Healthy Eating in Preparation for Surgery

With less than a week to go until my hip replacement surgery, I am told to be off of all vitamins and supplements; and so now, more than ever, I am striving to eat lots of vegetables and fruits that will bring me valuable nutrients to keep me strong going into the surgery and throughout my recovery.

I am slightly anemic and my surgeon, Dr. Andrew Yun, tells me that iron is a key nutrient necessary for optimum hip recovery. Therefore I’m seeking to eat lots of iron-rich foods. According to WebMD specialist Kathleen M. Zelman, eating foods high in vitamin c along with the iron-rich foods will help the body better absorb the iron.

For now, i am studying these lists below. I hope to come up with some recipes/meal plans that will bring iron rich foods and vitamin c rich foods together in a delicious and beneficial combination…in the meantime, you too can study the info below and plan our meals accordingly!

UPDATE: Try these for menu ideas below for dishes both rich in Iron and high in Vitamin C for overall maximum vitamin adborption…

Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins (or other dried fruit) and strawberries, Weekend Scramble with tomato and spinach (add onion other veggies and cheese as desired, or not)

Lunch & Dinner: Spinach Salad with orange (and pine nuts and pecorino cheese), many variations of the Four Ingredient Salad, The Best Vegetarian Chili, Vegetarian Delight, White Bean and Tomato Soup, Chicken Cutlets A l’Orange

Iron-rich foods:

• Red meat
• Egg yolks
• Dark, leafy greens (spinach, collards)
• Dried fruit (prunes, raisins)
• Iron-enriched cereals and grains (check the labels)
• Mollusks (oysters, clams, scallops)
• Turkey or chicken giblets
• Beans, lentils, chick peas and soybeans
• Liver
• Artichokes

Fruits with the highest sources of vitamin C include:

• Cantaloupe
• Citrus fruits and juices, such as orange and grapefruit
• Kiwi fruit
• Mango
• Papaya
• Pineapple
• Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries
• Watermelon

Vegetables with the highest sources of vitamin C include:

• Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower
• Green and red peppers
• Spinach, cabbage, turnip greens, and other leafy greens
• Sweet and white potatoes
• Tomatoes and tomato juice
• Winter squash

To give you an idea of the amount of vitamin C in the top 10 foods rich in Vitamin C, see the information and below which I found online at http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/vitamin-C.php#tjki2AcaW8YjwpLq.99

“Vitamin C is an essential nutrient required by the body for the development and maintenance of scar tissue, blood vessels, and cartilage. Vitamin C is also necessary for creating ATP, dopamine, peptide hormones, and tyrosine. As a powerful antioxidant, vitamin C helps lessen oxidative stress to the body and is thought to lower cancer risk. The current DV for vitamin C is 60mg. Below is a list high vitamin C foods: