HealthUnlocked will undergo site maintenance on 8th April 2025 from 11:30AM (BST) / 6:30AM (EDT) for a few hours. We aim to restore the full service as soon as possible. Learn more
I'm in the UK. I want to increase my ferritin as fast as possible now because I've wasted 4 months or more doing it with Solar Gentle Iron and achieved a big fat 0!
I am trying to eat high iron foods as often as I can as well. But I need a supplement to go with it. I'm currently using Iron Chelate. It doesn't upset me at all. This may be enough, I don't know yet. But I'd like to see your preferred options.
You can also cook in cast iron pans so that food absorbs some iron from the pan. Not sure how scientific it is but many people around the world have cooked in cast iron for centuries so my own opinion is that it must be ok.
We already do have a huge and a small cast iron pan. I tend to use the small one for fried eggs. My husband uses the big one a lot.
That's good. All my pans are cast iron. I can't stand liver either. I bought and cooked some in tiny slivers hoping I could eat it but, no. The family ate it though.
We have steel saucepans.
Google "Lucky Iron Fish" and use it in your non-cast iron cookware.
I just saw reference to that in helvella's document. About to have a look.
You could read my short iron document:
dropbox.com/s/yjrwd5xjicig2...
I will helvella. Thanks. I just can't be doing with liver!
I do make some non-liver suggestions. 
(Despite actually really liking lambs liver....)
Yes, I've just got to the black pudding bit. I love black pudding and am now eating it a couple of breakfasts a week. Bless him, my husband made some at the weekend. He's very good and makes great sausages. But the black pudding needs work. The fat wasn't right and the whole thing didn't work well. Neither of us liked it. He's going to find a different recipe and try again. So much for the River Cottage team!
Can you remember the brand name of the ferritin supplement? The link no longer works. I didn't realise it was possible to just supplement ferritin. My ferritin is the problem, so targeting it could be the way forward.
Afraid it is out of stock, but this links to an iHerb page for it:
uk.iherb.com/pr/Cardiovascu...
(I did update the document fairly recently!)
I wondered if it might be that one when I looked. I will see if I can find that anywhere. I also love the lucky iron fish! Been reading about it and talking the the resident chef. He's also science minded and immediately understood when I said you boil it with lemon juice. Then I found a review on Amazon that said when the person did a BSc in nutrition one of her professors said the fish works particularly well when the water is used to make mushy peas! Again, resident chef said the bicarb is probably important. Perhaps to help absorption.
This has been a very useful post!
Just realised that the version of my document you would have seen is the old one! 
If you follow the link again, you should see the new version. (March 2018) Apologies.
Thank you. I will go and save it over the old one. I thought it worth saving so I had it on hand.
It's raining. It's a black pudding breakfast kind of day.
Liver did zilch for me and i ate it by the bucket load😕
You have my sympathy
opti ferin c by pure encapsulations has helped me. Taken with now foods vitamin c with lunch, 4 hours away from thyroid meds x
I've heard of that one.
Would recommend slow release Ferroglobin. Raises levels and gentle on stomach. Also has folic acid and b12. You can buy at Asda or Holland and Barrett.
Hi there my iron level was 10 back in january and in march i raised it to 27-i take floravital liquid its extremley gentle and has added b vitamins and vit c for absorption( its ferrous gluconate which is very very gentle) solgars did nothing for me either. Also never take your irons next to cups of tea coffees etc, a good 3 hours apart.xx try it 10.99 a small bottle from boots.
Iron. So confused. 
Do I have iron deficiency?
Do thyroid, iron and the coil clash ?
iron DROPPED on iron supplementation 
