Let’s Talk Iron Absorption and Supplement Choices

Did You Know?

Our bodies can only absorb 2-5mg of iron from our diet/supplements daily and the rest our body gets to make up the 18mg needed, is from recycling iron in the body from old red blood cells? This is called the iron recycling system. To do this well our body needs co-factors.

Taking extremely high doses of iron in commonly prescribed iron supplements merely upsets the stomach and causes gut issues and most commonly constipation. The supplements we prescribe in store include well absorbed and tolerated forms of iron in a maximum dose of 24mg.

Did you also know that it’s best to take iron every 2nd day to optimise absorption? As well as taking it either first thing in the morning or last thing at night. This is all to do with the peptide hormone in our bodies called Hepcidin, which is part of regulating how much iron our bodies absorb. When Hepcidin is high, less receptors are available in the intestines for iron absorption, and it takes 36 hours for raised Hepcidin to come back down to levels that increase the receptors in the intestines for iron absorption.

There are many potential reasons to experience low iron. Some examples are heavy bleeding, gut permeability (leaky gut), inflammation/infection in the body, low cofactors (vitamins/minerals) .

The best way to increase iron if your tests have come back as low, is to look at the cause, and improve the iron recycling system. This may mean cleaning up the gut/removing food intolerances/improving function, reducing inflammation in the body, addressing any infections/lowered immune system, and balancing hormones to name a few. Each person we see is an individual, therefore treatment is tailored to the individual.

Written by Amanda Roe-Hunter. Adv.Dip.Naturopathy.