me know 🙏🙏