What to choose and when to take it
Your tired. You’ve always had heavy periods or you’ve always had low iron levels. Perhaps you've had those tablets and you’ve felt ick with them. Perhaps you're popping a few hoping you’ll feel better.
Bottom line. Not all iron supplements are the same.
Tolerance is largely based on dose and frequency or iron ingested.
Tip 1:
If you’re medically iron deficient, a supplement with a little iron chucked in, will not get your levels up.
General multivitamins, even good quality ones, will not have enough iron to treat proper deficiency. You're going to need a Therapeutic iron supplement. Anything less is a waste of time.
Tip 2:
Get a good quality supplement.
There are some newer brands on the market that some will tolerate fine and are cheaper.
If this isn’t you, a practitioner -only supplement may be better tolerated. If you're feeling yuck with what you're taking, its worth checking with your health professional.
Side note; Iron liquids are often LOW iron dose and hence tolerated better but don't necessarily have enough iron to replenish stores.
Tip 3:
On an Empty stomach, in the morning with Vitamin C and away from dairy is best.
Absorption is maximized when an Iron supplement is taken with a little vitamin C (even from eating a few berries will do), and away from calcium containing food (minum 30 minutes up to 1 hour is better).
Evidence shows iron taken in the morning, is more bioavailable and gets your levels up higher.
Tip 4:
Its about what works for you.
If you remember in the evenings, take it then. If your struggling taking on an empty stomach, have some food but try and avoid dairy. If you can tolerate alternative days and not everyday thats fine.
Its not meant to make you sicker.
Tip 5:
The jury is still out on once daily or alternative dosing.
There is good evidence that taking an Iron supplement every second day increases the amount of iron absorbed (per exposure) and is often better tolerated but…..
Recent studies have shown that if tolerated, a daily supplement correlates with a greater iron intake and increases in iron stores over time.
Take away: if you can tolerate once daily, then evidence shows this might be better. But if you cant, alternate daily dosing will still help get your stores up. It may take just a tad longer.
Tip 6:
If you cant tolerate oral supplements, they're not effective or you feel you need your iron stores up quickly, consider an iron infusion.
No intervention is zero risk but an iron infusion is often an excellent way to get iron stores up quickly or when oral supplementation is not feasible.
Final note;
If your tired, see your health professional and get a check. They can help isolate the cause and get you feeling more energetic quickest. You don't have to live with low iron forever!
This does not constitute medical advice, as each individual deserves individual assessment.
And to prevent deficiency, people having normal periods need three serves of iron per week. But that’s another post….
