Who Needs Iron? The Importance of Iron for Health & Wellbeing
Iron plays a crucial role in maintaining overall health, but its significance can be greater for certain groups of people.
Iron is essential for everyone, as it helps form haemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body. However it is even more important for those with active lifestyles, such as athletes, people on plant-based diets, like vegans, who may need to pay extra attention to their iron intake, and is particularly important for women. But why is that? Well, the main reasons relate to the female reproductive system.
Women lose iron during menstruation
Iron is a crucial component of the haemoglobin in our blood, and without it our bodies abilities to circulate oxygen would be severely diminished. As up to 96% of our blood is comprised of haemoglobin (1), this naturally means that women may lose a lot of that iron during menstruation. This also explains why post-menopausal women need only the same amount of iron as men to stay healthy.
Developing babies need a lot of iron
Just as iron is a crucial component of the blood in the adult human body, it’s also a crucial component of the blood of a developing foetus. In fact, growing babies are still absorbing iron from their mothers breast milk for up to 6 months after their births (2). Pregnant women may be iron deficient and as a result may need to supplement their intake to stay healthy. Such women should also consider supplementing with Vitamin C as it can help boost the human body’s ability to absorb iron.
Always read the label and use only as directed. Iron supplementation may be of assistance where dietary iron intake is inadequate.
(1) National Institutes of Health. (2021). Iron: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/
(2) Society, C. P. Iron needs of babies and children. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2528681/
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How Much Iron is Needed?
The daily recommended intake of iron varies by age, gender, diet type, and health status. The body is not efficient when it comes to absorbing iron, we only absorb and use a portion of the iron we take in. Especially if the type of iron we absorb is non-haem iron, often found in vegetarian sources as our bodies find this much harder to absorb. Due to the difficulty in absorption of iron, it can be difficult to sustain our iron levels and we may have an iron deficit without realising (3).
Learn More(3) Jim McMorran, et, al. (2011, July 20). Haem and non-haem iron. Retrieved January 17, 2018
The Role of Iron
The role of iron in our bodies is a complex one. Iron is an essential element for blood production and supports many other bodily functions. We need to ensure we maintain normal iron levels to function at our best. As our bodies do not produce iron, we need to make sure we include sufficient iron as part of our healthy diets.
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