Public TMI service announcement.

(OK, this is probably WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION but I thought it was important enough to share, given the scare when I woke up this morning, and several other mornings over the past months. So if this post calms just one person, it's worth knowing I posted about my pee.)

You may recall that I've taken to eating beets lately as part of my newfound cooking habit. Beet salads, beet and goat cheese sandwiches, and last night, just a bowl of roasted beets with candied walnuts and goat cheese. I upped my beet intake partly because I love the smell of roasting beets, partly because I like how they taste and partly because I know they are really good for you. (OK... and partly because it gave me an excuse to eat candied walnuts and goat cheese.)

While I was tossing and turning this morning after seeing shocking pink, as opposed to a very faint pink on previous mornings which caused mild concern until I forgot about it 5 minutes later (I've never been much of a hypochondriac, or one to pay attention to any alarming symptoms, for that matter), it finally dawned on me that it probably had something to do with my dinner last night. Beets stain everything they touch, why wouldn't they turn pee a different color? Turns out, they do.

Isn't science cool?

You may also recall that I've been pretty tired lately, and had attributed it to a combo of fresh air, more exercise and better nutrition (the latter of which made sense at the time for some unknown reason). Apparently, even though beets contain iron, if they turn your pee pink it means you're lacking iron, and iron deficiency makes you tired. I've always been slightly iron deficient because of the lack of red meat in my diet but never noticed this level of fatigue before. (Does wine contain iron? What about pizza? That was pretty much my diet before I moved.)

So today I'm going to buy some iron supplements, eat at least one meal per day that involves beans and/or spinach coupled with something high in Vitamin C for a week, then do another beet pee and energy level test.

Isn't science fun?

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There is conflicting information on the Interweb about soy as a good source of iron versus it being an iron-absorbing inhibitor, same for spinach actually, but it looks like wine=bad but pizza=good on the iron scale. I've found nothing either way on beer - and of course I will confirm all this with my new doctor when I start working, but in the meantime my dinner plans tomorrow night (Sparky's pizza and a fine porter) should be A-OK. :)