Low iron

I'm a vegetarian and I take iron supplements. I get very dizzy and weak when I haven't had enough iron. Other veggies and vegans, do you have any good meals/snack recommendations of things packed with iron?

I'm a vegetarian and I take iron supplements. I get very dizzy and weak when I haven't had enough iron. Other veggies and vegans, do you have any good meals/snack recommendations of things packed with iron?

Hi I’m not vegetarian but I have an iron deficiency too.

Keep up with your supplements. Maybe try Feroglobin fire light iron. Take it regularly. The dosage is lower than other supplements so won’t upset your stomach.

One food that really helps with iron is spinach. Legumes, pumpkin seeds and broccoli are good too but my favourite is spinach.

Hope this helps!

Know what dosage of iron is safe for you. If you can take more safely then you could try and take more.

This supplement is pretty good.

Be sure to take your supplement with a glass of fresh orange juice as the vitamin C will aid absorbtion. If nothing is really helping you'll need to visit your doctors so they can take bloods to see where you are at, best to be safe.

Thanks! You are very kind and helpful.

Strawberries!!! If you like them go for it! They have huge amounts of iron and vitamin C which helps it's absorption. If you don't believe me Google it, but there's more iron in strawberries than in the classic greens that everyone talks about.

Iron replacement is extremely complex and I would strongly advise speaking at least in the first instance to a GP about it, although if they aren't able to help you with your symptoms referal to a specialist would likely be more helpful. (If you got your supplements from a GP then if they haven't improved things after 3 months of taking them, that's the time to go back and ask for that specialist referal.)

Oral iron supplements and dietary changes are often of limited use: The gut isn't particularly efficient at absorbing dietary iron picking up at best 10% of what you take in - add in supplements on top and that efficiency gets even worse. What's more flooding your gut with iron can trigger an increase in your hepcidin levels, reducing absorbtion, reducing available iron and generally making things much worse.

If you're taking over the counter supplements without a prescription and are struggling to speak to your GP, while you wait (and you should keep trying to get an appointment) try swapping to taking the supplements every other day rather than daily. This gives your hepcidin levels more of a chance to go down between doses, meaning when you do take the supplement you are likely to absorb more of it. Once you've seen your GP take what they prescribe as they prescribe it and don't be tempted to take any additional supplements containing iron as they will just make things worse.

Good luck.

Do you eat dairy food?