

It’s similar to why people might chew on ice cubes during allergy season when they have a cold. This type of disorder would lead someone to experience strong cravings for things with an acidic flavor such as lemon juice or vinegar. Or, more specifically, oral fixation disorder or geophagy (eating dirt). This will help stimulate digestion in order for your food to be processed correctly.Īnother deficiency that could cause cravings towards lemons is pica eating disorder. Acidic foods work on breaking down your foods, sterilizing your food, disinfecting the stomach from the external germs that get mixed in with the foods you eat. Stomach acid is your body’s first line of defense (for your digestive system). One of the most common is a lack of stomach acid.īasically if your body does not produce enough strong stomach acid, you may start to crave sour foods like lemons because they have high amounts of tartaric and citric acids. There are other deficiencies that may cause you to get food cravings for lemons besides an iron deficiency. Lemons can be used in many drinks, entrees, and desserts! What Other Deficiencies Besides Iron Cause Sour Cravings? This doesn’t mean you have to eat a lemon all by itself. This means that the body may intuitively realize lemons are best when trying to replenish iron levels. They contain more iron than other citrus fruits like grapefruit or oranges. You might be surprised, but lemons are a fairly good source of iron. While I didn’t experience lemon cravings, I definitely did experience an increased cravings for foods high in iron like meat and chicken. But then they need different daily dietary sources for the missing nutrients!īack in college I got anemia because I was vegetarian and wasn’t eating meat.

They want to keep up good health habits and avoid meat. In fact, this is why many people with this type of anemia are often vegan or vegetarian.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/pica-5083875_final-dd5ee2a75eee4a419303906c5aafc501.gif)
Well, many people these days are vegetarian or vegan and don’t eat meat for ethical or health reasons. With this in mind, why might someone start craving lemons? If someone lacked iron, why wouldn’t they just crave meat? Iron deficiencies are also related to other odd cravings, like cravings for spice or ice! This is why a person’s cravings for meat often increase if they lack iron in their blood.

Meat and especially red meat contains lots of iron. As levels of iron decrease in the blood, a person will experience many symptoms like feeling cold, and also – a person’s craving for meat will often increase. Low MCV values should be investigated to determine if iron replacement therapy is indicated.Iron deficiency anemia is the most common type of anemia, and it can cause a person to have cravings for things like lemons.īut let’s start with meat. The MCV is a useful screening tool to detect iron deficiency and hemoglobinopathy. Hemoglobinopathy is also commonly present but may not be easily recognized in the setting of iron deficiency. Iron deficiency is present in the majority of apheresis donors with repeatedly low MCV values and Hb levels of 12.5 g/dL or more. Hemoglobinopathy without concomitant iron deficiency was found in the remaining 36%.
#Pica iron deficiency sour plus
Iron deficiency was present in 64% 49% had isolated iron deficiency and 15% had iron deficiency plus hemoglobinopathy. In a 19-month period, 33 of 1162 apheresis donors had low MCV values. Alpha thalassemia trait was presumed if the red blood cell (RBC) count was elevated, no variant Hbs were detected, and the iron studies were within normal ranges. Beta chain Hb variants were determined by Hb electrophoresis. Iron deficiency was defined as a ferritin value below the reference range. Donors with a MCV of less than 80 fL were evaluated by CBC, iron studies (ferritin, serum iron, transferrin, percentage of transferrin saturation), and hemoglobin (Hb) electrophoresis. Predonation samples for CBC were obtained from 1162 consecutive apheresis donors. The etiology of a low MCV in a healthy apheresis donor population was assessed. Low red blood cell mean corpuscular volume (MCV) values (& amp amp amp amp amp lt 80 fL) in the presence of an acceptable hemoglobin (Hb & amp amp amp amp amp gt or=12.5 g/dL) could be due to iron deficiency or hemoglobinopathy. Apheresis donors are routinely evaluated with a complete blood count (CBC).
