Thoughts about Iron supplements

[Faithful56 0]

Hi everyone I'm so glad I found this forum im 8 months in from my gastric sleeve surgery and I've seen so many people talk about Iron levels and ferritin it just seems to be so much confusion

[Arabesque 7,063]

How are your Iron levels? Are they low? If they’re low, then you may need a supplement but if they’re okay, you don’t need anything. My iron levels were great & still are so I never took any iron after my surgery.

Many people, women especially of all ages, experience anemia and it seems there are many more cases now days than years ago. For some its lifestyle and dietary choices, for others there can be medical reasons behind it. If you are anaemic, ensure your doctor rules out any medical cause first.

If there isn’t any medical reason, check your dietary intake. Ensure you’re eating a lot of iron rich red meats, green leafy vegetables, etc. Avoid caffeine when consuming food especially iron rich foods. Caffeine reduces your body’s ability to absorb iron by 60+%. Also your body doesn’t absorb iron from fortified foods (like breads, cereals, oat milks & other milk alternatives., etc.) as well either. Iron supplements can cause Constipation. Don’t take your iron supplements with Calcium or iron with zinc. Your body can’t absorb these in combination so take say the calcium and zinc in the morning and your iron at night.

Remember too, excess iron isn’t good for you so avoid taking iron supplements if you don’t need them. Haemochromatosis can damage your liver, heart, pancreas & joints. Symptoms can include lethargy, weight loss, mood swings, depression, brain fog, irregular or no periods & joint pain. Interestingly, many of these symptoms are the same as with anaemia.