Anemia is the most common blood disorder in the world, affecting more than 1 billion people each year.
The most common symptom associated with anemia is fatigue.
Sadly, what many medical doctors will do is put people on an iron supplement and don’t look at anything else. Often, this is akin to giving a patient an Advil when they have a nail in their foot and not taking out the nail!
In other words, it doesn’t deal with the root cause of the issue. Most people actually get enough iron from their diet on a daily basis but the iron they have in their body is not bioavailable due to deficiencies in other nutrients.
One key nutrient that is critical for helping iron be more bioavailable and useful in the body is vitamin A (beta carotene). Vitamin C is needed for iron absorption, while vitamin A is needed for bioavailability. Make sure you get calcium ascorbate or natural sources of vitamin C (acerola, camu camu, rose hips).
Numerous studies have shown that beta carotene (which the body converts into vitamin A) has a significant impact on iron in the body.
Transferrin, the key transport protein that recycles iron from the tissues back into the bloodstream and back to the bone marrow where it gets used to make new red blood cells, is dependent on vitamin A.
The RDA (recommended daily amount) of vitamin A is 900 micrograms. Accordingly, based upon this statistic, 43% of adults are deficient. However, as it is with most nutrients, the RDA is a bare minimum and humans actually require MUCH more. Clinically, what I see is that most people need anywhere between 10 and 100 times this amount per day.
Foods that are yellow and orange in color have the most amount of beta carotene.
A 16 ounce glass of freshly made organic carrot juice has 1800% or 18 times the RDA for beta carotene. a 16 ounce glass will also give you 12% calcium, 12% iron, 16% magnesium, 20% phosphorus, 40% potassium, 30% manganese, 10% copper and 6% zinc needed per day. This is why I am such a massive fan of daily vegetable juicing.
Vitamin D also regulates tranferrin receptor expression, so it is critical to have enough vitamin D. Get your blood levels checked and supplement if necessary.
Additionally, iron usually is not bioavailable in the body because copper is not bioavailable. What makes copper more bioavailable is magnesium, which people are also very deficient in. 52% of adults are deficient in magnesium and as was discussed earlier, this is based upon a low RDA. A much higher % of people are probably deficient. The RDA for magnesium is 400mg. Magnesium glycinate or magnesium lactate are good sources. Most people can safely supplement with 200-400mg of extra magnesium per day.
Most people get enough copper in their diet as well. One very cool thing I have noticed personally is that with juicing carrots every day for the last 3 months and supplementing with more calcium/magnesium and extra magnesium, my vitamin D levels have risen naturally without supplementation going from 46 to 58 in my latest blood test while not really getting in the sun very much either.
Calcium and magnesium should almost always be taken together (make sure an omega 3 product is taken as well to ensure calcium absorption).
So, if you are experiencing fatigue and have been diagnosed as being iron deficient, supplementing with iron is usually NOT the way to go. This will only force more iron into your body which will not be bioavailable and will essentially RUST and create oxidative damage without these other nutrients. We need vitamin A, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium and vitamin C to ensure iron is properly absorbed and is useful.
