Iron is a key component of haemoglobin, making up much of your red blood cells and carries oxygen from your lungs throughout your body. However, the human body is not able to generate this critical mineral and therefore we must take it through our diet.
The daily recommended intake of iron varies by age, gender, diet type, and health status. The body is not efficient when it comes to absorbing iron, we only absorb and use a portion of the iron we take in. Especially if the type of iron we absorb is non-haem iron, often found in vegetarian sources as our bodies find this much harder to absorb. Due to the difficulty in absorption of iron, it can be difficult to sustain our iron levels and we may have an iron deficit without realising.
Iron supplements
With the hectic lifestyles many of us live it can be hard to get enough iron from our diets alone and sometimes we need extra help. This is when an iron supplement is a great way help us maintain healthy iron levels.
Most commonly, iron supplements are available in pill or tablet form. These often have high levels of iron, as the iron is not always bio-available and may therefore be difficult for the body to fully absorb. As a result, the body must excrete all of the excess iron which is known to cause a range of side effects.
Liquid iron supplements
Liquid iron supplements, like Spatone® Liquid Iron may be gentler on the stomach. The lower dose, but high bioavailability of Spatone may result in less side effects for users compared to those higher dose pill or tablet form iron supplements.
Spatone® Liquid Iron has been shown in a study to have a higher absorption rate (from 10 to 40% absorption, with an average absorption of 23%2) than conventional iron supplements.
You only need a small amount to supplement your dietary iron intake towards meeting your Nutrient Reference Value (NRV) of iron. What’s more, as it’s highly absorbable, you don’t need to take as much. This in turn means that your body has less to excrete and that means you may experience fewer side effects while enjoying all the many benefits of iron in the body.
Always read the label and use only as directed. Iron supplementation may be of assistance where dietary iron intake is inadequate.
1 - Jim McMorran, Damian Crowther, Stew McMorran, Steve Youngmin, Ian Wacogne, Jon Pleat, Clive Prince, G. (2011, July 20). Haem and non-haem iron. Retrieved January 17, 2018, from https://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=x20110720105313880069 Note reference does not appear to be linked to text
2 - Worwood et al. Iron absorption from a natural mineral water (Spatone Iron-Plus), Clin. Lab. Haem. 1996, 18, 23-27.