Ironing Out The Facts About Iron Deficiency Anemia

Right off the bat, let me say, if you suspect that you may be anemic go see your doctor. They will perform a lab test to confirm diagnosis. Anemia, like all medical conditions should be taken seriously. People most at risk of anemia are women, young children, vegetarians, vegans, and those with certain chronic disease.

Why is Iron Important? There are a variety of different types of anemia with various causes. The most common form of anemia is linked with low iron status, known as low iron deficiency anemia (IDA).1 Iron helps make hemoglobin, a protein in blood, which shuttles around oxygen.1,2,3 I find it easiest to think of iron as being a uber driver for oxygen. The uber driver (iron) is in a car (hemoglobin) and picks up a passenger (oxygen) from somewhere (the lungs). The passenger (oxygen) then rides along and goes to its destination where it is the literal life of the party. Oxygen creates energy to be used or stored throughout the body. If you have low iron, your oxygen is not properly delivered and therefore energy is not made efficiently. With this knowledge it is easy to understand that symptoms of IDA include feeling tired, cold, irritable, having shortness of breath and headaches. 1

How does our body absorb iron? You can pump up your dietary iron two ways. First and fastest is heme iron, which is predominately found in meat and animal products. To make a long story very short, your body is freakishly efficient and has a dedicated metabolic processes to take in, use and store heme iron. Since iron is so important to the body, there is a secondary process that can also utilize iron from non-heme sources. Non-heme sources found in plants such as: beans, legumes, tofu and some dark green leafy vegetables.

A little trick of the trade that everyone should know, EAT VITAMIN C WITH NON-HEME. (Citrus and berries are great Vitamin C sources.) Vitamin C is the Bonnie to non-heme irons Clyde. Vitamin C makes sure the door is open and available so that non-heme iron can get into your cells. Below I am sharing a delicious and nutritious recipe using non-heme iron and vitamin C.

Recommendations for how much iron someone needs depends on age and gender. To the right you will find a table I created that divides out the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for iron per the most recent National Institute of health recommendations. It is important to know that anybody under 14 years of age should not exceed 40mg per day. Anyone 14 years of age and older have a maximum allowance of 45mg per day.

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