Floradix and Hemoglobin

[Minou1]

Has anyone had experience using Salus forumula "Floradix" Fer + plantes to help support healthy hemoglogin levels in someone with CLL? My husband's iron levels have always run on the low side and now with the CLL pushing down on his hemoglobin and platelets combined with a reduction of heme-iron in our Macrobiotic diet, I see the need to supplement.

[Minou1]

Thank you for your concern, a Macrobiotic diet, more specifically, a whole foods plant based diet, is really just a balance between proteins and sugars. However, every diet should be adjusted to a person's biochemical individuality and with over 20 years of nutrition consulting and teaching behind me I feel comfortable with this choice at this stage in our life. Although a plant based diet can be low in heme-iron, depending on how much animal protein one eat's, it is not usually low in non-heme iron.

Have you read the case report "Stable improvement in classical B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia with dietary interventions: A personal experience." (Plooij, Raemaekers, 2020)?

Link: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

In any case, I would still like to know if you have an answer to my original question about Floradix.

References:

Plooij FX, Raemaekers J. (2020). Stable improvement in classical B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia with dietary interventions: A personal experience. Clin Case Rep. 2020 Sep 14;8(12):2948-2954. doi: 10.1002/ccr3.3305. PMID: 33363857; PMCID: PMC7752481. Retrieved on July 17, 2023 from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl....

[Minou1]

Hello there - I see now. I think my original message was misunderstood. Floradix is a liquid plant based iron supplement. It has no claims to do anything for any disease but it is a plant based liquid iron supplement and I just wanted to know if someone with CLL had tried it and if it helped them with their hemoglobin. That's all. No hopes as a cure for CLL, just a concentrated liquid food supplement.

I have already decided to include it in his dietary protocol bc it has worked for me during peri-menopause. So I am going to go with that.

[AussieNeil Administrator in reply to Minou1]

I haven't previously heard of this particular iron supplement and a community search of floradix only returns this post by you, so it seems that barring further replies, there's more community experience with other iron supplements by those who have insufficient iron in their diet.

With respect of your several mentions of the case study "Stable improvement in classical B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia with dietary interventions: A personal experience", I do recall this study being previously discussed. The reason I remember it specifically, is that it was unusual in reporting no patient response to EGCG, for which I consider we have the best evidence of some effect for the pharmaceutical grade Polyphenon-E used in the Mayo Clinic EGCG studies of over a decade ago. That was good enough for Mayo Clinic to register a few patents for its synergistic use with proven chemotherapy drugs, despite about a third of the trial participants not experiencing any change in their lymphocyte count or node sizes. Do keep in mind that case studies are basically anecdotal reports - albeit generally well documented. They are considered to be around the second lowest level of evidence.

Neil

[mrsjsmith in reply to AussieNeil]

It’s a widely sold and advertised supplement in the U.K. Neil but I have no experience of it’s use.

Colette

[Thursday45]

I’m interested to see how you progress with this as my iron count is low.

[Minou1 in reply to Thursday45]

Hi Thursday, we are seeing the GP on Monday and I will ask for another blood test to know the iron levels now before we start supplementing and I will get back to you. The reason why I chose this one is because I have used it successfully for my iron (during the perimenopause years) and it has the added bonus of being non-constipating (as per it's claims).

[Thursday45 in reply to Minou1]

Yes, I have read about it. Really hope it had positive results for your husband.

[SERVrider]

As Mrsjsmith said, Floradix is advertised on hoardings at virtually all London Underground stations and most of the trains, too. Is it "snake oil" advertising or something useful?

[mrsjsmith in reply to SERVrider]

Something I have always wondered as well.

[Livingwith67]

I have been recommended it over the years for low iron, as I was always mildly anaemic before CLL, by people that love it but I’m still to try it.

Since CLL iron supplements fail to help me

[Minou1 in reply to Livingwith67]

Hello Livingwith67, that's what I have been wondering. If any iron supplementation helps with hemoglobin when CLL is present. I suppose that would depend if the low Hb is caused by the infiltration of the CLL in the bone marrow or dietary insufficiency of iron (not withstanding other physiological problems I don't wish to list here).

So, I will take the stand that when iron is low (particularly in early stage CLL), supplement, and hopefully the RBCs will respond.

[Livingwith67 in reply to Minou1]

I had iron infusions too at beginning stages of CLL diagnosis and they didn’t really help either. My gut can’t tolerate tablets.

Now in treatment 5 months in, (I became very anaemic very quickly, nothing to do with iron, definitely CLL infiltration. ) and my bloods are returning to normal finally.

Floradix has more than just iron in it, so if any other vitamins/minerals are lacking potentially it’s a good option. Supporting the body if you’re not getting everything from food is good in my opinion. I just didn’t have the experience of it helping with the CLL sadly.

Wish you and your husband well on this journey

[Minou1 in reply to Livingwith67]

Thank you

[Miu48]

I have just started using Floradix as my last blood test came back that my iron was low. My Hb is now fine following O&V.

It is too early to say whether it’s any good.

Another that I have used in the past is Ferroglobin, which I found to be very good.

My reason for trying Floradix is because I have a bottle in the house as I give it to my 5 year old daughter who is a very picky eater.

[Minou1]

Thank you so much, I was hoping someone else was using it. If you have time in your day and you think of it, please let me know if it helps you raise your Hb.

For your daughter, Floradix tastes pretty good so I can see why she likes it. The other thing I like about Floradix is that it is non-heme iron, which suits our plant based diet during this stage of our life. Although, heme-iron is better absorbed, beef liver is not on the menu for us at the moment but this too will be reassessed.

Good luck with your iron levels and wishing you more energy.

[Lavinia-Blue]

I have always thought that the ferritin level dictated the need for iron supplementation?

[SofiaDeo in reply to Lavinia-Blue]

Not necessarily. Low levels often correlates with low iron stores, but it's not 100%. One could be protein deficient and/or unable to make a carrier molecule. Also, increased levels correlate with a number of disease states.

It's the lab tests plus symptoms that determine diagnosis.

medicalnewstoday.com/articl...

factdr.com/diagnostics/bloo...

[Lavinia-Blue in reply to SofiaDeo]

Still, why would you take more iron if you already have it in storage?

[Varney]

Hi Minou1,

I had low iron and took an iron supplement (Ferrous Gluconate 324mg) for 6 months to no avail

I then did a little research and found out that you should take your iron with Vitamin C on a empty stomach. I take Vitamin C in the form of Calcium Ascorbate 500mg. You then should not consume any food for 1-2 hours. Many foods block the absorption of iron, hence the waiting time of at least 1 hour. My iron is now normal after many years of not achieving that goal.

PS: If you drink coffee or tea—No milk/cream for 1 hour, also.

Varney