How a doctor with iron deficiency shops for groceries | Canada Voices

Welcome to The Globe’s series, What’s in my cart?, where we ask Canadians how they stock their kitchens. Have your own personal grocery story? Share it here.

During her second trimester of pregnancy, Justyna Bartoszko’s shortness of breath and fatigue became undeniable.

She, like one in four women, had become iron deficient during her pregnancy, and her levels of the mineral reached so low that she became anemic.

“After I had my iron infusion, it was really remarkable how much better I felt,” the 38-year-old says.

She only recognized the signs of iron deficiency because she had been diagnosed with it in the past, while completing her medical residency in anesthesiology in Toronto.

Despite being a doctor herself, she didn’t initially recognize the signs: weakness, dizziness, headaches and symptoms of depression. She was diagnosed through routine blood work.

As a medical resident, she says her diet was poor, eating on the go or not at all as she completed her long shifts at the hospital: “I often ate from hospital vending machines or the food court.”

But since giving birth in 2023, Bartoszko says she’s greatly improved her diet.

She learned to read labels, pays attention to the overall calorie content and macronutrients in her food, and looks at the iron content in whatever she consumes: “I look for food that can deliver 10 per cent of iron or higher, that’s beneficial.”

She’s added more iron-rich foods such as spinach, lentils and hemp hearts, which are good sources of iron, and more meat, such as beef, which contains 1.5 milligram to 2.4 mg of iron per 75 g serving, helping her reach the recommended dietary allowance of iron for her demographic (18 mg for women 19 to 50 years old).

How I save money on groceries: We buy fresh produce in bulk at Costco. As a family of three, we go through large packages of prewashed spinach within a few days. So it’s better and cheaper to buy in larger quantity.

How I splurge on groceries: I try to buy ethically raised meats and go for options that are grass-fed and grass-finished.

The hardest shopping habit to keep up: Depending on the week, I might end up eating all of my meals at work. I try to do my best to meal prep, so I can bring home-cooked meals at work, but working long hours can make it even more tempting to just order something premade.

How I’ve changed my eating habits recently: I started making healthier and more nutritious breakfasts. I bought a travel mug to make oatmeal that I can eat on the way to work. Before, I used to eat from vending machines and the food court at the hospital often.

Five items always in my cart:

Oreo protein bars – Grenade – $4: These contain 10 per cent of my daily iron needs (about 1.75 mg) in each bar, and it really helps when I am craving something sweet.

Chicken bone broth – Bone Brewhouse – $10: This makes a great savoury base for soups and stews, which are a big part of our diet, because my son will eat them as well. I can toss a Lucky Iron Fish in there, let it sit for 15 minutes, and it increases the iron content of whatever I’m making. You have to consume the broth that you cook it in, so soups are a good way to use it.

Limes – two for $1: Citrus is great for adding to dressings and veggies. It also increases iron absorption. When I cook with the Lucky Iron Fish, I squeeze a bit of lime in whatever I’m making to activate the iron.

Dry spice mix – Adjika – $5: This spice mix is delicious on roasted meat dishes, which I try to get more of, for the iron.

Organic shelled hemp hearts – Kirkland Signature – $15: These are a reasonable source of iron. Around three tablespoons of them have four mg of iron (most adult women that haven’t hit menopause should have about 18 mg of iron a day), so I add them on top of items such as salad or in a smoothie for a little boost.