Iron , vitamins or mineral supplement?
Iron is one of the most important trace elements, and is a mineral that is recycled in the body to to a small extent. Very little is lost every day in feces, urine and cells from the stomach and intestines. Iron is stored in the body, but not enough to stop iron from becoming the largest deficient mineral supply for humans. Iron mineral deficiency, is where the body has lacked enough iron intake over a long enough period of time and so has not been able to make enough hemoglobin, or hemoglobin of enough quality, and this is known as anemia.
30 to 50% of all women, especially those that are of the age where the reproductive cycle is strongest, have insufficient iron reserves, as well as insufficient hemoglobin. 5% of all women of childbearing age, are anemic. Some of this is caused by menstruation blood loss, but the primary cause is not eating enough foods that contain iron, and poor absorption, through diet variety, into the bloodstream.
The most common symptoms of iron deficiency, is fatigue, feeling weak, and shortness of breath. Most commonly, iron deficiency was always a woman’s problem, but now there are an increasing number of men, and post menopausal women, who are also suffering the same problem. Man and postmenopausal women, in the past, have been able to recycle iron with very little lost, and so replenish iron reserves with a minimal diet. With the advent of ready meals, fast food, and other processed foods, the natural usage of fresh and natural food supplies has been severely reduced.
It is natural for women of childbearing age and who are menstruating, or pregnant, to be iron deficient, whether this is through menstruation, all because of another life growing alongside the mother, it is especially important that women do find natural sources of iron in their food. It is also especially important that they have enough vitamins B12 and folic acid in conjunction with the iron, to adequately synthesize hemoglobin cells, as without these two supplements, it is not possible to produce healthy red blood cells.
The young also need iron, preferably from natural food sources, which is needed for their health, vitality, playing as well as growing. Deficiency in iron, for the young can result in slower learning abilities, lethargy, skin complaints and loss of appetite. There also have been studies made that show that children have problems with solving puzzles when they have low iron. There has also been shown that women especially young women, can damage their reproductive organs when suffering from low iron intake, and this has been shown to be a permanent problem.
Dieting is a cause of high concern, as very often, low-calorie foods are not high in vitamins and minerals, and the low intake of the amounts of food causes a very small spectrum in which the body can remove all of the vitamins and mineral supplements that it requires daily. Another big problem with dieting, is that the low fat intake causes fat soluble vitamins to be depleted from the livers and other parts of the body, seriously shortening those reserves too.
Vegetarians, and those that eat very little beef if at all, needs to be sure to eat enough iron rich natural foods, such as apricots, and spinach (which also contains folic acid and vitamin B12).
Iron comes in two forms. Haem which comes from meat products, and non-haem which comes from vegetable sources. The former source, is much more easily absorbed into the body than the latter. In regards to how much iron the body can pull from food, haem iron has absorption rate of 25%, regardless of how much your body is requiring. You can increase this rate of absorption, with both forms, with vitamins C. this does not have to be eaten with the food, but a short time after, or even before, such as a glass of orange juice as a meal starter. Other sources of vitamins C., can be cantaloupe melon, tomatoes and cabbage. Some vegetables contain calcium and these must be avoided when trying to absorb iron, as this has a negative effect on the body’s absorption rates for iron. Excessive heat will turn haem into non-haem, so for this purpose you must not over cook your food, and red meats contains the most easily absorbable, and the highest counts, iron when raw. It is also worthy to note that when cooking acidic foods such as tomatoes, iron pots and pans allows the tomatoes to leach iron and so increase that iron content. Iron pots and pans, can be a good source of dietary iron.
I have found the best means to obtain every one of your b vitamins is to merely take a mutliple b vitamin every morning. they contain 100% of the recommended daily amount. In addition some of the greatest sources of natural vitamins are always found in fruit and veggies, you really can’t go wrong with fruit and veg..