By Carolyn Schlicher, Jul 02, 2009

I understand this. I get rejected each time I go to give blood because of low numbers (11). The last time, the nurse said, "You have enough for you, but not enough to share." I figure it's worth my time to try!

First and foremost, pull down your bottom lid of your eye and look. If it is REALLY white, you need to do something about your iron. If it is less than a light orangish pink, you probably need iron.

Iron is a pain in the patoobie. There are many variables where iron is concerned: genetics (some people's bodies attempt homeostasis because of a predisposition to what other elements are retained, and the iron retention suffers, or naturally less red blood cells), what is consumed with the iron (vitamin C--yay! Calcium--boo!), the source of the iron (is it elemental, is the source monitored for toxins, if it monitored for other elements?--is it from meat?), where you live (arid places have less natural environmental iron which leach into foods), what is in the water source you drink (hard water--more calcium and other minor elements which (for lack of a better word) override the iron), where in the world your family comes from (Scandinavian descent, I feel for you--Eastern European--super!), are you low in phytonutrients so your body is straining for homeostasis with less provision for absorption, how about if you drink tea? Sorry, no dice, etc, etc, etc.

I think Victoria has a good point about the supplements. Because of all these factors, we don't know if iron overload is going to occur. My opinion is that if you took them prenatally, it probably won't. The slow-release is also terrific. My opinion also--do that twice per day. If it has added vitamin C, that's great--but I wouldn't count on it doing a lot. Eat a citrus fruit within 2 hours of consumption of the tablet. If you're taking a small dose twice per day--eat food-sourced vitamin C after that, too. It will help absorption AND the "other thing." Don't eat anything known for high calcium until after 2 hours.

Raisins--high in sugar, but if eaten with a whole grain won't traumatize the body as much as you might think--are really, really good. Beef and turkey--that's the best single source. Beef or turkey with greens and citrus, that's probably as close to perfection as you can get for the absorption AND colon stuff.

And here's the additional aggravation--you have to do whatever you are doing for at least 4 weeks daily to see a solid response.

More info than you needed, especially when you were asking an entirely different question. Hope this helped in a roundabout way.

By Amy E, Jul 28, 2009

Thank you guys for all your advice. Anytime I have had my iron checked, even at 15, I was told I need to be careful because of how low it was. Maybe I will have it checked again before I take my iron consistently.