Contents:
- Medical Video: 5 Step Process to Treat Anemia Naturally
- What causes anemia after exercise?
- Why can exercise trigger anemia?
- What are the symptoms of anemia after exercising?
- Who is at risk of anemia after exercising?
- Improved nutrition to overcome anemia after exercising
Medical Video: 5 Step Process to Treat Anemia Naturally
Basically exercise aims to increase physical strength and fitness. But one of the strategies to exercise can actually be a master weapon for your health. For example, if you exercise too hard to experience symptoms of decreased fitness such as weakness and lack of enthusiasm when you're done, chances are you have anemia after exercising.
What causes anemia after exercise?
Experts argue that anemia triggered by exercise is not an actual anemia, but it is only a symptom of iron deficiency after exercise. In addition, anemia after exercise can be a mechanism of body adaptation to the intensity of the sport that has increased. Sports-induced anemia tends to be lighter and can be more easily treated than actual anemia.
Anemia itself is characterized by a decrease in red blood cell levels that are consistent over a longer period depending on the conditions that trigger it. This is because it is influenced by several factors besides eating patterns, such as the presence of inflammation in the internal organs, menstruation, malabsorption of nutrients, or is experiencing certain diseases.
Why can exercise trigger anemia?
There are two mechanisms that can explain how anemia after exercise can occur. One of them is the condition of anemia caused by hemolysis or the process of breaking down red blood cells due to mechanical stress and oxidative stress conditions, where the amount of free radicals in the body increases while exercising. Although the breakdown of red blood cells tends to occur in old blood cells, enough iron loss during exercise can trigger symptoms of anemia. This is more likely to occur when someone is doing cardio.
While other mechanisms are more likely to occur while doing resistance training and increasing blood plasma to a greater number of red blood cells and blood chips. The high level of blood plasma causes blood to become more fluid and the concentration of red blood cells decreases. As a result, red blood cells pumped by the heart throughout the body, especially muscle tissue, become less. This mechanism encourages the body to adapt and the symptoms of anemia can improve in a short time.
Apart from these two mechanisms, the high level of one's physical activity - especially for an athlete - will affect the level of nutritional needs, especially iron needs. Stored iron decreases through excretion of sweat, gastrointestinal bleeding, and collisions on parts of the body, especially the legs during exercise.
Iron is needed because someone who routinely exercises has a larger period of red blood cells so that the amount of iron needed to form it will be more than that the need for red blood cells in the age of growth and adolescence will be more.
What are the symptoms of anemia after exercising?
Some of the acute symptoms of anemia that occur after exercise are breathing difficulties, pain in the chest or heart, headaches, and pain in the legs. If left unchecked or the body does not get iron intake in the day after exercise it can cause symptoms of thrush, burning tongue sensation, and want to eat unusual foods such as ice cubes, lime or soil. If more serious symptoms like pale skin, extreme fatigue, or a light head may be triggered by anemia or other unconscious diseases.
Who is at risk of anemia after exercising?
Symptoms of anemia due to exercise can be experienced by anyone including people who routinely engage in physical activity or those who rarely exercise or weekend warriors. But women who are not yet menopausal or female athletes in their teens have a higher risk. Symptoms of anemia after exercise also appear more easily in a vegetarian, individual who has a wound or is undergoing a recovery period of surgery and healthy individuals who have a diet low in iron, vitamin B12 and folate.
Improved nutrition to overcome anemia after exercising
Adding iron-rich foods is the best way to overcome anemia after exercising. Iron can be obtained from red meat, fish, and poultry meat. Iron from animals is a good source because it is more easily absorbed.
If you are a vegetarian, prioritize the fulfillment of iron from food sources of nuts and seeds and vegetables with green leaves. But avoid consuming black tea, wheat, and soybean protein so as not to interfere with iron absorption. Iron absorption can be helped by consuming vitamin C such as those from tomatoes and oranges.
