What is hematogen made of and is it possible to eat it every day

What is hematogen

Hematogen is a sweet bar containing iron and classified as a dietary supplement. He appeared in Switzerland in the 19th century as a remedy for the prevention of anemia and was a syrup of bovine blood with cognac and chicken yolk. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became do in Russia as a potion, and then in the form of tiles for children. Now other means are used as a source of iron, but chocolate-like bars can still be bought in pharmacies.

What is hematogen made of?

In Western social networks, hematogen called blood candy from Russia, but there is no whole blood in them. Unlike, for example, the Italian national dish sanguinaccio dolce - Pig's blood pudding. Even in the original bar, made according to GOST, included dried blood, ground into powder.

Dietary black albumin usually appears in the composition of modern hematogens. It's dried blood, in which there is no plasma, but cells and proteins remain. In red blood cells, hemoglobin is bound to iron, so black albumin is considered the source of this element. Depending on the brand, the amount of iron varies from 1 to 90 mg per 100 g.

But almost 80% of the hematogen consists of sugars in the form of condensed milk or molasses. To improve the taste, they make bars with nuts, dried fruits and chocolate. But the more additives, the less useful they are.

Why eat a hematogen

In theory, to prevent iron deficiency anemia, in which dizziness appears, pallor, fatigue appear, hair falls out, nails break. As we already wrote, there is quite a lot of iron in the hematogen: up to 90 mg per 100 g. So it can be an additional source of the trace element. For on his day need to:

In practice, things are different. Firstly, some manufacturers do not indicate the iron content at all, so their hematogen is more like a candy than a dietary supplement.

Secondly, the body receives iron from food. For example, there is a lot of it in such products:

• red meat;
• seafood;
• beans;
• dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach;
• dried fruits such as raisins and dried apricots;
• cereals, bread and pasta, additionally enriched with iron.

Yes, iron from meat - and therefore from the hematogenous - is absorbed much better than from other products. And yet, you can do without hematogen, because now the food has become more diverse than in the last century, especially after the war. In addition, other ways to protect against iron deficiency have emerged, such as special easily digestible iron supplements. Therefore, now hematogen is not in the clinical guidelines for the prevention of anemia.

However, if the hematogen is not the most effective way to support hematopoiesis, then, most likely, the most delicious.

How much hematogen can you eat

There are no clinical guidelines for this. In the Soviet "Commodity Dictionary", which described all consumer goods, adults recommended daily eat 30-50 g of hematogen, and for children - 15-25 g.

But it is better to follow the recommendations of the manufacturers and remember that the hematogen is very sweet, and therefore it is hardly worth eating it every day. As we already wrote, it contains about 80% carbohydrates in the form of condensed milk or molasses. So, even in a 50 gram bar Sahara more than the daily allowance (adults Can no more than 30 g, for children from 7 to 10 years old - no more than 24 g, and from 4 to 6 years old - no more than 19 g).

And if you're a hematogen fanatic, limit yourself to one tile a day and choose those that have a lot of albumin or iron, or albumin in the composition is closer to the top.