Are dates alone enough to treat iron-deficiency anemia?

In our daily life, we come across our parents saying that dates are good for our health and they can supply us with enough iron needed for our body. If anyone in the family is diagnosed with anemia, they immediately resort to giving those dates. Dates are indeed a popular dry fruit that is rich in iron and other nutrition. Are dates alone enough to treat iron-deficiency anemia?

Is Iron alone sufficient to treat Anemia?

The essential four nutrients like iron, vitamin B12, folic acid, and protein are needed by the body to produce enough red blood cells. Hence iron alone is not sufficient to treat any anemic condition. So the notion that iron alone causes anemia is not true.

Can dates alone treat iron deficiency Anemia?

People wrongly think that consuming dates daily will treat their anemic condition. First and foremost, they need to find out the root cause of anemia. It can be due to simple nutritional reasons or can be due to blood loss too. Then the level of nutrient deficiency needs to be ascertained. Only this decides the treatment option for any anemic condition.

If the anemia is due to blood loss, it has nothing to do with dates or iron deficiency. Hence the root cause for blood loss like ulcers, piles, or any other serious causes need to be ascertained first and then that needs to be treated. As said earlier, the treatment of ulcers or piles or any other cause that is causing the blood loss can address the anemia.

Coming to dates, only the darker varieties have iron in them. The iron content varies between 0.3 to 10 grams of iron in 100 grams of dates. The nutritional requirement of iron varies between 8 grams to 10 grams in men whereas, in menstruating women, the requirement is 14-15 grams. This means a normal person should have at least 100 grams of dates to get the necessary iron. The other important factor is, 100 gm of dates has around 60-65 grams of sugar which means it cannot be consumed by diabetic patients. When a person is anemic, the requirement can be up to 35 gms of iron per day. Hence the hard truth is, dates alone cannot compensate for the need at any given point in time.

So what can treat Anemia?

Hence if you have anemia, check with your doctor immediately and take the prescribed medicines diligently. The dosage of the medicine is recommended based on the iron deficiency level and hence only medicines can completely cure you of iron-deficiency anemia. Dates can obviously help maintain your iron level once you are cured of anemia. So taking dates side-by-side will always be a better option.