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Health

Boost your iron with a gingerbread smoothie

Shortly after turning 11 years old, I developed an eating disorder that I would struggle with for over 10 years. Some of my unhealthy behaviours included self-starvation, binge eating, and over-exercising.
gingerbread smoothie, molasses Angela Liddon

Shortly after turning 11, I developed an eating disorder that I would struggle with for over 10 years. Some of my unhealthy behaviours included self-starvation, binge eating, and over-exercising. When my body couldn’t take the starvation any longer, I binged on anything I could get my hands on: cookies, candy, chips, chocolate bars, or even cake mix batter until I felt physically ill. I was trapped in this up and down cycle for a long time.

Aside from being miserable, I also suffered from vitamin deficiencies, including low iron levels. Deep down I was concerned that I was harming my body, but it was difficult to believe that I could change. I also felt being a certain size or weight was much more important than being healthy.

Slowly but surely I turned a new page in my life – I decided to seek help and put myself first. With the help of a therapist, I renewed my focus on my health and well-being, and decreased my focus on my weight as well as addressed issues from my past. I took all that negative energy and flipped it into something positive. Instead of focusing on my perceived “flaws”, I focused on things I was grateful for in my life.

These days I don’t care much about calories or fat grams, but I do care about eating quality food and getting proper nutrients. I also don’t expect every day to be the picture of “perfect” health, but I do strive for an overall balance and concentrate on the big picture.

I’m also a lot happier than I used to be. And those vitamin levels? Right where they should be.

Iron woman gingerbread smoothie

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As women, we’re about twice as likely to suffer from iron deficiency as compared to men. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, you’re even more likely to suffer from an iron deficiency at some point in your life, especially because plant-based sources of iron are more difficult to absorb than animal-based sources. This gingerbread smoothie is packed with blackstrap molasses, which is a wonderful vegan source of iron. One tablespoon has 3.5 mg of iron and I like to sneak in two tablespoons into this smoothie. Add in some chia seeds and you will up your iron even more. Consume this smoothie with vitamin C (such as a piece of citrus fruit) to help increase the iron’s absorption.

Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients: 1 cup almond milk 1-2 tablespoon blackstrap molasses, to taste 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 frozen banana 1 tablespoon chia seeds (also high in iron!) 2 ice cubes peanut butter graham crackers + coconut, for garnish (optional)

Directions: 1. Place all ingredients, except the molasses, into a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. 2. Now add the molasses, a bit at a time, to taste. You may find that you only want 1 tbsp of molasses or maybe 2 tbsps if you like the flavour as much as I do.

Angela Liddon is the creator of Oh She Glows — an inspiring, healthy vegan recipe website — and one of Chatelaine's Women of the Year 2011. Angela’s passion for healthy vegan food is contagious and she’s eager to show others that vegan (and often gluten-free) food can blow your taste buds away.

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