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| Iron |
Last updated: Jul 22, 2008 |
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Tips for Getting and Absorbing Iron - Eat foods that are good sources of iron. Concentrate on green, leafy vegetables, lean, red meat, beef liver, poultry, fish, wheat germ, oysters, dried fruit, prune juice and iron-fortified cereals.
- Eat foods high in vitamin C, such as citrus fruits, tomatoes, and strawberries. Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron from food.
- If you drink tea, drink it between meals because the tannins in tea inhibit iron absorption. Alternatively, add milk to the tea - the calcium in milk binds with the tannins. (Herbal tea does not have tannins.)
- Take an iron supplement, but check with your doctor first. Note: Recent research is suggesting that high levels of iron in the blood may increase the risk for heart attacks.
- Avoid antacids, phosphates (found in soft drinks, beer, ice cream, etc.), and the food additive EDTA. These block iron absorption.
Grain products supply almost half the iron in the American diet, and meats supplied nearly one-fifth (but are better absorbed). About one tenth of the iron in the American diet also came from vegetables. Foods that contain small amounts of iron, but are not considered good sources, can contribute significant amounts of iron to an individual's diet if these foods are eaten often or in large amounts.
A product called Floradix provides enhanced absorption of iron by using a highly absorbable form of iron, iron gluconate. Floradix also contains B vitamins and vitamin C to enhance absorption, herbal extracts to increase digestion, and fruit juices to ensure proper stomach acidity. A twenty milligram dose of Floradix satisfies the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of fifteen milligrams of iron for women of child-bearing age. An excellent Naturopathic product.
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 Iron can help with the following: | | | | | | Aging | Not recommended for:
 Parkinson's Disease / Risk | Avoiding overexposure to some metals, especially iron, can reduce the risk of developing Parkinson's disease. |
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Circulation |
 Anemia (Iron deficiency)| | Iron supplementation, with as much as 200mg of elemental iron per day, is the obvious therapy for treating and preventing the recurrence of iron deficiency anemia. |
Not recommended for:
 Thalassemia| | People who have thalassemia should not take iron containing medications unless it has been established that an iron deficiency is present. |
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Digestion |
 Atrophic Gastritis| | Ferric iron absorption is decreased in achlorhydria but heme iron absorption is not. |
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Immunity |
Weakened Immune System |
Infections |
Mouth Ulcers
Not recommended for:
Tuberculosis| | Excess levels of iron in the body have been found to promote the development of tuberculosis. In previous studies conducted in Africa, it has been suggested that iron levels are associated with the reproduction of the mycobacterium tuberculosis, as those who consumed large quantities of iron were at a greater risk from TB.
Mouse studies indicate that iron is an essential element in the reproduction of mycobacterium tuberculosis, a discovery that, researchers say, could aid in developing new treatments for TB. [J Exp Med, Dec. 2002;196: pp.1507-1513] |
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Mental |
Poor Memory| | In women whose whose iron levels are low, with or without anemia, supplemental iron improved mental functioning after four months. [Yahoo! News April 19, 2004] See the link between Iron Deficiency and Poor Memory. |
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Metabolic |
 Metabolic Diet Type
Not recommended for:
Hemochromatosis (Iron overload) |
Musculo-Skeletal |
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) / Periodic Limb Moveme| | RLS has been associated with an iron deficiency as measured by low ferritin levels. The anemia that results from an iron deficiency may or may not have appeared yet; patients whose serum ferritins were lowest initially improved the most. |
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Nutrients |
Iron Requirement |
Organ Health |
Not recommended for:
Hepatitis| | Patients with chronic hepatitis C sometimes have difficulty excreting iron from the body. This can result in an
overload of iron in the liver, blood, and other organs. Excess iron can be very damaging to the liver. Studies suggest that high iron levels reduce the response rate of patients with hepatitis C to interferon. Thus, patients with chronic hepatitis C whose serum iron level is elevated, or who have cirrhosis, should avoid taking iron supplementation. |
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Skin-Hair-Nails |
Boils, Abscesses, Carbuncles| | Sometimes recurrent boils are associated with low iron levels. |
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Uro-Genital |
Menorrhagia (Heavy Periods)| | The following observations have been made regarding iron and menorrhagia:- Positive response to iron supplementation alone in 74 of 83 patients (in whom organic pathology had been excluded)
- A high rate of organic pathology found (fibroids, polyps, adenomyosis, etc.) in the patients who failed to respond to iron supplementation
- A decreased response to iron therapy when initial serum iron levels were high
- A correlation exists between menorrhagia and depleted tissue iron stores (bone marrow) irrespective of serum iron level, thus serum ferritin may be a better test than serum iron
- A well-controlled study showed improvement in 75% of those on iron supplementation, compared with 32.5% for a placebo group.
'Heme' iron (from meat) is 10 times more absorbable than most other forms of iron. |
Pregnancy-Related Issues Possible| | Iron is routinely prescribed for pregnant women during the second and third trimesters, when blood volume increases by 50%. The growing baby is also making blood. Hemoglobin, the blood component that carries oxygen to the cells, is composed in part of iron. During pregnancy, your baby receives plenty of this critical mineral because your body absorbs iron more efficiently. [Eskeland B, et al. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavia 1997;76: pp.8228]
There is some controversy about whether iron supplementation is really needed or effective, except for women such as diabetics or those with anaemia, whose iron deficiency is a real threat. [Lao TT, Tami KF. Diabetes Care 1997;20(9): 13689] Iron supplementation for anemia often fails because women don't take iron long enough, say researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. They suggest beginning iron supplementation before conception and continuing until breastfeeding is finished. [Viteri FE. Nutr Rev 1997;55(6): pp.1959]
It is preferable to get your iron in natural foods. Iron supplements may cause nausea and constipation, making the common discomforts of pregnancy worse. Too much iron is also bad for the circulation. If you do need to take iron supplements on doctor's advice, iron chelate is better tolerated by the body and is available from chemists. The U.S. RDA is 30mg. |
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KEY | | May do some good | | | Likely to help | | | Highly recommended | | | May have adverse consequences | | | Reasonably likely to cause problems |
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