Hi guys! Like suggested lve done my full Iron panel! Could you please recommend the best dietary iron sources, except for liver pâté, which I'm already aware of? Also, if I'm unable to eat enough iron daily, are there any highly absorbable iron supplements you could recommend?
I've been taking Spatone until now, but it doesn't seem to be doing much.
Thanks
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Faith442024
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When doctors prescribe iron supplements they prescribe tablets with roughly 200mg of iron per tablet or more. A lot of people struggle to absorb iron from the tablets prescribed by doctors.
Spatone contains 5mg of iron per sachet. It might work to maintain iron in someone who already has perfect levels of iron and ferritin (iron stores) and just wants to maintain them. But for people with low levels of iron it rarely, if ever, has much impact on anyone I've read about on the forum.
On the other hand, the three arrows product which is in a different form to the iron salts that doctors prescribe seem to help quite a high percentage of the people who've tried it. It is a heme or haem iron product.
There is a paragraph in that second link that says :
Normal ferritin levels for women are between 20 and 200 ng/mL. According to some experts, ferritin levels of at least 40 ng/ml are required to stop hair loss, while levels of at least 70 ng/ml are needed for hair regrowth. The optimal ferritin level for thyroid function is between 90-110 ng/ml.
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Looking at your results :
Your Iron is 29% through the range. Optimal is 55% - 70%, higher end for men. Your result is way below optimal suggesting that you need more iron.
Your TIBC is 49.72% through the range which is effectively mid-range. This is actually a good result.
Your Saturation is 25.1% which is effectively bottom of the range. Optimal is 35 to 45%, higher end for men. To increase your saturation to optimal you would need more iron.
Your Ferritin is below range (just) and is deficient. Optimal is given above in bold. You need more iron.
All your results except TIBC suggest you need more iron. It is common for iron panel results to be inconsistent, and it is usually TIBC being inconsistent when it happens. Your iron, saturation, and ferritin make it clear that you need more iron, so ignore the TIBC for now.
Decide which supplement you want to try. The three arrows one is worth trying first. If three arrows alone doesn't raise your iron, you can try taking haem iron with iron salts if you want to try that. Iron salts can be bought in UK pharmacies without prescription. These are the ones that doctors prescribe, with info on dosing levels :
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