Iron Supplement Question

Due to my low Ferratin levels, my GI has me starting Iron supplements. I know they won't do me any good in the short term to raise my levels so I'm sure I'll end up with iron infusions again. My supplement question is this...I know taking iron will cause your stool to become dark or even blackish...does that mean your body isn't absorbing the iron properly and is just passing it out?

Thanks
Gordon

By low means how low? How about including natural iron supplement in diet i.e. beetroots?

To answer your question, dark stools means its just excreting excess. Be warned, if your gut develops any issues, you may not be able to find out quickly (because of dark stools)

Thats really low. You need Iron pills with natural supplement. My feeling is natural supplements get absorbed better. Did they check your hemoglobin as well? That must be low too.

I need to do the same thing..increase my ferratin level. There's a couple thing to know about iron supplements.

First there are lot of types out there so if one upset your stomach try a different iron source.

Second, take on an empty stomach 1 hour before or 2 hours after food with Vit C for better absorption

Third, Tannin found in teas (all types decaf, green, herbals) and other food interferes with iron absorption. You can mitigate this by adding lemon to the tea. This causes the tannin to adhere to the Vit C in the iron instead of the iron. This is only from iron that come from veggies. Iron from meat doesn't have this problem.

Fourth, iron is pro-flammatory...so if you're bleeding best to take a liquid iron supplement instead.

Here's some good iron supplements I have used:

Angstrom Minerals Blood Support - liquid form. I take 1 TBSP 2x daily and chase down with LOTS of water!
MegaFood Blood Builder - veggie based
Thorne Research Ferrasorb - haven't tried it yet but will switch for maintenance


check out http://www.holistichealthshoppe.com/index.php#21 for more info.

This is the nutrition info on what I'm currently taking

Vitamin C (Proprietary Esterified Complex - as ascorbyl palmitate, ascorbic acid, magnesium ascorbate, potassium ascorbate, zinc ascorbate) 300mg

Vitamin B-2 (as riboflavin) 25m

Pantothenic Acid (as calcium pantothenate) 25mg

Zinc (as monomethionine) 5mg

Manganese (as amino acid chelate/complex) 5mg

L-Cysteine (free form amino acid) 50mg

Proanthoplex (Proprietary Proanthocyanidin/Bioflavonoid Complex: Bioflavonoids (from Citrus limon exocarp), Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus fruit), Blackberry (Rubus villosus fruit), Green Tea (Camellia sinensis leaf), Black & Red Raspberry (Rubus idaeaus fruit) 25mg

Beet (Beta vulgaris) 15mg

Bioperine (Piper nigrum fruit extract)(standardized 95% (2.37mg) 1-piperoylpiperidine) 2.5mg

Vitamin E (as d-alpha tocopheryl acetate) 30IU

Vitamin B-1 (as thiamine HCL) 25mg

Niacin (as niacinamide) 50mg

Vitamin B-6 (as pyridoxine HCL) 25mg

Calcium (as amino acid chelate/complex) 25mg

Iron (as amino acid chelate/complex) 85mg

Selenium (as amino acid complex) 10mcg

Copper (as amino acid chelate) 2mg

My ferritin level was 15 and my PCP suggested I take an iron supplement. I was concerned about constipation so I tried Floradix (pricey) and that loosened my stools. My Naturopath suggested MegaFood Blood Builder and I seem to tolerate that ok. Been taking it for about 2 months. Waiting to get my Ferritin retested to see if it went up