iron
i take 1 25 mg tablet a day (136% of rda)
before i launch into any of the educational stuff about this mineral, i have to personally stress that if you're a menstruating woman you really need to strongly consider how important a role iron plays in your health. given your monthly blood loss, iron becomes essential in rebuilding your hemoglobin and keeping up the oxygen level in your blood cells. without a steady supply of iron in your blood you could become anemic. (i was, and now i'm religious about taking my iron supplement.)
from "prescription for nutritional healing:"
iron is required for a healthy immune system and for energy production. iron deficiency symptoms include anemia, brittle hair, difficulty swallowing, digestive disturbances, dizziness, fatigue, fragile bones, hair loss, imflammation of the tissues of the mouth, nails that are spoon-shaped or that have ridges running lengthwise, nervousness, obesity, pallor and slowed mental reactions.
BUT YOU MUST BE CAREFUL ABOUT TAKING TOO MUCH IRON. read your labels and get as close to 100% of rda as you can. too much iron results in free radicals, and could also lead to heart disease and cancer.
iron is also found in eggs, fish, liver, meat, green leafy vegetables, and whole grains and cereals. if you eat a lot of these, you may want to consider getting a supplement the provides less than 100% rda.
the iron supplement i take also happens to contain mangnesium. this helps aid iron absorption into the body. (also helpful is vitamin c... it can increase iron absorption by 30%.) however, excessive amounts of zinc and vitamin e interfere with iron absorption.
finally, do not take iron if you have an infection. "the body 'hides' iron in the liver when an infection is present. taking extra iron at such time encourages the proliferation of bacterian in the body."
iron is tricky in that you NEED it... but if you get too much, that can be bad.
i'm guessing that most of the people reading this are women... and i hope you all take the time to research how important an iron supplement can be.
ok?
Posted by xta at September 2, 2004 10:21 PM | TrackBackNow I am very carefully examining my nails for any trace of spoon-ism. Whew.
Posted by: pinky at September 3, 2004 9:13 AMI use fitday.com to track my nutrition and while they don't keep track of all vitamins and minerals, iron is pretty much the only thing they list that I don't get the RDA from my normal daily eating. (Which is apparently unusual for someone eating low carb -- most low carbers get tons of iron from all the meat & eggs.) I've been thinking about asking my doctor to test my iron levels next time I go.
with your interest in nutrition you might find fitday.com interesting. You enter everything you eat, and it gives you all kinds of information. It's a pain in the ass if you try to do it every day, but I like to "spot check" every once in a while and make sure my nutrition is on track.
Posted by: Sarah at September 3, 2004 9:17 AMthis isn't that interesting, but i thought i'd mention that my crit was 39 two weeks ago -- and i'm vegetarian and have been since 1996. 39 is high -- my doc was impressed/shocked. i don't even take a multi-vitamin. also, four years ago i had a emergency c-section during which i lost more than half of my blood. i did have a transfusion, and i did take ferrous sulfate for a few months, but by my 6 week post-partum check-up my crit was already back to 33. i find it amazing that i'm not anemic or at least borderline. i have no idea how i'm so lucky. i wonder what i eat that is iron-rich?
anyway, just thought i'd share.
amy
Posted by: amy at September 3, 2004 12:57 PM