maananutrition

Here’s the final India caption, ready to paste: India eats enough iron. We just don’t absorb much of it. 🩸 Over half of Indian women (15–49) are recorded as anaemic (NFHS-5). But here’s the honest, nuanced picture most posts skip 👇 First — anaemia isn’t only about iron. Iron deficiency explains less than a third of anaemia in India. The rest comes from vitamin B12 & folate deficiency, inherited conditions like thalassaemia and sickle cell, and infection or inflammation. So iron-rich eating helps — but it isn’t the whole story. (This is exactly why a blood test matters.) Second — where iron is the issue, it’s usually an absorption problem, not a lack of it. Our dals, millets, til and seeds are genuinely iron-rich. But: 🔸 Phytates in wholegrains, legumes & seeds bind iron, so much passes through unabsorbed 🔸 Plant (non-haem) iron absorbs at just 2–20% (vs 15–35% from meat) 🔸 No vitamin C — the one thing that unlocks plant iron (nimbu, tomato, amla) is often missing 🔸 Chai timing — tea & coffee polyphenols reduce iron absorption from that meal So the fix isn’t eating more iron. It’s absorbing the iron you already eat 🔑 How: ✅ Add nimbu, tomato or amla to your dal & sabzi — the biggest lever, boosting absorption several-fold ✅ Cook in a loha kadhai ✅ Soak, sprout & ferment your chana, dal and batters ✅ If your iron is low (or you’re pregnant/vegetarian), keep chai about an hour either side of iron-rich meals — not during. Over a varied diet this matters less, so no need to panic about your chai — just time it if you’re topping up. And most importantly — test, don’t guess. 🧪 Because anaemia has many causes, ask your doctor for a haemoglobin + ferritin test (and B12/folate if needed) rather than self-treating. Save this 📌 Send it to a woman who’s always thakaan-zada 💛 Evidence: NFHS-5 · ICMR-NIN 2024 · Ghosh et al. 2025 · WHO · NIH ODS General education, not medical advice. Please consult your doctor about your iron levels. #AnaemiaInIndia #IronDeficiency #WomensHealthIndia #IronAbsorption #DesiNutrition